The video of a Nevada State Trooper saving a kitten from a busy Las Vegas highway has gone viral. Officer Estrada was captured on her dash-cam running after a frightened tiny kitten on the side of a busy highway. Nevada State Police tweeted the video: “We received calls about a kitten on the on-ramp to a busy highway… and Trooper Estrada quickly responded.”
In the video, Estrada stops her vehicle when she spots the kitten, who is so small it can barely be noticed in the video. She approached the terrified kitty who was cowering against a wall just inches from traffic saying “Hi, baby. You’re OK.” The frightened feline bolted toward oncoming traffic but Estrada quickly blocked it’s path as it tried to run one way and then the other, past her.
The kitten managed to get past her, though not into traffic and Estrada took off running after it. She finally rounded up the animal and the gray kitten hid in the glove compartment of Estrada’s police car during the drive back to the station. The kitten was then given some tender loving care by officers who decided to name it ‘Trooper Kitty’. The heartwarming story does have a happy ending s the kitten has been adopted by a loving family.
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An exceptional woman has been dubbed “Mother Theresa of Vietnam” for running a non-profit organization dedicated to the adoption, support, and free offering of loving kindness to foundlings, orphans, and homeless children. Huynh Tieu Huong has adopted 346 children after overcoming a life of incredible hardship which started when her parents left her on a doorstep as a foundling.
Huong’s start in life led her to year after year of vagabondry, until she found a baby girl left on her doorstep when she was about 19 years old. She adopted the child and met a Chinese man who gave her the money to rent an apartment and start a business. When she could finally support herself and her daughter Anh Dao, she started volunteering at the Vietnam Relief Association in 1993, helping orphans and the elderly.
After maintaining a successful business, her tragic beginnings inspired her to dedicate herself to making a difference to others in a way that never was possible for her. In 2001 she founded the Que Huong Charity Center in the Tan Dong Hiep Commune, and gradually increased the number of her dependents until it passed the 300 mark- all bearing a surname that Mother Huong received when she was briefly adopted the second time.
She also founded the Mother Houng Foundation to support this work and has begun expanding its footprint overseas to the US. Thanks to support given by donors and volunteers, these 346 children are all able to receive education, safe places to sleep and play, and the proper medical care to ensure they reach adulthood healthy.
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A West Michigan community has rallied around the recovery of a dog that was left on the road to die. The abandoned breeding dog named Hope wandered out of the woods into an East Grand Rapids neighborhood and collapsed in the middle of the road. At first, residents thought she was dead. However, on further inspection, they realized that she was just exhausted and extremely malnourished.
Emilee Bond’s husband saw the dog first, Bond said “My husband was out walking our dogs right here on this street and he spotted in the road a dog that looked like it had been potentially hurt or hit by a car. This dog looked like, honestly it wasn’t going to make it, she was literal skin and bones … the dog was in incredibly bad shape. It took a sip of water and then collapsed its face in the water bowl, too tired to even lift its head again.”
Their neighbor, Rachel, rushed the dog to Cascade Animal Hospital, promising to adopt her if she recovered. After various tests and treatments, vets discovered that Hope had a skin infection and rocks in her stomach, likely having eaten them out of desperation. They also learned that she was about seven years old. The dog was put on a feeding tube and IV. Slowly, the dog has gained strength — earning her the name Hope for bringing hope to all involved.
Hope is now eating on her own and has been walking a bit. Emilee started a GoGundMe “Help For Hope” to cover veterinary expenses that has raised over $21,000 with an initial goal of $10,000 thanks to neighbors, friends and people across the world that are following Hope’s story of recovery. While authorities continue to investigate who abandoned her, the small American Bully with a sweet disposition remains in veterinary care. Once she is ready to be released, Rachel and her three other rescue dogs will open their home to their beacon of Hope.
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Each day in our nation, there are an average of over 5,400 suicide attempts by young people grades 7-12. 95% of American teenagers have access to a smartphone and 13% of young people have reported attempting suicide. One non-profit is trying to connect kids with access to mental health services.
Koko is a nonprofit digital tool that helps internet platforms, like social networks and telehealth services, better support the mental health of their users. Through two key digital integrations- they detect high-risk content that could be detrimental to mental health and providing resources to users who are at risk.
While Koko initially started as a peer support app for folks experiencing mental health challenges, Koko co-founder and CEO Rob Morris, says the ups and downs in tech have brought it to a new iteration from the original vision he had as a student at MIT. Now a nonprofit, Koko meets young internet users at the crossroads between risk and harm reduction.
When someone searches for specific content on a social media platform like TikTok or Instagram, hoping to find information or content about anything from eating disorders to suicidal ideation. Koko steps in before this young person can find something harmful, with algorithms that detect and suppress dangerous content and instead sends the user a direct message:
“Everything okay?” the message asks. “If you or someone you know is struggling, you are not alone. For peer support, self-help courses, and other resources, please try Koko.” Users are then redirected to a number of mental health options, all of which are free. Once a user ventures into Koko’s interface, they can explore a whole world of resources that are actually supportive, like online peer support communities, global crisis lines, and personal safety plans.
