Two years ago, to commemorate his 21st birthday, actor Jaden Smith launched the I Love You Restaurant, a vegan food truck initiative to combat food insecurity for Los Angeles’ homeless. Smith’s vegan meals found their way to 8,000 of L.A. ‘s Skid Row residents. Eventually, I Love You’s efforts were expanded to serve at-risk residents in Harlem, New York City.
“Our mission is to spread love to communities experiencing food and/or housing insecurity by offering water along with fresh, high-quality, and delicious sustainable meal options,” his food website explains. When the pandemic hit Smith’s organization continued to donate vegan food but also distributed masks, clothes, hand sanitizer, and other essential items.
Smith is now pivoting his I Love You concept yet again with plans for a more permanent version of his restaurant on the table, bringing the success of his past efforts into the next phase. The “pay as you can” philosophy welcomes anyone to partake of the yet-to-be-announced location’s fare. Those who can afford the suggested menu prices will be in effect subsidizing meals for those who can’t.
The I Love You Restaurant is just one of Smith’s philanthropic projects. In 2019, through his company JUST Goods Inc., he led an initiative centered on bringing a water filtration system to Flint, Michigan. The company joined forces with Flint’s First Trinity Missionary Baptist Church to implement a system called “The Water Box” which helped reduce lead and other toxic chemicals in contaminated water.
In 2018, he also led an effort to donate water each month to the city’s schools until the water was safe to drink which led to thousands of bottles being donated to Flint schools. “I want to have something I can feel good about that I can feel like it’s changing the world. I’m not only being neutral with the world, I’m actually making the world a better place. I’ve just always wanted to be an advocate of humanity” Smith said.
Initiatives like Smith’s are instrumental in evoking change. According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, there are over 500,000 people in the United States experiencing homelessness on a given night. Feeding America reported that in 2017 nearly 40 million Americans—including over 12 million youngsters—lacked access to food.
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A California couple wanted to help new parents who are especially struggling during the pandemic. The couple wanted to brighten the day of a few new parents, so they decided to hide money in essential baby items like formula containers, diaper boxes, baby bottle boxes and breast pump supplies at three LA area Target stores.
Krystal Duhaney is a registered nurse and the founder of Milky Mama. When she and her husband Patrick had their first child they realized just how expensive raising a family can be.
“We recalled how hard it was for us as new parents to afford some of the basics and we could imagine how difficult it must be during this pandemic.”
Now a soon-to-be mother of three, says they’re in a better place financially so they can afford to give back to others. So far they’ve stuffed about $1,000 in cash into various baby supplies around Los Angeles Target stores, and they’re not stopping any time soon.
“When we were new parents, the saying, ‘It takes a village,’ really rang true. our neighbors, coworkers, friends and family members showered us with meals, pitched in to help with yard work and so much more. It was so amazing to feel supported and to know that there were people out there that cared. I wanted other parents who may be feeling alone to know someone out there cares about them.”
Duhaney says it’s her hope that the parents who find her hidden gifts not only feel supported, but also pay the act of kindness forward. “I hope they help other parents that are in need,” she said. “The world needs more kindness and I’m hoping our video inspires others to spread joy and kindness wherever they go.”
Duhaney posted a video of their good deed on instagram showing them stuffing money in the items while the Target location flashed on the screen and encouraged people to tag a mama who could use the help. “We hope that the parents that purchase these items have a brighter day when they find our gifts,” she wrote alongside the Instagram video.
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A GoFundMe campaign started to help pay the medical bills for Deacon Ahsmore has raised over $30,000 so far. The 12 year old is being hailed a hero for risking his life to save his siblings from being mauled by two dogs. Deacon is recovering at home with his family after he underwent surgery to fix the tendons, ligaments and muscle severed in the attack. Deacon’s injuries means he’s faced with a long recovery that will likely include physical therapy.
