A 13-year-old boy in Jackson, Mississippi used his Make-A-Wish to feed homeless people.
Abraham Olagbegi was born with a rare blood disorder and needed a bone marrow transplant.
His transplant was successful and he was later contacted by the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which gifts children with life-threatening illnesses a granted wish. Despite the allure of getting something epic for himself, he thought the money and opportunity would be better spent on other people.
Abraham decided he wanted a long-lasting wish. “I remember we were coming home from one of his doctor appointments and he said, ‘Mom, I thought about it, and I really want to feed the homeless,” Abraham’s mom, Miriam Olagbegi said. The Foundation was more than happy to oblige Abraham in his wish and they set up a stall in Jackson, Mississippi to hand out free food to homeless people as well as supplies donated from local businesses.
In September, Make-A-Wish helped Abraham organize a day to hand out free food in Jackson, Mississippi. Abraham’s wish is still not fulfilled. Make-A-Wish will help Abraham feed the homeless once a month for one year. Abraham and his family are scheduled to host the event every third Saturday of each month. The Mississippi chapter has pledged to help Abraham by seeking out local businesses that can offer assistance and food to serve up to 80 people.
After Make-A-Wish finishes his wish in August 2022, Abraham plans to continue helping the homeless. He already has a name for the nonprofit, “Abraham’s Table.” “We’re just very excited to be able to continue on this endeavor. It’s just so rewarding,” his mom said. “If I was out there on the streets, homeless, I would want somebody at some point to think of me and to do something special for me. So, that’s what I try to instill in my kids and we just try to pay it forward, by doing what we were raised to do.”
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Pittsburgh Steelers rookie Najee Harris returned to the California homeless shelter where he stayed at times when he was a child to help renovate the building and the grounds. Harris partnered with the Lowe’s Home Team and Hands On Bay Area group to bring new life to the Greater Richmond Interfaith Program in Richmond – located about 12 miles north of Oakland. The shelter serves 15,000 homeless, hungry, and low-income individuals annually.
On Oct 5th, Harris, his family and more than 100 volunteers removed the floors, walls, fences, gardens, play areas and veterans’ housing. When Harris was 12 years old, his mother and four siblings were homeless and moved from shelter to shelter around the Bay Area at one point even living in a car. Harris spent a lot of time in homeless shelters but he especially remembers the Greater Richmond Interfaith Program so every time he’s in the area, he makes sure to pay his respects.
The Martinez, California, native would eventually attend Alabama where he would star as running back, helping the Crimson Tide to a national championship and then get drafted 24th overall by the Steelers. “In Alabama, I didn’t really go there because I didn’t really have time to do that. Ever since I’ve been out of college … I’m not going to say all the time but a good amount. I planned my draft there, I came back again after the draft to see some of the stuff they need done. I came back again to take some of the kids to a Giants game. “It was good to go back. Obviously, some of the people there are still working. I went back with my mom too and my family. It was good to renovate some of the things that needed updating,” he said.
Harris remembers his time at the shelter and continues to pay his success forward whenever he can. While visiting the shelter, Harris says he just tries to keep the kids’ minds off their struggles. “I tell them the basic stuff, it’s not like I give some grand speech or something but you know. I just tell them you can always change around the situation and sometimes I’m not even speaking to them about the situations they’re in because they all know where they’re at. I just try to take their minds off other things.”
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A 79-year-old Navy veteran, Kenny Jary, known for riding a patriotic scooter around Mahtomedi, MN has become very popular on TikTok. His neighbor Amanda Kline helped him set up a tiktok account, @patrioticKenny and he posted a few videos. Just a week later, his mobility scooter broke down leaving him heart broken. Kline posted a video of him talking about how sad he was that his scooter broke down but the two were about to find out just how wonderful his new community is.
“He was so sad and upset, I just decided to post a little video,” Kline said. “Honestly, I was thinking, if we got lucky, maybe he’d get like a hundred dollars off a scooter or something.”
In the video Jary explains “You know I met some beautiful people on this scooter by traveling around, the coffee shop and Veteran’s Park and I met Amanda, Jenny, and Jerry and that’s when I start to cry… because that’s how I met them,” Kenny says in the video. The video garnered millions of views on TikTok so Amanda launched a GoFundMe page to buy Kenny a new scooter.
Within hours, his newfound social media community raised $5,000, enough to pay for two new scooters. When Amanda told Kenny the good news, he broke down in tears. She posted another video of Kenny’s reaction. “I didn’t think it would get $1,000,” Jary said. “Look what happened? I am so honored. My angels took care of me. I could not believe it,” Jary said. “I laid on the floor and just bawled because I’m an emotional person, so I’m so happy.” And the love just keeps coming. Kenny now has more than 650,000 followers on TikTok, and his GoFundMe fundraiser has surpassed $111,000.
