The Sierra Club, the nation’s largest environmental organization, last week announced a new partnership with Sungevity, one of the country’s leading residential solar providers, to help families switch to solar easily and affordably.
The new program will help consumers save money on electricity bills, reduce pollution and support the Sierra Club’s overall environmental mission, all at the same time. Through the partnership, each time someone takes advantage of Sungevity’s “Zero Down” solar roofing program, that person will receive a $750 cash gift card and Sungevity will contribute $750 to the Sierra Club.
On May 23, 2009, a small group arrived at the Portland home of Chopper, a big hunk of a dog who spent day after day, year after year, isolated from his family, chained to a tree.
After only a few hours of work by volunteers, Chopper experienced freedom for the first time in six years. Once a sad, sullen dog, Chopper bounded joyfully around his new yard, wagging his tail. The fence also encouraged Chopper’s owner to spend more time with him, changing their relationship forever.
On May 23, 2009, a small group arrived at the Portland home of Chopper, a big hunk of a dog who spent day after day, year after year, isolated from his family, chained to a tree.
After only a few hours of work by volunteers, Chopper experienced freedom for the first time in six years. Once a sad, sullen dog, Chopper bounded joyfully around his new yard, wagging his tail. The fence also encouraged Chopper’s owner to spend more time with him, changing their relationship forever.
Since 9/11, more than 2 million service people have been deployed overseas, separated from the ones they hold most dear. But the strain of long-distance relationships makes the moment they’re finally reunited that much sweeter. A Memorial Day TV special on Nat Geo channel explores the emotional back-stories behind a new YouTube genre and the best surprise soldier homecoming videos.
Premiering tonight, May 28, at 10pm, “Witness: G.I. Homecoming” reveals the emotional stories behind some of the most memorable surprise reunion videos as told by the men and women whose sacrifices made them happen. Weaving together home movies, war zone footage shot by the soldiers themselves and original, first-person accounts, National Geographic Channel tells the story of the families’ journeys up to the moment of their unforgettable reunions. It airs at 10 PM, ET/PT.
An older brother who makes it his mission to attend his sister’s college graduation, a husband who has left behind his wife and four young children, a Navy airman who has the chance to surprise her family in front of a stadium full of Red Sox fans — these are the powerful stories of America’s home front.
Jessica Freedman always felt protective of her younger brother Eric, but when he joined the Marines and was sent to Helmand Province, one of Afghanistan’s most dangerous regions, Jessica knew she could no longer look out for him the way she used to. After seven months of deployment, she found out her brother wouldn’t make it home in time for her college graduation. Jessica was devastated and angry: “I probably shouldn’t repeat exactly what I said, but along the lines of, ‘How can they do that? Don’t they know, not don’t they know who I am, but how can you keep him from my graduation? He’s supposed to be here with me.’” But unbeknownst to Jessica, he would make it in time. Watch as the siblings’ surprising, emotional reunion unfolds in front of Jessica’s classmates, family and friends.
When Sergeant First Class Jed Lewis re-enlisted in the military after 9/11, it took an emotional toll on his entire family, but Sgt. Lewis felt a strong drive to serve his country. Before deploying to Baghdad, he recorded video messages to each of his four children, creating an intimate, visual record of their father in case he didn’t return. While her husband was overseas, Mindy arranged for the kids to Skype with their father on Christmas and kept a cardboard cutout of him at the dinner table — and the homecoming she planned was equally thoughtful. Home video reveals the priceless expressions on the Lewis children’s faces as the touching, middle-of-the-night reunion unfolds.
When the Red Sox contacted airman Bridget Lydon’s ship looking for a volunteer to surprise a family at their Fourth of July home game, she jumped at the chance. Bridget hadn’t seen her tight-knit family in nearly nine months. Cameras capture the shocking Independence Day reunion that brings overwhelming joy to a family and an entire stadium to its feet. (See that video below)
Poignant and dramatic, joyous and tearful, Witness: G.I. Homecoming provides an emotional perspective on the soldier homecoming videos that only those who’ve experienced it can tell.
(WATCH this inspiring clip of family reunion in front of Red Sox Fenway Park crowd)
Since 9/11, more than 2 million service people have been deployed overseas, separated from the ones they hold most dear. But the strain of long-distance relationships makes the moment they’re finally reunited that much sweeter. A Memorial Day TV special on Nat Geo channel explores the emotional back-stories behind a new YouTube genre and the best surprise soldier homecoming videos.