Deacon was playing outside in his Detroit neighborhood with his 9 and 7 year-old sisters, 5-year-old brother, and some other kids, when the dogs got loose. He saw the menacing dogs running straight for them and instinctively jumped in front of all the other kids to make sure they could run to safety. One of the dogs bit down on the young boy’s calf so hard he was left with puncture wounds down to the bone.
Deacon’s father Peter Ashmore was finally able to get the dog to let go. He and his wife Elisabeth rushed Deacon to the hospital. Deacon was still worried about his siblings in the hospital. “When we were in the hospital, he must have asked me five, six, seven times, ‘Is (his little brother) Kingston okay? ‘Are the girls okay? How’s Mommy?'” Peter said. Deacon required surgery to repair the damage and was released the next day.
Adopted from Ethiopia when he was a baby, his mother Elisabeth said Deacon’s only concern when the dogs charged him and the other children were his siblings, especially the littlest one, his 5-year-old brother, Kingston. “He just kept saying, ‘I know Kingston wouldn’t have survived if the dogs would have attacked him.” Deacon’s teacher and parents praised the boy for his actions during the fight or flight situation.
Since his story made headlines, well-wishers from all over the country have been donating to a GoFundMe set up by the pastor of his church. The GoFundMe created by Clete Bontrager reads: “Hey Everyone,” Bontrager wrote in the GoFundMe description. “Many of you know Deacon Ashmore as a great young man! Deacon proved that Monday evening. His leg was mauled by a dog while playing outside with his siblings. Deacon stepped between the two dogs and his siblings so they could run to the house, but in doing so had his leg badly mangled. “He had surgery Tuesday morning to repair his calf. Deacon will have medical bills which may include physical therapy. Along with financial help Deacon can use your prayers for his spirits to stay up and his leg heals without complications. Thank you -“
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A police officer is being hailed a hero after he lifted off a 3,500-pound SUV to free the woman trapped underneath. Deputy Jon Holt said that he simply lifted part of the vehicle enough to free the woman after responding to a call of an overturned vehicle with an entrapment.
Deputy Holt arrived on the scene and told dispatch the car was upside down. He quickly ran to the vehicle to find the woman’s young son crouched in the car near his mother comforting her. A witness told Deputy Holt her head was pinned and she couldn’t breath. Holt then tells the boy to get back away from the car before he single handedly lifts the vehicle.
The Sheriff’s office wrote on a Facebook post “The driver was laying underneath the vehicle with her head pinned by the sunroof. Seeing the trauma her child was witnessing, Deputy J. Holt went into overdrive. Through sheer will and determination due to fearing the female may succumb to her circumstance in front of her panic-stricken child, Deputy J. Holt took quick action and was able to physically lift the vehicle up enough for the driver to maneuver her head out to safety.” the post said.
The post included brief footage of the incident with graphic footage of the accident, the woman trapped motionless under the car, and her child screaming from the back seat. In the video, Holt sidles up to the vehicle and can be heard straining vigorously as the video goes blank from the camera pressing up against a surface. “Mom, try to get out!” the voice of the child shouts. Holt continues to strain. “Can you slide anything Ma’am, is your head clear?” Holt says just before the video ends. Gloucester County Sheriff Darrell Warren said after the car was lifted and she was able to escape, the woman’s injuries “didn’t appear to be life threatening.”
Being called a hero is not new to Deputy Holt. He was recently awarded local and regional “Top Cop Awards” for rescuing a disabled young girl and woman from a burning home in March 2020. Believing that an infant was still unaccounted for, he entered the home two more times to search for the baby. During an interview regarding his most recent rescue, Deputy Holt humbling said that he’s not a hero and just a regular cop but his department and community disagree.
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Many teachers go above and beyond for their students which is the case for Pennsylvania teacher Barb Heim. Everyday after school she makes a 20-minute drive from school to deliver the day’s lesson to a special student in a fight for his life. Second-grader Harrison Conner is homeschooling while he goes through treatment for leukemia. The two of them wear masks and Heim also wears a face shield as she gives him the day’s lesson through a Plexiglass screen at a table in Harrison’s home.