In addition to a new scooter, the donations will help Kenny get some new teeth, move into a safer home, and pay off debt. But Kenny also wanted to pay it forward to other vets in need. Using the extra money raised by his fundraiser, he’s purchasing scooters for other veterans in need. But when he invited people to nominate a veteran to receive a scooter, he received more than 500 submissions.
So, with Amanda’s help, Kenny launched a GoFundMe page to raise more money to meet the demand. The fundraiser states “Every donation made here will go directly to purchasing free scooters for veterans. You’ve seen how happy Kenny’s new scooter made him. We want to be able to put that type of smile on the faces of even more of those who have served our country with such dedication and honor.”
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Two Massachusetts police officers who surprised a little boy with a brand new bicycle last month
received a surprise of their own from Dunkin’ in recognition of their random act of kindness. Dunkin’ gifted Officers Michael Flynn and Michael Hughes tickets to the highly-anticipated Patriots-Buccaneers game.
Last month, Taunton police officers Michael Flynn and Michael Hughes surprised six-year-old Bryan King with a new bicycle after his was stolen, twice. King told the officers it was the second time in a week his bike had been stolen, the first being a gift for his sixth birthday.
Officer Hughes said “We’re getting ready to leave and I said to Officer Flynn…I think I want to buy him a bike. He’s like, let’s split it.”
Officer Flynn contacted Dawn King the following day to say that they had additional questions and wanted to meet them at their home. The officers brought the bike and also gave Bryan King Jr. two bike locks and some helpful tips to prevent theft. “It just blew my day out of the water. I cried. It was heartfelt. It was truly heartfelt,” Bryan’s mom said.
The ordeal led Taunton Police Chief Edward J. Walsh to issue a statement, praising the officers for bringing joy to the little boy. “This is a fantastic example of community policing and I want to commend officers Flynn and Hughes for their selflessness and caring,” Chief Walsh said in the press release. “This boy had his bike stolen twice in a short period of time and that can be devastating for a child. I’m glad our officers were able to put a smile on his face and brighten his day.”
When Dunkin’ Donuts heard about the officers’ act of kindness, they surprised Officers Flynn and Hughes with tickets to Sunday’s Patriots-Buccaneers game. “It’s just crazy. I mean it’s one thing to go to a game…to think we are actually going to the game that Tom Brady is coming back to New England for,” Hughes said. “It’s astounding,” added Flynn. When given the tickets, Flynn and Hughes said they were honored to be recognized this way.
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Jeff Bezos has placed an additional $1 billion into the Bezos Earth Fund to be spent on creating, expanding, managing, and monitoring protected and conserved areas of wilderness. Bezos announced the establishment of the Bezos Earth Fund on February 17, 2020 as a philanthropic initiative that would see him hand out $10 billion in donations to environmental groups to address the climate crisis.
The Bezos Earth Fund is Jeff Bezos’s $10 billion commitment to fund scientists, activists, NGOs, and other actors that will drive climate and nature solutions. By allocating funds creatively, wisely, and boldly, the Bezos Earth Fund has the potential for transformative influence in this decisive decade. Funds will be fully allocated by 2030—the date by which the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals must be achieved.
The Amazon founder had offered few details on how exactly the money would be distributed last year but he’s offered up more information on the leadership, structure, and timeline of the Earth Fund, such as that for the next decade it will award about $1 billion a year. The money will take the form of grants to organizations working to preserve lands and secure Indigenous people’s rights in the Congo, tropical Andes Mountains, and across Oceania.
The first round of grant money went mostly to large, well-organized global conservation organizations. In November 2020 he announced the first 16 recipients who received a total of $791 million donations. The top donations went to The Nature Conservancy, Natural Resources Defense Council, Environmental Defense Fund, World Resources Institute and the World Wildlife Fund, which each received $100 million. Many of the grantees received funds for specific projects, while other recipients were able to re-grant the funds and donate to other nonprofits.
Earlier this month, the fund said it would give away $203.7 million by the end of 2021 to organizations advancing climate justice, supporting climate-oriented economic recovery projects and spurring innovation in pathways to decarbonization. Recipients of this round of donations include organizations such as Science Based Targets, Climate Power, Partnership for Southern Equity and WE ACT for Environmental Justice among others.
“Conservation is one of the most effective anti-poverty strategies we have,” said United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed. “I warmly welcome this generous commitment, which will help deliver the Sustainable Development Goals.” We can and must reverse this anomaly,” Bezos added. “By coming together with the right focus and ingenuity, we can have both the benefits of our modern lives and a thriving natural world. I hope this commitment inspires others to make their own pledges to protect and conserve nature and help in the fight against climate change.”
