Cardi B donated $100,000 to her old middle school in the Bronx. The rapper returned to her alma mater to surprise students and staff at IS 232 in the Bronx on Sept. 13. She announced her donation and answered questions from staff and students. She was joined by New York City schools chancellor David C. Banks and K. Bain, the founder and executive director of Community Capacity Development, a nonprofit social justice organization.
Cardi later shared two videos from the visit on Instagram and wrote “ “I was trying to do this last year but couldn’t because of all the COVID rules at the time. This middle school, IS 232 in the Bronx, has a very special place in my heart!! It turned me from an 11 year old girl into a little teenage adult. Kids in the Bronx have to grow up quickly due to our circumstances and our environment. While some young teens like around 11-13 still live in that Disney world, these kids have to grow up fast and QUICK.”
The rapper continued, “Like a lot of these kids I went through so much while I was going to school here. Experiences that changed me forever and made me who I am today. I hope my donation can help create an amazing after school program that will help kids stay out the streets or a troubled home and most importantly allow them to learn something that they can take with them through LIFE. Thank you Community Capacity Development @ccdworldwide and K. Bain for partnering with me to also visit different schools and programs in Queens and Brooklyn. I love being able to help young kids however I can and I can’t waiiiittttt to tell y’all what I’ve been working on for the past two years. It’s something super close to my heart and I can’t wait to share very soon.”
This isn’t the first time Cardi B has shown her generosity. She paid the funeral expenses for the 17 people who lost their lives in a devastating Bronx apartment fire in January. Her representatives said the rapper made sure that all of the victims’ families were included in her donation and that the final wishes for their loved ones were met.
Read more
American novelist and philanthropist MacKenzie Scott has donated two Beverly Hills homes to charity for a total of $55 million. The California Community Foundation (CCF), a nonprofit philanthropic organization based in Los Angeles announced that Scott, 52, donated “two single-family residences valued at $55 million” to the foundation in July. The gated 2.5 acre compound includes a 12,000 square foot main residence built in the 1990s, a 4,500 square foot guesthouse, a swimming pool, a full size tennis court and 6 car garage.
The first home was purchased by Scott and her ex-husband Jeff Bezos in 2007 for $24.45 million. The second home was purchased by the couple in 2017 for $12.9 million. The CCF hopes to quickly sell the high-maintenance spread, with the proceeds going towards affordable housing projects and an immigrant integration program. “The cost of housing stands out as one of the most critical issues affecting the lives of millions of Los Angeles residents. A priority for Ms. Scott, the primary focus of the $55 million will be to permanently endow grantmaking efforts to benefit Angelenos in need of affordable housing,” CCF said in a statement.
CCF has been an advocacy leader for increased affordable housing production, helping lead the passage of Proposition HHH, an initiative to add 10,000 new units in the City of Los Angeles by 2026. Los Angeles is poised to exceed its target by funding 10,510 units in 178 projects. Scott’s gift will permanently support the expansion of these grantmaking efforts. This is the second time Scott has donated to the organization, giving the nonprofit $20 million last year to create the LA Arts Endowment Fund.
Scott, whose estimated net worth is $37 billion makes her the 29th richest person in the world. Scott still owns 4% of Amazon after selling $8.5 billion in company stocks. After her divorce from Jeff Bezos, Scott signed the Giving Pledge, promising to donate at least half of her wealth over her lifetime, and has since gifted billions of her dollars to large and small organizations dedicated to social equity. She has so far donated more than $12 billion to charitable causes and groups as part of the Giving Pledge. Earlier this year, Scott donated $436 million to Habitat for Humanity. Last year she announced donations of $2.7 billion to nearly 300 organizations.
Read more
A 12-year-old from Oklahoma City became the youngest black college student in Oklahoma history. Elijah Muhammad Jr. started his freshman year at Oklahoma City Community College (OCCC) last month, enrolling in three classes as part of his cyber security major. Muhammad, who is home-schooled and currently a senior, graduating with his associate’s degree and his high school diploma at the same time next year.
Muhammad is also a three-time state champion wrestler and began a clothing line called Smart Boy. The soon-to-be teen plans to go to an HBCU after he graduates. His proud father, Elijah Muhammad Sr., said “He was very attentive, and there were things I noticed from when he was two years old that were just different, and I was like it’s time to cultivate this.”
