I am here to tell you that there are tons of wonderful things happening the world over! People are helping people. New discoveries are solving age old problems. Every day miracles for us to discover! The good news is out there, and it’s my honor to dig it up for you all to enjoy.
What I have found is this, the more one looks for good news, the more good news one finds, and that helps us to have faith in a benevolent universe. Like brushing your teeth and eating your vegetables, reading good news should be a daily requirement. It’s good for the soul!
Hopefully because it is Sunday, you can put on your robe and fuzzy slippers and sit for a while and enjoy! Here we go…
No little beach cleanup for this kid!
Dutch twenty year old, Boyan Slat has different goals than most people just out of their teens. He plans to clear the world’s oceans of plastic. His Ocean Cleanup Project has already raised $2 Million, through crowdsourcing, to make this concept a reality. He welcomes criticism from the science and academic community because it helps him to see problems he might not have thought about and revise his project accordingly. Crowdsourcing is a way to gather funding from outside the typical investment banking realm and allows those with creative new paradigm projects to bring their ideas to life.
The kid who will clean up the Ocean by Max Hoppenstedt for Motherboard at Vice.com
A hungry dog can teach us all a thing about sharing.
This news is a little older, but hey, its new to me! A stray dog named Lilica is given food by a kind animal lover in Brazil. Lilica eats the food out of a plastic bag, but never eats it all. When she has had her fill, she picks up the bag and walks away with it. One day she is followed, and they find that she has been taking the food home to a junkyard where she lives and sharing it with the other hungry animals!
Abandoned Dog Traveled 4 Miles Every Night by Arun Walla for Collective-Evolution
When doing the right thing goes viral.
When Rebecca Mclean helped an elderly customer, who was having trouble paying for her groceries, at her checkout line in a New Zealand market, she did not tell anyone about it. Her random act of kindness just happened to be observed by a local newspaper editor who wrote about it the next day. The story went viral on Facebook as well and Rebecca is amazed at all the publicity for simply doing the right thing.
Hate Leftovers? A German website lets you share with others in need.
Valentin Thurn was overwhelmed that Europeans throw away nearly 90 Million tons of food annually. With an eye on reducing waste and helping those in need he co-founded Food Sharing a website that allows users with excess food to share and connect with those who need it. In the 18 months the German website has been on line it has shared over 40 tons of food and the services have expanded to 240 cities across Germany. Hopefully this idea will spread far and wide and connect bounty with need!
Got Leftovers To Share? In Germany, There’s A Website For That by Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson for NPR
Can you find a good guy on Facebook? Jolene Oliver certainly did!
When Zeki Al-Khishali checked his Facebook while selling a motorcycle, he was surprised to see a plea for help posted. Jolene Oliver’s car had broken down and she was unable to get her required medication. Zeki jumped on his motorcycle and delivered the medication to Jolene, a total stranger, saving the day, along with some help from Facebook!
Human and canine kindness help a little hippo return to the wild.
When a hippopotamus orphan was found starving in Zambia, he was captured and taken to an animal sanctuary supported by the Born Free Foundation. He was named Douglas, and he needed extensive care and rehabilitation. Two jack russel dogs befriended him, and added immeasurably to his emotional well being. Douglas has been successfully reintroduced to the wild. He can fend for himself now, and is making an effort to join a wild pod of hippos. Good for you, Douglas!
Douglas the Hippo Leaves Canine Friends To Return To The Wild by Nisha Kotecha for Good News Shared
Want some free seeds?
In response to the increased complexity that patenting and genetic modification bring to the field of agriculture, an open source seed initiative has been created to nurture patent-free food. This allows farmers to save seed from their own fields. It also increases biodiversity, as hybrids created from the open source seed must also be open-source in the future. There is a link in the article with a world map listing the locations the seeds have been delivered to.
‘Open-source’ seed released to nurture patent-free food by Zoraida Portillo for SciDev
Got crime? Never fear, Buddha is here!
When crime in an Oakland, CA neighborhood got him down, a man went to the hardware store and purchased a statue of Buddha. He placed it by the street as a simple gesture for peace. What happened after that is nothing short of a miracle. The video served with the article gives more detail on this heartwarming story.
Buddha seems to bring tranquility to Oakland neighborhood by Chip Johnson for SFgate
A horse with a huge heart.
Animals have such love and intuition. Many groups now use a variety of animals in therapy programs for disabled people with amazing results. This video from Israel shows a beautiful visit between a very gentle horse and a special needs boy. When I watched it, the tears of joy flowed as I observed this tender connection between two souls.
Young boy with Williams Syndrome visits with a gentle and caring service horse from YouTube
Glad you could spend time with me enjoying some good news, and I hope it brightens your day!
If you have articles you want to share with our wonderful group, please go to the Contact Us form and hit “News Tips”, it will show you what to do. Thanks so much!
Be Well. Be Joy. Be Love!
Alex