A pregnant mother of two is being hailed a hero after saving four kids from drowning during a family outing. As fate had it, Alyssa DeWitt, 27, decided to take her kids to First Street Beach Pier at Lake Michigan despite thinking the winds may be too strong. She soon noticed a group of girls under 15 on the beach who were going into the water.
Alyssa and her two children were the only other people on the beach at the time when the young girls ran into trouble. “I happened to look up and saw one of the girls waving her arms towards me and immediately knew something was wrong,” she said. Rip currents had pulled the girls out deeper and deeper into Lake Michigan, and they couldn’t get out.
“I got up, pulled my kids out of the water and ran out onto the pier. They couldn’t even keep their heads above water at that point. I called 911 immediately but I didn’t know if they could hear me and I didn’t have time to wait and find out,” she said. Alyssa knew she had to act quickly. “I put my phone down with 911 on and laid down over the side of the pier and told them to reach for my hand” she said.
Despite being five months pregnant she began trying to pull the girls over the rocky and slippery pier. “Every time I’d get one of them halfway up, a big wave would come smashing into us and knock them back down or almost pull me over,” she said. Alyssa recalled a moment she said will stick with her forever and still makes her cry when she thinks about it. “My turning point was when one of the little girls looked at me and said, ‘I’m going to die.’ That was it for me and I was like ‘I’m not going to let you die, I’m going to get you out of this water, I promise.’”
She managed to pull all three girls out of the water and over the pier before the group set off back towards the shore to rescue a fourth girl who had managed to get closer to shore but couldn’t stand because her leg was injured. Alyssa said “I honestly do not know how I did it, it was pure adrenaline at that point. Right after I got everybody onto the beach, the ambulance and the police cars came flying into the parking lot.”
Alyssa sustained a swollen wrist but she and the baby were both fine when she went to the hospital to get checked out. The modest hero praised her six-year-old daughter for managing to keep her two-year-old brother safe during the ordeal. “Between me screaming into the phone that I needed help and me screaming to the kids what I needed them to do to get them out, I was also turning around and screaming to my son not to come because it wasn’t safe. He was very scared and repeatedly tried to run to me on the pier” she said “My daughter would pick him up and take him back to the sand and she was so calm and I’m extremely proud of her, she did a great job.”
Manistee City Police Chief Josh Glass said “Thankfully, all parties involved sustained minor injuries, but without the actions of this heroic young lady could have easily turned out differently. Especially being a father of young children, it’s extremely impressive the way this young lady called to action without hesitation and I think it’s pretty obvious what would have happened if she wasn’t there.”
Read more
Chicago restauranteur Robert Magiet was driving across town one morning when he spotted a shivering tamale vendor braving the frigid January temperatures of the “Windy City”. He made a spur of the moment offer she couldn’t refuse. Rather than let the woman wearing many layers of clothing to keep warm stay in the cold all day—Magiet bought out her entire day’s supply—close to 10 dozen tamales, gave her a big tip, and sent her on her way.
Magiet loaded up the tamales he’d purchased and distributed them to homeless people. Pleased with the outcome of the morning’s events, Magiet took to Facebook to see if he could continue the trend. “Anyone know of any Tamale Cart vendors that will be out this weekend in the cold weather? I went to Yolanda near Humboldt Park and bought her out so she could go home today. I’d love to do the same for other Vendors and distribute the Tamales to our neighbors experiencing homelessness. Let me know of any leads please” he posted.
In the following days, armed with suggestions, Magiet bought up all the tamales from vendors at three different locations. And again, after generously tipping the sellers whose trade had been severely curtailed by both the weather and the lockdown, he distributed the tamales to people in need. Helping the hungry in his community is nothing new for Magiet.
After opening a Love Fridge community food pantry outside his TaKorea Cocina restaurant this past June, Magiet teamed up with the owners of Fatso’s Last Stand and Jack & Ginger’s restaurants to prep and deliver 1,300 Thanksgiving meals for the needy. After Christmas, he also partnered with Jason Vincent, owner of Logan Square eatery Giant, to man a food truck serving breakfast and lunch to the homeless.
