Dear Mr. williams,
Our heartiest congratulations on this "Good News" program. Please keep this up always. When times are good this is as important as it is now. It's about time a news program did this and we hope it will spread to all news programs on all channels and stay!

please check out www.segs4vets.org. Jerry Kerr is doing marvelous work. This site should tell you everything you need to know. Thanks for your consideration

All of the volunteers and the particularily the Holmes Family who donate their time and energy to Gliding Stars, an organization that utlizes ice skating as physical therapy.  http://www.glidingstars.org/florida.html

Our daughter, Blair, is 7 and has an MPS genetic disorder that is regressive and progressive, avg life expectancy of early teens.  The Holmes Family have taken to Blair and w/o compensation or a child of their own in the program, come out and volunteer their time to Blair and the program.

Hello.
My sister, Amanda Rose, is a Canadian living in the U.K.. Despite the hard economic times, she has been devoting all of her time to a charitable cause, named Twestival. For the past months, she has spent numerous days organizing this charitable event in order to bring clean drinking water to those without. Via the online site called Twitter, she organized an event to bring 'twitterers', twitter users to come together in over 200 cities across the world to contribute via an auction or donation to this needed cause. She not only gave up her job to do this, but postponed her searching for a new job to dedicate all of her time to this worthwhile cause. I am submitting my sister's name on this site because, not only  is she helping countless people with the mere necessity of clean drinking water, but she gave up her time, money and job for this cause. My sister, Amanda Rose, is already a hero to countless people, but also to her family.

I just want to tell you about the day I went to renew my driver's license. I didn't realize that the license was now good for 8 years and would be $32. I was short by about $4 and the nice woman- Alice Baker said to me Honey don't worry about it. I will pay the rest for you. This was a big deal, a DMV worker paying for me, I mean how many peope come in to the offie saying they are short funds. But it didn't end there. I was so thankful and kept telling her so and she , trying to make me feel better said honey, God takes care of us all. My husband has been out of work for a year but he keeps providing. I was so touched. Here this woman was having her own financial issues but she was helping me. Well I was so touched that I went up to the DMV office and put $100 in an envelope- didn't put my name on it or anything. this woman figured out it was me and sent me the money back saying it was against DMV policy. I just really want to say thank you to her. She  was kind when she could have just said honey you will have to come back with the full amount. Alice Baker is truly a kind person. Pleas help me tell the world.

This is a story that happened to my friend and her son...I thought it was worth sharing.  I hope it helps everyone remember what small acts of kindness can do.

Paying it forward

I have to share with ya’ll a wonderful testament of “the kindness of strangers” Benjamin and I witnessed on his heart birthday Thursday. As I mentioned in my post, I had ordered Krispy Kreme donuts for Benjamin to take to school Thursday. I had called and hoped I could get the “heart-shaped” ones, but the lady on the phone explained that you have to order 10 dozen to get special-shaped ones. . . B only has 10 kids in his class so that wasn’t an option. I could tell the woman on the phone (I asked her name and she said Virginia) seemed to think I was a bit of a nut, trying to order heart-shaped donuts two weeks AFTER Valenine’s day, so I very briefly mentioned that I had wanted the heart shape b/c my son was having his 6th heart transplant anniversary and needed a special snack for his preschool class. She then suggested she could do a round one, and then “stamp” a heart on it somehow. That sounded great to me, so I asked if I could use the drive-thru to pick up the order the next day and hung up.

The next morning, I got a call from Virginia at Krispy Kreme letting me know my order was ready (a little odd, I thought) and could I come inside to pick them up? That was fine with me—I was just happy to have donuts with a heart, like Benjamin wanted.

When we got there, we walked in and Virginia said “you must be Jennifer!” I just smiled and said yes, a little caught off guard. She then said she’d been expecting us and had something special for Benjamin. There on the counter was a huge balloon bouquet, a card she had picked up from Hallmark and had signed by all the staff at Krispie Kreme that had a puppy on it that said “So happy for you. . Congratuations!,” a Krispy Kreme hat(which is wore ALL day at school!) and 2½ dozen HEART SHAPED donuts with red icing. Benjamin was so excited to see the balloons and donuts! I was so touched I was speechless, and then had the sense to remember I had my camera in my purse and took pictures, and kept thanking them over and over.