Heim, who is in her 35th year as a first-grade teacher at Conneaut Valley Elementary School in Conneautville, Pennsylvania, has gone the extra mile to make sure keeps his spirits up and his learning on track as he goes through treatment. Heim said “It was a joy, because I knew he wanted to learn. He couldn’t wait. He was so excited. And he’d have his off days if medicine was causing him to not feel up to it. It wasn’t the best day for him, but we made it through. And he always did his best.
Near the end of 2019, Heim first noticed there was something off with Harrison during recess inside the school gym. Instead of being active, he would often turn pale and have to sit down while the other kids were playing. The school nurse notified Harrison’s mother, Suzanne, before the school closed for Christmas break. “He’s an amazing little guy,” Heim said. “He is so much fun in class. You could have 100 of him in a classroom, and you would still take more because he has that sense about him. He wants to learn. He loves to learn new things.”
Heim then found out the difficult news about Harrison’s diagnosis when school returned. “One of these little guys from my class walks in the doorway, makes a beeline to my desk, and says, ‘Mrs. Heim, Harrison went on a helicopter ride to the hospital,”’ Heim said. Harrison’s absence in class was felt by his teacher and classmates. Before Zoom became a fact of life for millions of children learning remotely, Heim’s class would call Harrison on Zoom every day after recess while he was at home.
Heim would read a story while his classmates made sure to say hello to their buddy. Then the pandemic began, isolating Harrison from his friends and classmates. Heim decided to make sure he wouldn’t fall behind.
Harrison’s mother Suzanne Connor said “It goes far beyond her just coming here for school. Ever since the minute he was diagnosed … she has been absolutely amazing. She has kept Harrison such a part of the kids’ lives in school and making sure that he feels remembered. It’s not like a teacher is coming from school to teach, she’s like an aunt who is coming over to hang out, and she brings goodies, and she is always bringing a smile,” she said. “My kids will meet her at the front door with all the latest news and it’s incredibly, incredibly, special.”
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Captain Thomas Moore, a British World War II veteran raised money for charity in the run-up to his 100th birthday during the COVID-19 pandemic. On 6 April 2020, at the age of 99, Moore began to walk one hundred lengths of his garden in aid of NHS Charities Together, with the goal of raising 1,000 pounds or $1391 USD by his 100th birthday. In the 24-day course of his fundraising, he made many media appearances and became a popular household name in the UK, earning a number of accolades and attracting over 1.5 million individual donations. By the end of the day on Moore’s hundredth birthday, the total raised by his walk was 32.79 million pounds or $45 million USD.
When his campaign reached 5 million pounds, he explained his motivation “When we started off with this exercise we didn’t anticipate we’d get anything near that sort of money. It’s really amazing. All of them, from top to bottom, in the National Health Service, they deserve everything that we can possibly put in their place. They’re all so brave. Because every morning or every night they’re putting themselves into harm’s way, and I think you’ve got to give them full marks for that effort. We’re a little bit like having a war at the moment. But the doctors and the nurses, they’re all on the front line, and all of us behind, we’ve got to supply them and keep them going with everything that they need, so that they can do their jobs even better than they’re doing now.”
Funds raised by Moore were used on well-being packs for National Health Service staff, facilitating rest and recuperation rooms, devices to enable hospital patients to keep in contact with family members, and community groups who support patients once discharged from hospitals. When his campaign ended, Moore encouraged people to continue to donate, directly to the NHS Charities Together’s urgent appeal.
Moore’s selfless pursuit captured hearts around the world, including that of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who called him “a beacon of light through the fog of coronavirus.” So many cards had been sent to him during the last two weeks before his 100th birthday that Royal Mail had to introduce dedicated sorting facilities and around 20 volunteers were recruited to open and display them, at the local Bedford School. On the morning of his birthday, a Hawker Hurricane and a Spitfire from the Royal Air Force’s Battle of Britain Memorial Flight performed a flypast over Moore’s house. In the afternoon, a second flypast featured two Army Air Corps helicopters, a Wildcat and an Apache.