Elijah Sr. said his son is not the only prodigy in his family. His sister, Shania, became the youngest person to enroll at OCCC at 13. She was also the youngest to graduate, at 14, in May. She held the record until her little brother beat her. “His sister just made history as the youngest graduate from Langston University and Oklahoma Community College with two associate’s degrees on the same day,” Muhammad Sr. said.
“We have a bunch of competitiveness but she really helps me out with a lot of my studying,” said Elijah Jr. Now that Muhammad Jr. has broken his sister’s record, he plans to follow in her footsteps to land scholarships to help pay for his education. “I’m very excited about getting scholarships because I’ve seen my sister get multiple scholarships and I was like, man, I can’t wait until I start getting my scholarships.” While he hasn’t decided where he will attend school he says he’s keeping his options open. “I heard Hampton does have a good cybersecurity program, but I’m just exploring my options right now.”
Read more
A Pennsylvania retiree is cultivating a garden and her community. Jeri “Momma J” Brockington, of Ambler, PA started Momma J’s Country Gardening as a way to teach her friends and neighbors how to grow vegetables and plants. Her memories of her great-grandmother picking and giving away vegetables from her own garden inspired her.
Brockington said as soon as she bought her home, she visualized using every area of the space to grow food. She went door to door introducing herself and encouraging neighbors to grow their own food. Her neighbors know they are always welcome to come over for some fresh produce or to pick up a new gardening tip. Brockington said it’s the smiles and sense of community that motivates her.
She encourages people to think back to a simpler time and learn how to provide for one another. In the wake of pandemic lockdowns and the September 2021 tornado, it’s become more important to her than ever.”These are times when the only way we’re going to get through it is that we work together,” Brockington said.
She also records educational videos for her YouTube page, encouraging followers on social media to post pictures of their own crops. “You can frequently go for years without knowing any of your neighbors,” said neighbor Frank Dunsmore. “And whenever I came down to this area, she was one of the few people that was always around. I’m not the kind of person who grows plants, but she’s done an amazing job with gardening and stuff like that,” said Dunsmore. “If knowledge is power, she’s giving it away.”
Read more
Since 2009, LA-based non-profit, Food Forward has rerouted 250 million pounds of food from landfills and delivered over a billion servings of fresh produce to food insecure communities.
The non-profit helps reroute perishable produce to communities in need of more fresh fruits and veggies all over the country. A combination of inflationary governmental fiscal policy and the centrally-planned response to COVID-19 has really damaged the ability of rural or food-desert-based communities to buy fresh produce.
Food Forward has mastered the logistical challenge of rerouting produce destined for landfills. Southern California is the largest exporter and importer of produce in the country, making the non-profit centrally located where there is a great need. From its refrigerated food distribution center in south east LA, the group works with 350 direct partners coordinating food donations, which have so far made it out to 12 California counties, six other states, and two Tribal nations. Coming out of the centrally-planned chaos of the pandemic, Food Forward feels they are getting a grip on the demand for fresh produce rather than reacting to it in difficult or emergency circumstances.
CEO Rick Nahmias said “We understood workflows well enough, we understood efficiencies, we understood the network and how food flows through the L.A. area, the contiguous county, and the region. We’re all kind of under this umbrella, feeling like the last 10 years for Food Forward were a dress rehearsal for the pandemic.” Nahmias said among the many problems in this line of work, is the fact that often the food has just days of shelf life left.
Food Forward’s Wholesale Produce Recovery program staff rescue fresh fruits and vegetables from wholesale vendors by the truckload to prevent this unnecessary waste. The Farmers Market Recovery program prevents quality produce from being wasted, and provides a solution to farmers who have unsold produce and want to help fight hunger. A single market can yield over 2,000 pounds of seasonal produce that in many cases is organic. The Backyard Harvest program connects generous homeowners with volunteers ready to harvest surplus fruit on hundreds of private properties, public parks, orchards, and farms throughout Los Angeles and Ventura counties.