He also partnered with his friend Taylor Hammond, owner of The StopAlong, a Bucktown pizzeria, to ask if he’d be willing to donate his kitchen once a week to help ease food insecurity for families in need. Knowing how much kids love pizza, Hammond readily agreed. “It’s like, I have a restaurant. I have food. I know people who have restaurants and food. Let’s help people who need food.” Magiet said.
Having seen firsthand the devastating impact the coronavirus pandemic had on his own industry, he feels lucky to be in a position to provide much-needed relief for those struggling to put food on the table. He says on average he purchases 15 dozen tamales for an average price of $16 a dozen. “At first they are in disbelief. They don’t understand why someone would want to buy so many tamales.”
Magiet plans to continue his tamale runs for the remainder of the winter. Pizzas are still on the table as well. “If somebody in our neighborhood is struggling, we all struggle. I’m not trying to save the world. I’m just trying to help people who need food. If I have the ability to go help somebody, I’m just going to go help somebody. To me, it’s literally that simple” Magiet said.
The food Magiet collects will be distributed to several Love Fridges locations around town, Breakthrough Urban Ministries in East Garfield Park, and to Franciscan Outreach’s homeless shelter in North Lawndale. If you’d like to help, donations can be made to Zelle at 773-807-0057 or venmo: @takoreacocina.
Read more
Daily HI4E.org Trivia Contest Winners For The Week Ending: Sunday, January 19th, 2020.
In an effort to broaden the company’s “social interaction” with our clients and FaceBook fans, Daily Trivia Questions are posted on both of our business pages. Here are the weekly standings for this past week, and the winner of the Sunday night Weekly Drawing for an AmEx/VISA gift card!
Congratulations – To this past week’s Trivia Contest Winner!! Our latest contest winner for the weekly FaceBook HealthInsurance4Everyone/Health & Life Solutions, LLC Trivia Contest, drawn randomly by computer late Sunday evening, January 19th, 2020 was:
STACY NELSON
Cuyahoga Falls, OH
Winner Of A $25.00 AmEX/VISA Gift Card
Each day, fans who have “liked” either of our company FaceBook pages (HealthInsurance4Everyone or Health & Life Solutions LLC) are able to test their skills with our Daily TRIVIA QUESTION. The first 20 winners who post the correct answer to the TRIVIA QUESTION, will then get entered into the weekly drawing held late on Sunday evenings for a $25.00 Am Ex/Visa Gift Card.
Weekly Gift Card winners will be posted in our blog at this site. Remember to become a FaceBook fan and “Like and Follow” either of our company pages to enter and post your answers.
The Trivia Winners and Drawing Entries 01/13/20 thru 01/19/2020 are as follows…
1/13/20
Cassandra Berholtz
Lisa Bourlier
Traci Anderson
Shannon Rush
Thomas Ryan Gan
Dale Fish
Ashley Agner
Yolanda Ortega-Hackett
Tina Auth
Beth Kumjian
Jeannie Prosser
Melissa Ann Stura-Bassett
Ellen Ciambrelli Ferrari
April Ashcraft
Amy Conyers
Chrissy Kim
Cindy Quisenberry
Terry Simon
Mary Mcmenamy
Maggie Smith
Debbie Gremlin
1/14/20
Misty Shallcross
Adaria Johnson
Jennifer Ramlet
Erica Hansen
Lena Perry
Amber McGrath
Jeannie Prosser
Angela Meek
Nancy Scharnhorst
Becky VanGinkel
Becca Neuenschwander Long
Sherri Kidwell
Nicole Blaha
Tina GIlbert
Alicia Johnson
Kathleen Hickman
Christy Hawkes
Trish Dye Masi
Vickie Gipson
Jenai Merri
Kayla Williams
Ellen Ciambrelli Ferrari
Karen Brunet Moore