Koko is embedded across the internet, with the hopes of reaching young people wherever they are, and over two million users have engaged with Koko in the last year. Morris said “There are millions of young people reaching out right now on the platforms they use every day. Imagine if all the millions of young people reaching out online actually got help. We could create the largest mental health intervention in history.”
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Activist and former U.S. Ambassador to the Bahamas Nicole Avant helped open the Jacqueline Avant Children and Family Center at the MLK Medical Campus in the Watts-Willowbrook community of Los Angeles, CA in memory of her mother. The nonprofit was created by citizens and stakeholders to facilitate the revitalization of the MLK Medical Campus in South LA.
Philanthropist and community leader Jacqueline Avant, spouse to legendary music industry executive Clarence Avant, was 81 years old when she was fatally shot during a home invasion in December 2021. Jacqueline Avant’s assailant, Aariel Maynor, was sentenced to life in state prison with a minimum of 150 years, after pleading guilty to Avant’s murder.
The three-story children and family center is a 50,000-square-foot facility which employs a variety of programs to address the needs of at-risk children struggling with trauma, health and mental health problems. The first two floors of the center will be open to the community this summer, and the remaining floor is slated for completion by the end of 2023.
The center opening and dedication attracted giants of the music industry, including Jerry Moss, Jimmy Jam, Phil Quartararo, L.A. Reid, Hollywood management powerhouse Benny Medina, real estate tycoon and former Los Angeles mayoral candidate Rick Caruso, actor Holly Robinson Peete and Nicole’s husband, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos.
Avante’s family turned their focus from tragedy to helping others. Nicole said “My friend Dionne said to me, ‘The greatest way you can honor your mom’s life is to live to the fullest. That is what you have to do,’” she says. “Your job is to live to the fullest because you don’t know how long you have on this earth, no one does. Sometimes you have three months, sometimes you have three years, you just don’t know. People remember you by your good works. That’s what people remember.”
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When a St.Louis teens grandfather’s car died and he found himself without transportation, 14-year-old Xavier Jones did what he had to do to get to his eighth grade graduation last month. Instead of skipping the event, the determined teen set out with his brother and best friend, walking 6.5 miles from his neighborhood in North St. Louis to Yeatman Middle School’s graduation ceremony at Harris-Stowe State University in midtown St. Louis.
Jones said he remembered the advice of his mentor “‘If I want it, I got to go get it.” When the 14-year-old arrived at the graduation, the purveyor of that advice, mentor Darren Seals, was speaking at the ceremony. Hearing that one of his students had walked two hours to be there, he paused to inform the audience. Seals said “I had to stop my speech and call him on board and was like, ‘Hey, everybody get off your feet and give him a standing ovation. They clapped for him. They were like, ‘Woah, this boy walked.’”
The President of Harris-Stowe State University, Dr. Latonia Collins Smith was also in attendance that day, and was moved by the perseverance and determination shown by Jones. She decided to offer him a “ride” to college, although considering the circumstances, this terminology confused Jones.
Recounting the conversation Seals said “She said, ‘You got a full ride,’ and I said [to Xavier], ‘Do you know what that means,’ and he said, ‘They’re going to give me a ride to school?’” Seals said. “I was like, ‘No, you’re getting a ride to college. He said, ‘Wait a minute, I don’t have to pay for college. Then it started hitting him.” Dr. Smith offered the young man the Presidential scholarship, complete with tuition and money for four years of attendance including rent and textbooks.
Jones story of walking to graduation made its rounds on social media and caught the attention of Miami Dolphins NFL player Terron Armstead, who grew up in a similar part of town to Xavier. Armstead decided to buy the family a minivan, and an electric bike for Xavier to ensure transportation options are no longer a problem. The NFL said he was happy to step in and offer help to a boy who had lost his mother some years ago, and is being raised by his grandfather. “It’s humbling, it’s motivating, it’s inspiring,” Armstead said of Jones.
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In 2020, the story of Rehan Staton, 18, went viral. Staton had been rejected from every college he applied to when he took a job as a sanitation worker. The sanitation team helped him to enroll into school at Bowie State University, after which his raised his grades to 4.0—landing him with a chance of Harvard Law School via classes at the University of Maryland.
In 2020, he said “It was the first time in my life a group of individuals that weren’t my father or my brother just came around me and… really just empowered me, uplifted me, told me I was intelligent.” During this time, his father had a stroke and Staton found himself waking at 4am for work to help pay medical bills and studying at night. Actor Tyler Perry offered to pay for Staton’s schooling after seeing a viral video of the young man reacting to his Harvard acceptance. Another $200,000 was raised via GoFundMe to help send Staton to the college.