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A Denver father of four has given 95 families who have lost everything in California wildfires a place to call home. Woody Faircloth started the nonprofit EmergencyRV.org which pairs folks who are willing to donate their campers to a worthy cause with those in need. Faircloth first got the idea for the charity in 2018 while watching news coverage of California’s deadly Camp Fire that incinerated 153,336 acres and destroyed hundreds of homes during Thanksgiving week.
Inspired by how blessed he felt just to have a place to spend the holiday, he asked his 9 year old daughter Luna what she thought about finding an RV and delivering it to a family so they could have a place to call home for Christmas. She was 100 percent on board so Fairchild launched a GoFundMe campaign to finance the first RV that he and Luna delivered.
Within three days, with Luna riding shotgun, Faircloth steered west from Denver in a $2,500 motorhome he found on Craigslist. They celebrated Thanksgiving on the road and delivered the vehicle the next day to a victim of the CampFire, which nearly destroyed the town of Paradise and killed 85 people.
As word of their journey spread, people started reaching out to him via social media, offering to donate their motorhomes—and from there, EmergencyRV soon took shape. Some offered to deliver the vehicles themselves, but Faircloth makes many of the drops personally. Many of the mobile home recipients are firefighters and other first responders whose tireless efforts battling the blazes did not prevent their own homes from going up in flames.
To date, Faircloth—often with Luna along for the ride—has delivered 95 motorhomes to California area wildfire victims who otherwise might wait months for emergency housing. He tries to schedule the trips on weekends but often dips into vacation time from his full-time job at telecom company Comcast. Faircloth has traversed thousands of miles over the past three years, often with Luna at his side. Last year, she joined him more often as COVID-19 precautions had her going to school remotely.
While those who are given RVs own them outright, Faircloth estimates 5% to 10% return them once they’re on their feet so they can be donated to other fire victims. The organization currently has 100 families on its waiting list. Although Faircloth said it’s challenging to balance work, family and his nonprofit, he hopes to expand the volunteer effort. He envisions staging RVs in hurricane and fire zones in the future to respond even faster during disasters. The organization continues to grow and evolve but the original sentiments behind Faircloth’s humanitarian efforts remain constant. He’s grateful for the many blessings he has—and blessed to be in a position to help others.
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A Georgia family is feeling the effects of kindness from strangers around the world. Michael Walker and his wife, Willa Strong, are living in and out of hotels. Each day since the pandemic hit, their focus has been on surviving and providing for their three daughters. Walker is on Dialysis battling kidney disease while raising their three girls who are all non-verbal with Autism.
The pandemic forced Walker to leave his retail job because he is at high risk for catching COVID. Strong had to stop working to homeschool the girls. Between Dialysis treatments, school supplies and the cost of living in the metro Atlanta area, the couple said their credit score took a big hit. After months of trying to get back on their feet, they had trouble finding an apartment or home that would accept them.
After more than a year feeling frustrated and trapped inside a one-bedroom hotel room, Walker took to social media for help. He broke down in an emotional testimony on TikTok sharing his family’s situation. Walker, who had been positive and hopeful through it all shared that he’d been losing hope and felt like a failure to his family. The video went viral receiving more than 300,000 views. Commenters encouraged him to start a GoFundMe and people from Georgia to as far away as Ireland have donated.
People are supporting the family all over the world from Georgia to Ireland. Some even encouraged Walker to launch a GoFundMe page. So far over $176,000 of the $250,000 goal has been raised with donations ranging from $1000 to as little as $5. The family plans to use the money raised to finance a loan for a rental home. Walker said he hopes they find a place that is safe and sufficient for his three daughters’ needs.
Walker said “For a long time, we felt alone. We felt like nobody cared. And the world proved us wrong.” Not only did they get some relief financially, Strong said the family also found community. She said this helped connect her with other families who have multiple children with special needs. Strong said, all this support is restoring the faith she once lost. “This was the push we needed in spirit to build my confidence,” she said. “All of this outpouring of love is so healing.”
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Rather than give in to depression, one man made a choice that not only changed his own life for the better—it gave a stranger he’d never met a second chance as well. Gage Tappe had recently moved to Idaho and had part-time custody of one of his kids. Looking for something to help him cope with his sadness and feel more connected, Tappe signed up as a donor with the national bone marrow registry.
Several months later, Tappe got the call that he’d been identified as a match. Tappe says since he was raised to help others in need, in any way big or small, he just needed to know where and when his marrow could be harvested for the transplant. The donation was made anonymously and the identity of the recipient didn’t matter to Tappe.
He said he just wanted to be able to have a meaningful and positive impact on someone’s life—but neither he nor the woman his bone marrow was going to could know just how life-changing his donation would turn out to be. When his recipient Tia Jensen was diagnosed with leukemia in 2018, she’d already been dealing with the effects of multiple sclerosis for two decades. She started a course of chemotherapy at the Seattle Cancer Center Alliance and added her name to the waiting list for a bone marrow donor.