I haven’t been so moved by a “random act of kindness,” as my friend Jane Allison calls it, in a long long time. She knew nothing about us, only that I said he was celebrating his heart transplant anniversary, and yet went to so much trouble to make his day so special. And on top of everything else, wouldn’t let me pay for them. She just said she wanted him to have a special day. Wow.

I’ve shared her kindness with as many friends as I can the last day or so and with you, b/c I would love for all of our local friends to support the Mallory Lane Krispy Kreme—they rock!

To go one step further, my friend Bob was so moved also, he told his hairstylist this morning while getting his haircut, and HE was so moved, he wrote down Virginia’s name and was going to call and offer a free haircut to all of the staff at Krispy Kreme (and not just some place like Supercuts-- Bob goes to a very nice salon!). :-)

As my friend Lisa A, who is a recent cancer survivor, says often in her posts, its all about paying it forward, isn’t ? I cannot help but think God has his angels down here and Virgina at Krispy Kreme sure is one to us. She made Benjamin’s day much more special, simply by taking the time to do something nice for a stranger. I’m gonna doing my best to pay it forward also.

Brian, In times like these fine arts are more important than ever; not frills, the arts help us discover our strenghts.  I nominate a friend whose whole life has been dedicated to music.  Now 71, this lady has spent 50 years building music opportunities in the community is which she lives, often at a personal cost to her.  Now, in this place, Wichita Falls, TX, there is a chamber orchestra, a youth symphony orchestra, scholarships for private teaching, and a center for the arts, all because of this one person, Gail Key.  Thanks, in advance, for any applause you can give her!

I want to nominate the newspaper men who stand at my subway stop every morning handing out the daily edition of AM New York. This may seem like a strange or insignificant nomination, but they are as essential for the start of my day as a cup of coffee! At the 86th and Lexington stop these men stand with a smile on their face and a paper ready in their hand every morning, whether sun or rain, or snow, or bitting cold! I cannot imagine they are paid very much at all, but regardless these men give me and other subway riders a warm smile and welcoming hello every morning, and they should be recognized for their outgoing spirit and hard work. I think all of us could use a bright spot in our morning before heading to work to face the grim reality of our economy. Delivering the news and a little bit of cheer!

Charlie Olson is a builder in Gloucester, MA.  Hockey and ice skating in general are big in Gloucester, but skates are very expensive in a community of fishermen and other working people.  Charlie, who grew up skating on the local ponds, has made it his project to outfit local kids with skates free of charge.  All year he collects skates, at yard sales, etc. and come winter he gives them out to anyone who needs them.  As children outgrow their skates, they bring them to Charlie and trade them in for a bigger pair.  It's a great experience to be in the Olson house when a local kid arrives looking for a pair of skates; Charlie races off to the cellar and emerges a few minutes later dangling the precious gift. It's a great example of unsung community service.

Six months ago I asked for volunteers with certified therapy dogs to spend some time with students in local schools. I was amazed at the positive response I got and continued to be amazed by the dedication and commitment these volunteers showed. Now I'm so pleased to discover that what I hoped would happen has; students are absent less often, grades are going up, smiles are bigger and tails are wagging faster! Because of these awesome volunteers and their pups,
kids are feeling better and doing better. Can't say thank you enough!

dear nightly news,ive been laid off since january of this year.so every now i go into work to do somethings for my employer for absolutely nothing.i really love my job since ive worked there for going on 7 years.this i think is a good thing for both me n my employer,since i love my job so much n my employer treats me like family!

Vicki Bruce is mistress of cermonies for the Gospel Chicken House every Saturday night with between three to four hundred people coming to the chicken house to hear gospel music with two groups appearing each Saturday night.  It is a real experience and has a big effect on a lot of people.  You can visit the web site at The Gospel Chicken House.com.  You will enjoy.