Nahmias credits his team’s nimbleness and excellent reactivity to the success that saw them win 2018 CA non-profit of the year. Their operation is so tight that every $1 donated allows them to redirect 10 pounds of produce from restaurants, grocery stores, or farms before sending them to communities that rarely get to buy fresh produce. Keeping perishing produce out of landfills also reduces methane gas emissions from its decomposition, reducing America’s methane footprint after about ten years.
Read more
A beloved math teacher in L.A. entered what he believed was a faculty appreciation ceremony but instead walked out with the keys to a car. Julio Castro, 31, lives in Santa Clarita Valley and teaches at YULA Boys High School. He had been commuting about four hours a day by scooter and bus to get to and from school because he didn’t have a car, sometimes getting home as late as 9:30 p.m. — long after his three young children went to sleep.
Joshua Gerendash, a senior at the private, all boys school said “He still makes sure to devote all this time to students,“he made sure I understood all of the material by sitting down with me during his lunch breaks and sacrificing his time after school where he could be getting to the bus stop going back home.” Gerendash said Castro even helps students who aren’t in his class and that he’s “really dedicated to our futures.”
Gerendash was determined to get Castro a car after he happened to see him looking at cars online. After a months-long fundraising campaign, Castro’s students secretly raised more than $30,000 to buy him a 2019 Mazda CX-3. They also bought him a year’s worth of gasoline and car insurance.
Castro said “I feel surprised. I feel special. So thank you to my students. They are like my kids as well. Now that I have a car, I get to drop off my kids every morning. And then coming here with time to spare, I can use it on my lesson plans. Then on my way back, traffic is still bad, but I’ll be able to make it for dinner.”
Another senior at the school, Charlie Leeds said “No matter what happens with him, he is gonna find some way to pay it forward. We’ve been taught certain values like empathy” and to “treat your fellow person as you’d want to be treated. Mr. Castro is the embodiment of that. With this car, with this new opportunity, he’s only going to find more and more ways to help other people around him.”
Read more
A group of high school football players in Georgia are being recognized for helping get a woman out of her wrecked car. The six students ran to the aid of a woman trapped in her car minutes after an accident near the school. As the vehicle began to smoke, they worked together to pry her bad mangled door open to get her out.
The Rome High School football players were identified as Cesar Parker, Treyvon Adams, Antwiion Carey, Messiah Daniels, Tyson Brown and Alto Moore. As soon as they saw the wrecked car they leapt into action. “We just ran as fast as we could to the lady and check on her to see if she was alright. We saw she was in pain, she was screaming and asking us to help her. We used all our muscles,we’re pretty big people, we’re strong. We play football, so we lift weights a lot, but the door was just extremely bent and broke.” Adams said.
It all happened in about a minute, once the woman was freed the teens checked on the other driver involved in the accident and carried on their way back to class. The 50 year old woman was transported to a local hospital with minor injuries. Their heroic actions were witnessed by staff at the school and they have been recognized by both the Rome City Schools and the Rome Police Department.
Ninth grade teacher Luis Goya witnessed the incident and praised them in a social media post that included a picture of them while they pulled the door open. “This morning I witnessed something amazing that our Rome High Football players did. While I was in front of the school during my morning duty, I heard a loud noise at the intersection that appeared to be a wreck. While I was running to the intersection, I noticed that two cars were involved. There was a 50 year old lady trapped in her car and couldn’t get out. Smoke started to come out of the car, and fluid started to spill everywhere in the intersection. The door was jammed and in terrible shape. While I was on the phone with the 911 dispatcher, the football players who witnessed the wreck, ran to the car and started helping the lady. They literally started using their strength to pry the door open, so the lady could be released. After a few seconds of pulling and pushing the door, the boys ended up opening it and helped her get out of the car. She was shaking and still in panic, but our RHS boys gave her comfort and were able to help her. The Rome High School football players really showed up today. They went above and beyond to help this lady without hesitation” Goya said.
Adams admitted that the team has been getting a lot of love and recognition for their act, which teachers said they deserved, and the school has helped drive. In true hero fashion, the teens say while the recognition was nice, it was something anyone would do.
