Before Bea Arthur was Dorothy Zbornak on Golden Girls, Pat Sajak hosted Wheel of Fortune, and Tom Selleck was Dr. Richard Burke on Friends, these celebrities served in the U.S. Military. It’s a reminder that people from all different walks of life come together in service of their country, and of how important it is […]
Love letters written by a long-distance couple, a diary belonging to a teenage girl, and a photo album originating from the Civil War are just a few of the hundreds of artifacts that Chelsey Brown has returned to their rightful owners. The heirloom hunter, who started doing returns in 2021, has reunited people around the […]
The National Center for Education Statistics reports that roughly 1 in 5 U.S. adults are illiterate or possess low literacy skills. I Love Books is on a mission to change that, one book at a time. The social impact organization, founded in 2021, aims to end illiteracy by ensuring that all children have access to […]
The late Fred Rogers, star and host of the long-running television series Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, once gave a touching endorsement of the importance of caring. “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who […]
Los Angeles residents Joe Blackstone and Jamie Mohn have long recognized the power of storytelling and the lasting impact it can have on a child’s life. Shortly after getting married, the couple began volunteering to read books to elementary school kids. Then, when they became parents themselves, they created the J3 Foundation to fund child […]
High school math teacher Rebecka Peterson focuses on the good in her Oklahoma classroom, and it’s paying off. Peterson has been named the 2023 National Teacher of the Year, an annual honor awarded by the Council of Chief State School Officers. “Rebecka is a caring and passionate educator who understands the importance of connections and […]
Wearing a sun hat, aviator sunglasses, and a heavy backpack, John Jepkema leaned against the Bright Angel Trailhead. To anyone passing, Jepkema looked like just another of the 5.9 million people who visit the Grand Canyon each year. But after an exhausting five-day overnight trek, Jepkema, at age 91, had become the oldest person to […]
It was one of the most tragic stories to come out of the deadly earthquakes in Syria and Turkey in February. And now it’s being hailed as a miracle. The weeks-old baby girl who was rescued after being buried in the rubble in Turkey for 128 hours has been reunited with her mother, who for […]
Maj. Lauren Olme wears multiple hats: She’s an Air Force pilot, an assistant director of operations for the 77th Weapons Squadron, a leader, and a wife. She’s also making history as one of the first service members to fly a supersonic aircraft while pregnant. According to a press release from the Dyess Air Force Base, […]
A 101-year-old woman from the Isle of Wight has been awarded an honorary teaching degree from the University of London — eight decades after completing a teaching course at the now-defunct Nonington College of Physical Education. Centenarian Madge Brown, along with 94-year-old Sheila Gordon, received a bachelor of education degree during a special ceremony on […]
The idea for the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation was first sparked during the 1990s in the San Francisco Bay area. According to the foundation’s website, in response to the trend of dishearteningly negative news coverage during a “summer of violence,” a reporter proposed “practicing random acts of kindness and senseless acts of beauty” instead. […]
When Laura Talmus’ 15-year-old daughter Lili unexpectedly passed away in 2009 due to medical complications of Apert syndrome, she channeled her grief into action. What began as a middle school assembly, inspired by Lili’s experiences as a student who often spent lunch alone, turned into the nonprofit Beyond Differences, which currently works with 9,000 schools […]