Last weekend in Omaha Nebraska, a trucker crashed his truck into an interstate bridge when he had a heart attack and died. His dog was with him. The Nebraska Humane Society was taking a collection to get his dog back to the family in California when AMerican Airlines stepped forward and said they would fly him home for free. The Humane Society used part of the money collected to purchase a shipping crate and will use the remainder for situations like this in the future. Since my husband and I are both unemployed and could not contribute, we were glad to see the airline and humane society step forward to do this for the family at this terrible time.

I've self published a book for the newly disabled called CHASING NORMAL-A GUIDE FOR THE NEWLY DISABLED AND FOR THOSE WHO LOVE THEM. It could be especially helpful for injured soldiers if we can get it to them. You can view it at www.chasing-normal.com
Please help me spread the word.
Blessings
dinah

Hey Brian,

You have to check out this after school program here in Pittsburgh. Monday through Friday they hold the program for children from one of "the burghs" most blighted areas and then on Saturday they hold church AND dinner for the community. This program is DEFINITELY an act of kindness that goes far during this economy.

Here's the link: http://www.evo-pgh.org/programs/asp.html

Thanks for wanting to add a positive note to the news. Keep up the good work.

In my garden club, one member Olive Beutler has been providing monthly garden therapy to different nursing homes fo 28 years.  She comes up w/different programs each month for persons with memory problems to major physical problems, etc.   Also, Olive raises money each month for animal charities by creating lovely  silk flower designs which she sell.  She reads new books each week, keeps up on politics and the news. Olive is 94 years young.  She is a joy to know and an inspiration to all who know her

I nominate schoolteacher Mary Sue Leese of Nolan Catholic High School in Fort Worth Texas for a story about hope and determination in these hard times.  Mary Sue is a cancer survivor and her husband is currently battling cancer.  She is, however, one of the most selfless people I have ever known.  She is tirelessly and continually involved in community service projects and inspires her students to do the same.  She does Habitat for Humanity, organizes food and clothing drives for the less fortunate in our community, and in so doing collects an incredible amount of food for the needy here in Fort Worth.  The list of her contributions is too long to make here.  I'm not even sure if she is 100% clear of her own health problems.  But she is something to behold!

I wanted to recognize Mr. Law, a Minneapolis Man who is a pensioned retiree teacher.  For many years he's working on humanitarian efforts, but more recently he works on feeding the homeless.  He would take his own money and time and collect food from local grocery stores, restauraunts, and gas stations that was going to go to waste and brings it to homeless shelters.  

More recently my former employer started up a service to connect churches to Mr. Law so they could provide food.  The website is http://www.363days.org, and was setup by Tony Zosel in order to allow churches to sign up online and to schedule a time where their group can donate 150 or so Sandwiches.

My Sister's Circle in Baltimore, MD (www.mysisterscircle.org) is a program to assist inner city middle school girls, starting around 6th grade, and working with them through high school and college age.  

The program helps girls who have the drive, but not the opportunity, to get into a good high school, stay in school, thrive in school and many times apply and get accepted to college. The program and it's volunteers save these girls from a life on the streets, a life of drugs, abuse, teen pregnancy and worse fates that even those.

Heather is the director and I have donated money to her for several years in awe of the dedication she has to the girls of Baltimore City. She is truly a selfless person who is dedicated to providing opportunity in the very depressed economy of lower-income Baltimore City.  Heather should be honored for the work she has been doing for the past few years and the passion for which she gives herself back to our community on a daily basis.

Following his graduation from Princeton in 2006, Lide, the founder of TUMAINI TANZANIA, spent a year teaching in Sakila, where an unstable agricultural economy, disease, and the devastation of broken families make life a daily struggle.

As Lide sent stories and pictures back to America, friends and family began to ask how they could help. After an overwhelming outpouring of support greeted a simple appeal for children's books to fill the village school's library, Lide decided to think a little bit bigger.