Murals were created in his honor, a bus company named one of its buses Captain Tom Moore on and reprogrammed the electronic displays to show a “Thank You Captain Tom” message intermittently in between the vehicle’s route and destination. On 17 July 2020, he was personally knighted by the Queen at Windsor Castle. Moore passed away on February 2nd 2021 after contracting Covid 19 but his impact during the pandemic made him a hero in the United Kingdom. Moore’s family continues to honor his life and giving spirit through The Captain Tom Foundation.
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HeroHomes, a non-profit organization, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Monday to hand over the keys to a finished home to U.S. Army Veteran Vainuupo “AV” Avegalio. Avegalio was a homeless retired U.S. Army Sergeant who spent his income helping other veterans battling post-traumatic stress. The organization’s donation and help from contractors and local businesses made it possible to fund all of the building costs and furnishings for Avegalio’s new home in Purcellville, Virginia.
Avegalio is an amateur poet and visual artist whose work deals with war experience and trauma. Art and poetry are his way of dealing with guilt, anger, depression, and suicidal ideation which coupled with multiple injuries sustained while serving overseas- ended his 12 year military career. He now travels the United States and its territories conducting art and poetry workshops with at risk youth, current and former inmates, first responders, veterans, and those suffering from mental illness in hope of bettering their quality of life.
He was sleeping in his car while traveling across the country to help veterans in need and even used his money from the Army for his workshops and supplies. Avegalio has performed his readings across the United States and just recently hit the big screen in his debut in the HBO documentary, We Are Not Done Yet.
Avegalio, who served five tours of duty, including in Iraq and Afghanistan, moves into the 2,900-square-foot, 4-bedroom, 3-bathroom home custom-built by homebuilder Brookfield Residential. Brookfield Residential, based in the mid-Atlantic region, donated 100 percent of their management time to the project. The company also reached out to each vendor to find reduced costs, and in many cases labor and material were completely donated.
Avegalio said he hopes to use the basement in his new home, which has been renovated to his art studio, to continue his work helping others. HeroHomes is a nonprofit established in 2017 that gives veterans the ability to live independently and to provide for their future. Co-founders Jason Brownell and Matt Lowers met Avegalio through the third HeroHomes recipient William Slease. They said they hope that by providing Avegalio with permanent housing, it will help him expand his mission of helping others.
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A Hayward, California woman has been a mother to more than 80 babies over the years through foster care. Linda Owens has cared for 81 infants in the 34 years she has been a resource parent. The 78-year-old retired grocery department manager fosters the babies as a single parent and she remembers them all. She keeps a supply of baby gear and clothes on hand; some, bought with her own money.
Owens said “It’s a challenging job, but very rewarding. This is what God’s handed me a gift to do,” said Owens, who has loved taking care of babies since childhood. Sometimes she fosters two infants at a time. A number of the newborns come to her exposed to drugs in the womb. Some have developmental delays and many don’t sleep through the night.
Among the county’s 500 resource parents, Owens is one of the longest-serving. Mia Buckner-Preston is the Placement Division Director of the Alameda County Department of Children & Family Services, which places children in foster homes. “Her experience, the care, the love she provides to the babies, it’s immeasurable. She’s in a category almost all by herself.” said Buckner-Preston. That experience shows according to pediatrician Mika Hiramatsu. Owens has brought many babies to her over the years. “She’s always been very optimistic, always determined to give these babies the best possible start in their lives,” said Dr. Hiramatsu.
According to the U.S. Administration for Children and Families, 7% of all children in the system are under the age of one and the average age of children in foster care is about 8 years old. From October 2018 to September 2019, there were 672,594 children served by the U.S. foster care system. During that time, 254,359 entered the system and 248,669 have exited the system. The Statistics from Adoption Network show 140,000 children are adopted in the U.S. every year and 59% come from the foster care system, 26% from foreign countries and 15% are voluntarily relinquished.
When Owens job is done and it’s time to turn the babies over to their birth or adoptive families, letting go can be heartbreaking but she’s giving them and their parents the best possible start. The oldest of the babies she’s fostered is now 37. Owens has loved taking care of children since she was a child herself and it shows through her over three decades of work with the foster care system.