After that, he began to give back, befriending all the school janitors and other staff who were surprised he wanted to speak to them. Staton started a non-profit called the Reciprocity Effect that works with support staff affiliated with educational institutions. The non-profit helps to crowdfund financial assistance for these hard-working folks in the case of personal tragedies.
He was able to give out several prizes at organized ceremonies to honor them with recognition and awards.
Now, after years of hard work and perseverance, Staton has graduated, with a job lined up in a New York law firm. Staton said “Although I get credit for working hard, working hard was the easy part. I just happened to be around people who cared enough about me. I worked for a trash company, where my co-workers told me that I should go to college instead. I had a boss who let me leave work, go to school, and come back. I had a cousin who helped me study for the LSAT. “I couldn’t have done it alone.”
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A group of graduates from Georgia’s class of 23 stands out as 9 inmates at Walker State Prison in Georgia received their associates degrees for 60 credit hours of coursework done while incarcerated. Organized by Georgia State University as part of their Prison Education Project, the courses included a variety of subjects such as environmental science, English, philosophy and ethics, and geology.
On May 5, Perimeter College graduated its first class of students who earned their degrees in general studies. According to the college, three graduated with GPAs above 3.9 and the rest were above 3.7. Georgia State University Perimeter College geology professor Polly Bouker began teaching the students in January 2022.
Her class included 12 people, the nine graduates and three others who started later, ranged in age from 35 to 61. “I’ve worked 23 years in higher education, and this has been my absolute top experience,” Bouker said. For most of the students in the program, the education they received is the first time they’ve earned a degree.
By 2025, GSU would like to offer the PEP associates degree in five other Georgia penitentiaries. Patrick Rodriguez, director of the PEP said 50 other students are already in the pipeline, something which he says will reduce the chances they will end up incarcerated again. Research links educational attainment with a lower recidivism rate.
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Post Malone helped a young Scottish musician fulfill his dream of buying his first home.
Malone was in Glasgow for a show when he struck up a conversation with local artist Gregor Hunter Coleman at a local pub. Coleman appeared on The X Factor UK in 2017, but now works in the Scotland music scene and frequently holds street performances.
The emerging artist was only aware the rapper was in attendance after his set when they struck up a conversation. During conversation, Malone offered to buy him a drink and learned Coleman, 30, is no longer drinking because he’s been saving his money to buy a house. So instead of buying him a drink, Malone got Coleman a gig at his concert afterparty. “He started saying, how much will you charge? I said nothing, it’s Post Malone, this is the chance of a lifetime. Then he offered to help me out with my deposit so I could have more time to focus on music, which I thought was wild” Coleman said.
Along with the money — an amount Coleman chose not to disclose — he and Malone also exchanged phone numbers.”Never thought whilst heading out the door with my guitar on Friday night for my gig at Wunderbar that I’d meet Post Malone and have such a life changing experience. The hours spent with this gent chatting and jamming was life changing in itself, not to mention what followed” Coleman wrote in an Instagram post.
Coleman said Malone also told him to send him his music in exchange for feedback. Malone is known to have a heart of gold, as he recently swapped sneakers with a ticket holder at a concert or when he ditched his own dinner plans to celebrate a superfan’s 21 birthday.
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A 13-year-old boy in Michigan is being hailed a hero after fighting off a potential kidnapper with his slingshot. The boy’s 8 year old sister was hunting for mushrooms in her backyard in Alpena when a 17-year-old appeared out of the woods behind the family’s home. According to the Michigan State Police, the suspect grabbed the girl, holding her mouth shut to prevent her from screaming.
According to Michigan State Police, the teen suspect managed to catch the girl off-guard, covering her mouth with his hand so that she couldn’t scream. He then wrapped his arm around her waist and began dragging her backward into the woods from which he emerged. Just then, the victim’s older brother sprang into action.
Her brother, Owen Burns, starting shooting the suspect with a slingshot. The boy managed to fire off two perfect shots, striking the would-be kidnapper in the head and chest until he retreated. The suspect ran away and was later found hiding at a nearby gas station. He reportedly had obvious injuries that appeared to have been caused by the slingshot.
Officials announced that the suspect confessed to police that he “planned on severely beating the victim” once he got her into the woods. He was charged with one count of attempted kidnapping/child enticement, one count of attempted assault to do great bodily harm less than murder, and one count of assault and battery. His bond was set at $150,000.
A Michigan State Police spokesperson said “You wouldn’t think if you were playing in your own back yard or on your own property that you have to be concerned about something like this, but it just goes to show that there is evil out there. Owen was “really the one” to save her. For a 14-year-old to see that and pop into action that quickly is extraordinary and he should be commended for it. What he did also helped us identify who the suspect was of the obvious injuries from being hit with the slingshot and those were things that helped us evidentiary-wise identify who it was.”
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