Having met a number of bright students who, for lack of resources, would not be able to attend secondary school, he wrote some letters to people in the U.S. on the students' behalf. The response, once again, was overwhelming.

After returning to the US, Lide and some his close friends from college came together to brainstorm ways to be effective stewards of this opportunity to match people's goodwill with the exciting vision we held for Sakila. After careful prayer and consideration, in January 2008 they established TUMAINI TANZANIA, a non-profit organization incorporated in North Carolina, named for the quiet potential that fills each child in this village. Over the past year they have worked to lay the administrative foundation for this organization.

TUMAINI TANZANIA targets the quality of education in Sakila through two projects:

1. To address immediate hardship, they provide secondary-school scholarships to brilliant and hard-working children who are at the top of their class but whose families cannot afford the post-primary education expenses.

2. To effect comprehensive, sustainable change, they are raising funds to build a new secondary school to accommodate the hundreds of children who otherwise would not have access to education.

Cindy Underwood R.N. organizes a medical clinic for the homeless under the interstate in downtown Birmingham. The following is a link to the Birmingham News.

http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/metro.ssf?/base/news/1235898937302190.xml&coll=2

Dear NBC -- This appeared in my local paper today, The Concord Monitor in New Hampshire -- and it warmed my heart.  

March 04, 2009 - 7:13 am  
Sometimes, all it takes is one kind act.

Laconia police Officer Jeffrey Wholley responded to the Cumberland Farms on Court Street in Laconia in early January for a shoplifting complaint to find a 32-year-old man with four sandwiches, total value $9.16, in his coat. The man admitted he was trying to steal the sandwiches but said he did so because he was homeless and hungry.

After consulting with his sergeant, Wholley not only decided against prosecuting the man but also paid for the sandwiches so the man had something to eat.

On Friday, Cumberland Farms will honor Wholley by giving the Laconia Police Relief Fund $1,000 and the New Hampshire Food Bank $2,500. Store officials will also host a lunch for Wholley and Laconia police Chief Michael Moyer at the Salvation Army in Laconia.

My husband's grandfather, who is 83 or 84 spends his days volunteering at the commission on aging.  He delivers meals to elderly who are unable to go out and he also spends time taking these people to appointments, grocery shopping and to the pharmacy.  He talks to these people and offers his company.  I feel that for a retired man, who has lost his wife and lives alone, this is a very selfless deed that he does.  

John Forrester of Ponte Vedra Beach, Fl founded a 501(c)(3) solely for the purpose of helping children/families in need during the holiday season. The unique aspect is that John was able to obtain all of the ongoing expenses of running a charity as a contribution. Therefore 100% of every dollar contributed goes to the children in need. Further to make certain the dollars are well spent he has reached a pact with the principals of the elementary schools in communities of need to be the eyes and ears of the foundation to identify and verify true need, It is remarkable to see what one man's vision can accomplish when based upon love and caring for his community.

I would like to nominate the free e-book industry. In tough times like today it is nice to get world class entertainment for free. Check out manybooks.net and feedbooks.com. They have all the classics (like Shakespeare) and new up and coming authors (like Joseph Devon).  Think about how many kids in school who are required to read and buy books that could go to one of these sites and download them for free. All the little things help in todays economy.

I nominate Jane Fraser, president of The Stuttering Foundation.  She manages the Foundation in such a way that the majority of donations go to help people who stutter.  She sends free books and DVDs to every public library who will shelve it so everyone has access to help with stuttering.  Parents of children who start to stutter are guided as to what to do at home and when professional help is needed.  A list of therapists who have been trained to work with stutterers is available on the web site.  People who need help have access to a toll-free help line, loads of information on the web site, and an information e-mail.  The Foundation was started by Jane's father, who stuttered, in 1947.  She can be contacted at info@stutteringhelp.org.