After the successful transplant procedure, Jensen was stunned to learn that not only had her leukemia gone into remission, but thanks to her newly revitalized immune system, the multiple sclerosis she’d been battling for 20 years was in remission as well. Jensen was so ecstatic she wanted to thank her donor. Two years later Jensen was eventually given Tappe’s contact information and the two struck up a correspondence.
Though delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, they finally met in person. A grateful Jensen was able to tell Tappe she sees him as a true role model. Tappe said he was at an all time low when he made the decision. “I felt like my life wasn’t worth very much, so I hoped that I gave myself a chance to put some value to my own life by trying to help somebody extend theirs and continuing to stay on the list… and you have to be alive to do that. It gave me a sense of value to myself that I didn’t previously have” Tappe said.
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Two teachers at Unity Grove Elementary in Locust Grove, GA found out the head custodian Chris Jackson had fallen on hard times over the summer and decided to help. Megan MacDonald and Jodi Combs noticed that the reliable fixture and smiling face known as Mr. Chris had been walking to work so they set out to help find him an affordable car. They found one but it was more that the $1,500 Jackson had saved for a new car.
MacDonald and Combs secretly got to work and were able to raise enough funds for Mr. Chris within minutes thanks to the generosity of the faculty of their school. On an unsuspecting August day, Jackson, who is always willing to help, was escorted to the school parking lot to help a teacher with her car but was given the shock of a lifetime instead. The heartwarming moment was shared to the school’s Facebook page where it quickly went viral.
In the video, MacDonald and Combs are seen leading Jackson to the parking lot where they put the car keys in his hand. His grateful reaction as he realized the car was for him garnered thousands of comments and unbeknownst to MacDonald and Combs, they happened to buy his dream car, a Chevrolet Impala. “There is a God,” Chris says with his hands extended in the air.
Jackson said he didn’t let his financial situation deter him despite feeling defeated. “I’m not going to just quit and run away. I put my pride aside and just come to work, smile, be me.”
He decided to trek to work because using public transportation added an hour and 40 minutes to his morning commute. But his dedication and work ethnic had not gone unnoticed by the faculty.
Combs said there has never been a day that he came to work without a smile on his face and the kids adore him so the staff pulled together to help with his most immediate need which was transportation. Jackson said “I never would have dreamt of something like this. This is mind-blowing to me.” Since the happy moment went viral, people from all over the country have contacted him and he says it was one of the greatest moments of his life.
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A chance meeting and simple act of kindness led to a GoFundMe raising over $18,000, enough to build a tiny home for a homeless Ontario man. Kim Cormier, a mortgage agent in Kingston, was working from home on her front porch last July when she saw David McDonald struggling with the tire of his scooter in front of her house. She offered him some water and then watched his belongings while he went to get a new insert for his scooter’s tire.
After returning from the store, McDonald and Cormier chatted while he fixed his tire and she heard about his troubles, particularly homelessness. She invited him to have dinner with her and her partner Alex. They learned McDonald had been intermittently homeless since 2016. The three hit it off and found an unexpected friendship. In the follow months McDonald and the couple stayed in touch.
They began helping McDonald out with donations of clothing, shoes, and a solar-powered backpack that enabled him to keep his cell phone charged. When McDonald lost a room he was renting they offered to let him stay in her backyard. After a few weeks, her friends also chipped in with donations like clothing, a tent, an air mattress, hygiene products, and food for David.
“Spending time at home and with David, my partner, Andrew, and I decided that we should start looking for a more permanent solution for the winter. As we live in a one-bedroom home and would offer a bedroom if we had it, we needed something else. He was already using our facilities, showering in our home, cooking with me, and doing his laundry. We thought a micro home would be the best option for him to get through the winter,” said Cormier.
Cormier contacted Our Livable Solutions (OLS), a group of people that provide solutions aiming to end homelessness and they put her in contact with EnerDynamic Building. OLS and EHT (EnerDynamic Hybrid Technologies) Corp are making 80 micro homes for people without homes in the Kingston area. The micro-homes are moveable (weighing 1,200 lbs), fully fire retardant, and have full electric hookups using the same plug as Christmas lights on the outside of your home.
She started a GoFundMe and raised the funds to put a deposit on a tiny home to be built for McDonald. The home is expected to arrive in October and McDonald says Cormier has already done more than he could ever thank her for. According to Cormier, McDonald gives back in his own way. “He has very good stories, and he’s just friendly and respectful,” she said. “It’s kind of nice to have someone come in and out, and someone to talk to, and a friend to rely on. I feel very blessed to have met David, he’s part of the family now.”
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