Paula Gillespie
1/15/20
Melissa White
Dawn Raasch
Brittany Deaver
Carrie Goodin
Carla Marie
Dean Bruss
Shannon Rush
Susan Clarke Jette
Kathleen Hickman
Amy L Sass
Jenai Merri
Paula M Bondy
Kimberly Snyder
Annette French
Vickie Gipson
Rhonda Grisham
Eleazar Ruiz
Brandi K Chaney
Jennifer Vega
Linda Godin
Carla Williams
01/16/20
Jenifer Garza
Jennifer Ramlet
Christy Hawkes
Sherri Kidwell
Jeannie Prosser
Misty Shallcross
Karen Brunet Moore
Andrea Ayala
Kim Avery
Jennifer Vega
Rhonda Grisham
Janice McKay Donahue
Darlene Whyte
Lori Sexton Leal
Maria Bouchard
Nicole Blaha
Kim Minton
Melissa White
Kathy Stevens Ring
Derek Jennings
Tonya Velazquez
1/14/20
Misty Shallcross
Adaria Johnson
Jennifer Ramlet
Erica Hansen
Lena Perry
Amber McGrath
Jeannie Prosser
Angela Meek
Nancy Scharnhorst
Becky VanGinkel
Becca Neuenschwander Long
Sherri Kidwell
Nicole Blaha
Tina GIlbert
Alicia Johnson
Kathleen Hickman
Christy Hawkes
Trish Dye Masi
Vickie Gipson
Jenai Merri
Kayla Williams
Ellen Ciambrelli Ferrari
Karen Brunet Moore
Paula Gillespie
1/18/20
Amanda Justice
Melinda Poullion
Kimberly Snyder
Stacy Nelson
Rhonda Grisham
Kelsey Renee Adcock
Alicia Dansby
Mary Pettiford
Nancy Scharnhorst
Jane Peterson
Debbie Bloxom
Tiffany Banks
Becky Holland
Sheila Carvell
Nikki Hunsaker
Sarah Harrison
Geri Rus
Jill Nauyokas
Be Schwerin
Trish Dye Masi
1/19/20
Sara Bellestri Shih
Angela Janisse
Tabitha Sinks
Karyn Koehler
Paula M Bondy
Bea Patrick
Nacole Patrick
Alicia Johnson
Alana Dimambro
Derek Jennings
Madeline Lonergan
Kristina Harris
Yolanda Ortega-Hackett
Cassandra Berholtz
Mary Mcmenamy
Mary Pettiford
Tina David Konegan
Brandi Lindstrom
Anna Nichols
Misty Shallcross
Amber McGrath
Be sure to watch both of our FaceBook pages for your chance to win and enter again next week, with questions posted daily on HealthInsurance4Everyone or at Health & Life Solutions, LLC!!
Remember that if you try your hand at answering the Trivia Question several days each week, your odds of winning the Sunday weekly drawing are much better.
Also note that a number of the posted answers each day are from contestants who have forgotten to “Like” one of our pages, so their names WILL NOT be entered at the end week drawing for the gift card, giving our fans a better chance!
You may also find that if you “Like” BOTH of the business pages, you will receive faster notifications of the other players as they post their answers to compete with you!
————————-
At Health Insurance 4 Everyone, we not only want to improve our customer service but also interact with our customers on a social media level that wasn’t available before. Interested in connecting with us? Look us up on….
Twitter: Healthinsurane4 (Follow Us On Twitter To Receive Faster Notifications When Daily Trivia Questions Posted, & To Be Immediately Notified When Weekly AmEX Gift Card Winners Are Announced!!)
Click-On for LinkedIn To Follow Our Posts: LinkedIn
Like us on facebook: HealthInsurance4Everyone or Health & Life Solutions, LLC
Over 54,000 Combined Fans/Followers To Our Social Media Sites, & We’re Growing Daily!
Follow Mark Shuster, Founder/Owner at Health & Life Solutions, LLC for daily health tips!
Mark Shuster FaceBook Link
Follow our word press blog and read about everything from health insurance and reform news to healthy living and current events!
Company Blogs
Find out more about LegalShield, our corporate partner which gives you the power to talk to an attorney about any legal issue, and offering high-quality Identity Theft plans.
LegalShield
Read more