I would like to nominate Ken Lazar who works for Manpower in central Ohio. A couple of years ago Ken started a small organization called the Scioto Ridge Job Networking Group to help people find new employment or change careers. The first meetings had 10 to 15 people coming together twice a month. The SRJNG now has 4 to 5 chapters with meetings every week of the month and the main meeting is hosting anywhere from 100 to 150 people twice a month. Ken has done all of this with his own time and effort. He has helped more people find employment and a new lease on life more than anyone I have ever met. He is simply the reason many push forward as he tries to answer questions, find the right speakers, locate those who can lend a hand and see how many he can help without ever asking anything for himself. He is truly an inspiration to all who come in contact with him and has done far more than anyone I can see in helping put central Ohio back to work. I'm a better person for having met Ken and I know he will be there for me when and if I need him.  

Here is a good story
http://codywalks.blogspot.com/

We have a local store owner, Ron and Brenda Lambrix, who are part of the Goodfellows organization but who have taken it as a personal task to collect food for the needy in our town/county.  They are both very selfless in their acts and never seem to ask for anything in return.  

Hi Brian,

Here is a grass roots organization here in SE Mass. Totally voluntary, from helping someone rake their yard to renovating a bathroom for someone diaabled. Everybody volunteers their time, materials and their trade. Nobody makes a cent aand nobody is turned away.
Donations are made to schools in the area including playground equipment and gym equipment. Teachers and administrators are also honored. It's unbelievable stuff. Here's the web page:

http://www.randomsmile.org/index.html

Please consider the thousands of "blanketeers" across this nation.  They are part of Project Linus.  This is a 100% volunteer organization that provides  new hand made blankets for children in need.  Any funds donated go directly to purchase supplies to make more blankets.  The "blanketeers" also purchase their own materials to make blankets. For more info go to Prujectlinus.org.  We have provided over two and a half million blankets since our inception.   We gave over 23,000 blankets to Katrina victims.  They also go to hospitals, family services and homeless shelters. The kids get to keep the blankets for their very own.  
The volunteers do it out of love for the children (up to age 18). They all are an amazing group of people.

I wanted to tell you about a small community located between plattsburgh ny and massena ny, it is located in Constable New York.  they have a small fire dept that is all volunteer.  The men and women who belong to this dept do not get enough recognition for the jobs they do.  Our community was hit with several disasters such as homicides, suicides, and several fires that were during the very cold days we had this winter.  these men and women also had fund raisers to help suppot constructing a building to be an emergency shelter for the communities people during power outages, or disasters, so these people and elderly would have heat, running water, electricity powered by a generator, and shelter.  Senator Betty Little helped to acquire some of the funds that were badly needed to complete this project.  Many of the men and women who serve on this department have full time jobs as well as families, and they still jump up and go out in the middle of the night and below zero temperatures to help their community members in their time of need. They also try to provide several activites for the community to try and help keep the local kids out of trouble, and at the same time try to reward their community by having brunches, chicken bbqs.  I  would appreciate it very much to have these special, big hearted, and devoted members to their community.

In my garden club, one member Olive has been providing monthly garden therapy to different nursing homes fo 28 years.  She comes up w/different programs each month for persons with memory problems to major physical problems, etc.   Also, Olive raises money each month for animal charities by creating lovely  silk flower designs which she sell.  She reads new books each week, keeps up on politics and the news. Olive is 94 years young.  She is a joy to know and an inspiration to all who know her

I work at Wal-Mart as a cashier. A woman and her child were buying groceries and her son was wanting the bag of doritos right then. So I rang them up and the mom gave them to her son. I finished ringing up her items and she swiped her credit card. The card was declined. She had no cash on her. I would have to take the doritos back. The mom reached for them but her son is very little and started to cry. A man behind her offered to pay for the doritos for her. He said he knows what it's like with children. =) I thank him because I really would have felt horrible taking food from a little kid.

Hi Brian, I LUV watching you on TV every evening.