Read more
A New York City Uber driver is being hailed as a hero after he stopped mid-ride to rush into a burning brownstone to help rescue people before firefighters arrived. Fritz Sam, 54, was taking a passenger to LaGuardia Airport when he noticed a commotion on the street in Brooklyn’s Bed-Stuy neighborhood. He saw flames and dark smoke coming out of a second floor window of a brownstone.
Sam said he asked his passenger “Can I pull over? Maybe we can help.” They got out and joined a group of bystanders who were yelling for people to get out of the residence. When he asked if everyone was out of the building, someone said they thought at least one person remained inside. “At that moment, I was like, ‘You have to decide, you know, what are you going to do?'” Sam said. “I just knew that something had to be done at that moment. So I just took my phone, ran inside and around the staircase.”
Sam said that inside the building, he first found a man who said he had to retrieve something from another floor. Elsewhere, he found a woman who was hesitant about leaving the building. Sam was able to convince the woman to leave and walked out by her side. Once she was safely on the sidewalk, he went back into the building to find the man who he had encountered earlier. As he was leaving with the man, Sam said he ran into a police officer and a firefighter with a hose, who both ran into the building.
Sam’s passenger, Jemimah Wei, said that after firefighters arrived on the scene, they agreed the people would be safe and they could continue on their ride to the airport. “We got back into the Uber, and Sam was like, ‘Do I smell like smoke?'” Wei said. “I was like, ‘Dude, seriously? It’s fine, you just saved a life.'” Wei tweeted about the heroic experience and said she still caught her flight despite the unexpected detour.
Read more
California has become the first state to implement a statewide Universal Meals Program for all public school children. The Universal Meals program will be used to reach more students with the federal National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program. The Meal Mandate is expanded to include both a nutritious breakfast and lunch for, not just needy children, but all children each school day.
The Universal Meals program is designed to build on the foundations of the federal National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and School Breakfast Program (SBP). The program is powered by both state and federal funds. The California State Legislature allocates funds to provide additional state meal reimbursement to cover the cost of the Universal Meals Program. High poverty schools will be required to participate in a federal provision.
Prior to this program, students qualified for free meals under particular criteria which included aspects like their parents’ income taxes, the level of poverty in the school’s surrounding area and the zip code where the family lives. With over 327,000 students in California public schools, 60% of students qualified for free school meals.
The state recently implemented the Universal Program to address rising food insecurity. While California produces nearly half of the nation’s fruits and vegetables, on average one in five residents — about 8 million people — struggle with food insecurity, according to the California Association of Food Banks.
Now, with the state launching the mandatory Universal Meals Program, parents will be sure that their children can get at least two free, full meals at schools daily and not have to incur the expense for preparing breakfast and lunch for them. All students will be automatically enrolled in the program, although students will not be required to participate. Instead, meals will be served to the students who ask for them.
Read more
A Mississippi man credits his pet cat with preventing a robbery at his home and possibly saving his life. While cats have a reputation for being aloof, this cat did everything she could to alert her owner of danger. Fred Everitt, 68, adopted the 20 pound calico from theTupelo-Lee Humane Society four years ago with the intention of saving her life; he never thought she’d return the favor. But Bandit, who is now referred to as Everitt’s guard cat, did just that.
On July 25th, sometime between 2:30 and 3 a.m. Everitt said he was first awoken by Bandit’s loud meows in the kitchen. Then, she raced into the bedroom, jumped onto the bed and began pulling the comforter off of him and clawing at his arms. Everitt said she had never done that before so he knew something was wrong. “I went, ‘What in the world is wrong with you?” Everitt said.
When he got up to investigate, he turned on the lights and saw two young men outside his back door. One had a gun, and the other was using a crowbar to try and pry the door open. Everitt said by the time he retrieved his handgun and returned to the kitchen, the would-be intruders had already fled. He said the situation could have been very different without Bandit. “It did not turn into a confrontational situation, thank goodness,” Everitt said. “But I think it’s only because of the cat. You hear of guard dogs. This is a guard cat.”
Everitt said he’s been a longtime supporter of the Tupelo-Lee Humane Society and was dropping off a donation check four years ago when he asked to see what kittens were available for adoption. Bandit came home with him that day. “I want to let people know that you not only save a life when you adopt a pet or rescue one. The tides could be turned. You never know when you save an animal if they’re going to save you” he said
Read more