Premiering tonight, May 28, at 10pm, “Witness: G.I. Homecoming” reveals the emotional stories behind some of the most memorable surprise reunion videos as told by the men and women whose sacrifices made them happen. Weaving together home movies, war zone footage shot by the soldiers themselves and original, first-person accounts, National Geographic Channel tells the story of the families’ journeys up to the moment of their unforgettable reunions. It airs at 10 PM, ET/PT.
Georgetown University medical students recently held their yearly religious service, to say thank you to anatomical donors.
Each year, 19,000 medical students in the United States dissect cadavers as part of their introduction to medicine. It is one of the most sensitive rites of becoming a doctor because it is the students’ first encounter with death.
Each year their schools hold some type of memorial service at the end of the year to honor donors.
At the George Washington University medical school, family members spoke, and students sang and performed original dance. The service ended with a release of butterflies.
Just in time for Memorial Day, Tim McGraw is giving away a mortgage-free house to wounded or needy service members for each stop on his upcoming “Brothers of the Sun.” .
Kick-starting his new partnership with Chase, the charity Operation Homefront, and the USO, the country music superstar will perform a special Memorial Day concert for service members at New York City’s Beacon Theatre during Fleet Week.
McGraw has a long history and deep interest in supporting veterans and military families and wanted to find another way to give back to them.
“My sister’s a veteran of the first Gulf War. My uncle was a Vietnam veteran and my grandfather was a World War II veteran,” says McGraw. “Being able to reward the troops for their dedicated work with a new home will be even more rewarding for us. It feels so good to give back to them.”
Additionally, both the charitable arm of the Academy of Country Music, and the North Carolina Furniture Manufacturers have made substantial contributions to support the program throughout the summer.
On June 2 in Tampa, along with Kenny Chesney through August, McGraw will perform for what is anticipated to be the biggest stadium tour in the history of country music.
Since 2002, thousands of volunteers for Operation Homefront have met more than 590,000 needs for military families.
Some real-life heroes at Marvel Comics created a hearing-aid-wearing superhero comic book in honor of hearing impaired little boy who didn’t want to wear his own device any more.
The creation of the new character began when Anthony Smith’s mother wrote to Marvel after her son told her he didn’t want to wear his blue hearing aid to school.
Some real-life heroes at Marvel Comics created a hearing-aid-wearing superhero comic book in honor of hearing impaired little boy who didn’t want to wear his own device any more.
The creation of the new character began when Anthony Smith’s mother wrote to Marvel after her son told her he didn’t want to wear his blue hearing aid to school.
Australia’s Festival of Lights is transforming Sydney’s famous landmarks using wild imagination and cutting edge 3-D projectors beaming images from a distance.
The evening lit “sails” of the iconic Opera House overlooking the harbor suddenly appeared to break out in cracks and holes, and flutter in the wind. As a finale, its surface peels back as if skin, a hand punches through it, and finally a giant woman stretches out across the surface appearing to tip toe across.
Australia’s Festival of Lights is transforming Sydney’s famous landmarks using wild imagination and cutting edge 3-D projectors beaming images from a distance.
The evening lit “sails” of the iconic Opera House overlooking the harbor suddenly appeared to break out in cracks and holes, and flutter in the wind. As a finale, its surface peels back as if skin, a hand punches through it, and finally a giant woman stretches out across the surface appearing to tip toe across.
Older passengers will no longer have to go through the tedious TSA shoe ritual at airports this summer.
The Transportation Safety Administration is exempting passengers 75 years and older from removing shoes, belts and coats at airport screening stations at LaGuardia, JFK and Newark this weekend and will roll out the new rules at all airports this summer.
A new breakthrough that provides early detection for the most lethal form of cancer was created by a 15-year-old Maryland teen, after his mom drove him to Johns Hopkins University every night after school to test his theory in a lab.
Jack Andraka, of Crownsville won the top prize at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his new method to detect pancreatic cancer. The test also detects ovarian and lung cancer.
Based on diabetic test paper, Jack created a simple dip-stick sensor to test blood or urine to determine whether or not a patient has early-stage pancreatic cancer. His study resulted in over 90 percent accuracy and showed his patent-pending sensor to be 28 times faster, 28 times less expensive and over 100 times more sensitive than current tests.
Jack, who was awarded $75,000, said the inspiration came from an uncle who died of the disease.
A new breakthrough that provides early detection for the most lethal form of cancer was created by a 15-year-old Maryland teen, after his mom drove him to Johns Hopkins University every night after school to test his theory in a lab.
Jack Andraka, of Crownsville won the top prize at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his new method to detect pancreatic cancer. The test also detects ovarian and lung cancer.