I have a great story for you.  I attend Colonial Baptist Church in Randallstown MD and we have recently "adopted" a Men's Homeless Shelter in Baltimore, Maryland.  The men that live in the shelter are former felons that need a helping hand with their transition back into society.  Some of the services that we provide are Christian Fellowship (prayer and encouragement), meals, linen, clothing, legal advice, career guidance (interview skills, resume prep, etc.), and anything we can provide to make their (transition) home comfortable.  Well, during these tough times...our congregation has been very responsive and have found the time and resoures to give more than ever.  Its been a blessing to the men and to our church.

as a family touched by cancer and it's devastating effects, I've become impressed with Sean Swarner.  He is a two time childhood cancer survivor who became the first cancer survivor to climb mt. everest.  He is giving hope to so many children and their families who are suffering from cancer!

My nephew, Alec Clelland, is having a charity event for his 16th birthday instead of a birthday party.  He is holding a charity water party asking everyone to donate to charitywater.com instead of giving him presents.

I want to nominate the most dedicated person I have ever known. His name is John Rutherford of Radford, Virginia. John retired from teaching at Radford University in the mid 90's and has been working as an unpaid volunteer at the local food bank called the Radford Fairlawn Daily Bread for the past 12+ years. He works every weekday, year round except for Christmas and New Years. He comes in around 9 AM and works until 12:30 each day. Our community is indepted to John for all he does; especially those less fortunate who look forward to a warm meal each day.

I am with a science club in Lake Charles Louisiana.  We won the Lexus Challenge last year and won money which we spent on solar panels for our school classroom.  Our sponsor who I wish to nominate is Mrs. Judy Reeves.  We recently recieved awards from the mayor for being the first school in the state to be powered by solar power.  We really want to spread the news so we can reduce the carbon footprint in the U.S.

A student in my class lost everything including her pets in a fire about a month ago.  When the other students heard about what happened they gave her new supplies from their own stock.  Some students brought in clothes and toys from home that they weren't using and they have been helping her catch up on work that she missed while she was out.  Parents have also called wondering how they could help.   The special ed teacher in our classroom bought clothes and toys for her and we organized a teacher dress down fundraiser to get a Target card for the family. I am so proud of my students that at 10 years old some of these kids who barely have anything themselves gave to someone else without being asked.  They just felt compelled to do so.  I couldn't ask for more.

Brian, our school system hold a yearly marathon dance to raise money for local individuals and organizations. They have raised 1.8 million dollars to date, with last year's total being $245,000!  And kids learn that it is not about the money, it is about helping out the community.  I am a recipient this year, and cannot tell you how much it means to me to live in such a caring community. Even with the economy problems, people are so generous. You know the old saying "Many hands make light work?"  Well, many single dollars make a huge difference!! please see www.shmd.org for more information, and feel free contact me as well.  Thank you for your time, and for doing stories like this. It is good to know that not all the news is bad!  God Bless. Sheila

My name is Barbara Goines. I am 50 years old woman and I am disable. I have an 18 year old daughter(Jessica Hoag) that takes care of me. Instead of going out with her friends (and I have tried very hard to get her to)she insists on staying with me, just in case something happens.
I know a lot of young people, and I have heard about others, but I have never heard of anyone that young that would rather stay home and take care of an old beaten down woman, when they could be out with their friends.
If that isn't enough, my daughter doesn't drink, has never done drugs (and if it counts, she is still a virgin)and she is still in school. She will start taking her classes over the internet so that she will be with me all the time (just in case, as she would say).
Even if she doesn't qualify for good news in the bad economy; she is great news for me.

my neighbor kathy karamanian,volunteer for a cat shelter and takes her time out of her week every saturday,to help out and now she found theres kittens a colony, that she calls. goes ever night to feed them and take care of them  she is so dedicated to her cats and such an inspirational to others ,the one cat was sick,had  to take  the cat to the vet but was so sick they had to put the cat to sleep ,kathy was so heart broken ,cause she lost her cat simple that meant everthing to her ,iam so honored to have a wounderful neighbor like kathy,we live in garner,nc

This past weekend a truckdriver from California suffered a heart attack while driving here in Omaha and crashed his tractor-trailer.  He passed away but his dog Zac did live.  He was taken to the Nebraska Humane Society.  His family could not afford to fly him home so our local NBC news asked for donations and from what I understand the Omaha population donated so much to get the dog home safely, there was even extra money to make a fund to fly future animals home in this type of situations.  It was touching because the man's son said, "my mom wants the dog home because he's all I have left of my husband".  