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Every March, Jersey Mike’s Subs holds their annual month of giving in all franchise locations nationwide. Customers are invited to come in and donate to a local charity partner then on the last day in March, known as the all Jersey Mike’s locations across America donate 100 percent of sales—not just profits—to local charities. They set a company goal this year of raising $8 million but thanks to the generosity of their customers, blew past that mark to raise an incredible $15 million. The money raised will help more than 200 charities nationwide.
More than 1,900 restaurants that are known for their in-store freshly-baked bread donated every penny of their sales on the 31st to hospitals, youth organizations, and food banks. The fundraising total is double the amount raised in 2019 when the New Jersey-based company gave away $7.3 million to their communities. Peter Cancro, Jersey Mike’s Founder & CEO said “We really hoped to do well this year after the disappointment of having to cancel last year’s Day of Giving and the outpouring of support from across the country is truly inspiring. We are filled with gratitude and admiration for our customers, franchise owners, and team members who have helped these charities in such a big way, now, when they need it more than ever.”
Jersey Mike’s began the practice in 2011, and over the years has raised more than $47 million for local charities and distributed more than 1.5 million free sub sandwiches to help numerous causes.
The company’s mission has always been: “Giving…making a difference in someone’s life”. The company says their culture of giving at Jersey Mike’s is as much a part of their heritage as oil and vinegar. Every franchise store that is opened starts by partnering with a charity in the local community.
The next nationwide fundraising campaign is “Christmas in July” for Wreaths Across America. From June 27 through July 11, Jersey Mike’s stores throughout the nation collect donations for this non-profit organization, which lays thousands of wreaths at the graves of the nation’s veterans in the Christmas season.
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California husband and wife adopted seven children after the children’s mother and father perished in a car accident a year earlier. The siblings had been placed in foster care when Pam Willis came across a post about their story. Pam, 50, and her husband Gary, who have five biological adult children, had fostered before, but they had never discussed adoption. She tagged him in the post, not knowing if he would feel the same but by the end of the day the both wanted to adopt them all.
“We knew deep inside that this mission was being placed before us,” Pam wrote. “If not us, then who? Who would keep them all together? Who would have the space for them? Who would have the time, and the love, and the patience for their trauma? We would. Why else did we have a six-bedroom house that was about to have its last child’s bedroom vacated? Why else would our nest that had raised our first five babies be empty just in time? It was only to make room for our new babies.”
Two months after making initial contact with the foster care agency, Adelino, 15, Ruby, 13, Aleecia, 9, Anthony, 8, Aubriella, 7, Leo, 5, and Xander, 4 were placed with Pam and Gary. The Willises knew it would take time for them to earn the children’s trust but they were willing to do whatever it took. Last August, Pam and Gary made the adoption official. The virtual ceremony was attended by the couple’s biological children, Matthew, Andrew, Alexa, Sophia, and Sam—whose ages range from 20 to 32.
The couple learned that the children had experienced quite a bit of trauma in their lives. Their mother and father were sometimes indigent and also struggled with substance abuse. As a result, they were sometimes unable to provide a stable environment for their kids. The family left their home with all their belongings in tow, headed to a new life in Texas when the deadly rollover crash occurred. All seven children had been ejected from the vehicle, suffering minor to critical injuries. They ranged in ages of 1 to 12 at the time. The children were treated for their injuries and placed in foster care.
Pam revealed that connecting with the older ones was tough. “I think it’s so hard to trust when so much has been taken from your life,” she told the outlet. “Ruby didn’t know how to be a kid. She had to be a mother figure at a very young age.”
Though a second family hadn’t been in their plans, Pam said “They were ours from the minute we saw their faces on the news story. If you ask my friends, one moment we were reposting their heart-wrenching news story and calling attention to their plight, the next minute we were meeting them, falling in love, and starting the adoption process… WE are their forever home, and this is our second chance with SEVEN!”
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