A hand to hold until they all come home....

Operation Special Delivery provides labor doulas -- someone who is specially trained to give informational, emotional, and physical support to women during childbirth -- free of charge to military moms whose husbands or partners have been killed, seriously injured or are still deployed overseas.

OSD was started by Patricia Newton, a New Jersey doula who wanted to help expectant moms who had lost a husband or partner in the tragedies of September 11, 2001. .  The response was so overwhelming that in 2005 she turned the program’s administrative duties over to the Child and Postpartum Professional Association (CAPPA).

During the month of March -- to commemorate the 6th anniversary of the Iraq War -- CAPPA has teamed up with Stork Vision, a national prenatal imaging company, to collect donations for Operation Special Delivery at Stork Vision locations and online at OSD's website,
www.operationspecialdelivery.com.

A group of area ladies are making cloth dolls called  The Giving Doll,in Wadsworth, Ohio The dolls are constructed from donated material by volunteers.  They are then given, with a doll quilt, to children who are in need of some special comfort.  The tag that is attached to each dolls says: My name is__(name given to doll__ I was made by_name of person who made the doll___ to GIVE you love, hope, joy, faith and comfort during this special time  In just three years, over 3800 dolls have been made and distributed to children in Ohio and 38 other states. Children in hospitals, children of deployed military, food banks, homeless shelters, fire and police department are just a few who have received dolls to give.  Giving Doll Programs are now being started in Florida, Virginia and PA.with hopes of spreading across the US.

The Ride Janie Ride foundation- Chicagoland IL
Friends planning and organizing a motorcycle ride and fundraising event to raise money for families facing the financial burdens that cancer can bring.  This will be our 3rd annual ride.  Janie Bawel from Downers Grove, IL was the first recipient after a life saving stem cell transplant. Along with Janie, her husband and group of friends founded the Ride Janie Ride Foundation, Not for Profit 501 (c)(3)
We have 3 special kids fighting cancer that we will be raising money for.  Please spread the word about this wonderful foundation.  Visit our website at www.ridejanieride.org  or check us out on you tube- ride janie ride promo!

I recommend Rhonda Anderson. She's an amazing individual with a drive to save the world one photo album at a time. No kidding! She invented modern-day scrapbooking. It grew to become a $3 billion hobby in this country. Today she is using her celebrity to share a message of hope to anyone who will listen. With today's depressed economy and dwindling 401K accounts, she encourages people to open a photo album and rediscover the real assets in their lives - the family and friends who matter so much more than the daily price of a share of stock. She encourages people to take more photos so they'll have an read reminder of the good times they have enjoyed and the wonderful people who love them in this life. She calls it faithbooking - not scrapbooking. She so full of hope - she says, "don't worry, things will get better if you have a little faith." She's an amazing woman - I hope you'll include her and her optimism on your broadcast.

Just saw your request for some "good news" after viewing the piece on helper dogs. I am a veterinarian who specializes in allergy/dermatology in Cleveland (actually, Richfield, Ohio) and like some Starbuck's customers paying for others in line, some of my clients will write their check for their pet along w/ extra to help another pet who can't afford its treatments. Some owners will donate their pets medications so that they can be passed on to others who can use it. It's so heartwarming to see any of this-that anyone cares and is thinking so much of other pets! By the way, I hope Mike Taibbi's pug is still with him--I know he/she was elderly and I kind of make a mental note to see if he/she is mentioned in his stories... but nothing lately. Hope he/she is well!

GOOD NEWS, not about a person, but from nature! How How about 30 seconds of a peaceful, serene, nature setting? That,Brian, and NBC, would be your contribution to GOOD NEWS for all your watchers!

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