You’ve probably had the experience of “catching” someone’s good mood. Happiness can be contagious. Sometimes it’s passed along through simple gestures – a warm smile from a stranger; someone holds a door for you; another driver lets you in. It feels great to be on the receiving end of another person’s good spirits. These brief interchanges between one or more people are tiny portraits of a massive canvas that spans the globe. Every day, too, your life touches other species and the natural environment. These encounters leave a footprint in the world. Sometimes we’re contributing to happiness and wellbeing, and sometimes (often unwittingly) we are not.
No relative or friend proved to be a suitable donor match for Michael Andrade’s mom. Weeks dragged on, with Lucy on a waiting list, while her condition grew visibly worse. “I was just skin and bones,” she says.
Michael, the youngest of her four children, decided they needed to cast a wider net.
Under the headline “Please help us find a liver donor,” he added a grainy photo of himself as a boy on his mom’s lap and wrote a detailed appeal on a Tumblr blog post.
“I’m just really worried, and I don’t want to lose my mother, especially without me trying everything I can do to save her. The least I can do is spread the word and try to find a donor for her,” he wrote. Hundreds of readers spread the word, reblogging it on their own sites.
Meanwhile, after no one could help Graeme McNaughton’s cousin, who died of ovarian cancer when she was just 16, he vowed that if an opportunity came up to help save someone from the same grief, he would want to do something.
Michael’s digital prayer was about to be answered.
An Israeli who rescued a distressed climber on Mount Everest instead of pushing onward to the summit said Friday that the man he helped, an American of Turkish origin, is like a brother to him.
The friendship stands in contrast to the political tension between Turkey and Israel, which were once firm allies.
Four climbers died on their way down from the summit as the weather deteriorated.
Scott Shaver and Katie Buell were crowned prom king and queen last week at Westview High School. Sound typical? Yes, but Westview is not your typical high school.
Sure, Katie is an all-American girl, class president, champion in girls basketball, and “an absolute sweetheart,” according to her teachers. Yet, it seems every student, no matter their ability, is accepted here and treasured.
“Scotty”, as the kids call him, is a HUGE personality at the school, brought out of his shell over four years by the nurturing attention given, not only by specialized staff who have tutored him as a special needs student with autism, but by the accepting student body.
When he first came to the San Diego area school, he was petrified of the chaotic sounds of 2300 kids in an assembly. Now, he attends all the sporting events cheering loudly in the bleachers. When the football team scores a touchdown, he gets the giant “W” flag and runs up and down the sidelines.
When he first came to the school, his mother said, he could never have believed he would be dancing in front of the entire school to the pulsing beat of “We Are Family”. But after just one year, his success at school — mainly, said his mother, Marlene, due to all the “regular ed” kids practicing inclusion — Scotty was able to join the Westview dance group in their twice-yearly choreographed “Friendship Dance”, which includes the special needs kids each paired with a team regular. For three years now, he has been taking a bow at every performance while flexing his muscles in the air with wild enthusiasm. (See the video below).
Marlene also credit the “Best Buddies” program that matches a special needs kid with a regularly-enrolled student to be partners in friendship throughout the school year. It’s one of the most popular clubs on at Westview.
This spring, when the senior class prepared to nominate boys for prom king, they put Scotty on the ballot. “Not as a joke,” said Scott Wild, a teacher and student advisor at the school, “but as a sincere tribute to him because they love him, respect him, and appreciate him.”
Mr. Wild said there were 4 other boys who were also selected to be on the ballot- – all good athletes, students, and high character kids. “They found out about Scott being on the ballot, and collectively took their names off because they wanted Scotty to win – to have his moment in the sun.”
No one knew the outcome last Saturday, when students assembled in their rented tuxedos and hand-picked dresses. Scott’s mom and older brother Kyle, a graduate of Westview, were there, too. Scotty’s “Best Buddie” was delighted to be his date for the evening. At 10 o’clock, the faculty announced the prom court winners, saving the king for last.
”When we called Scotty’s name, the entire venue packed with 800 kids started chanting his name,” recalled Mr. Wild with tears in his eyes. “He went up on stage, a big smile gleaming across his face, celebrating the moment and feeling like he was on top of the world.”
This is not normal high school stuff. With the release of the documentary, Bully, people are all too aware of the dark side for many teens. Westview should have been making their own documentary. As one educator said, “There’s a reason why everybody tries to get hired in the Poway School District, this is one of them.
Scott’s “HUGE” personality “is over the top”, says his mom, because everyone at Westview accepted him and loved him.
“We could only hope, and wish, that every special needs child in every school was truly nurtured to their highest potential the same way Scott has been nurtured at Westview.”
Mother of the prom queen, Susie Buell agrees. She wrote in an email: “Once again, we feel overcome with the emotion of how fortunate and grateful (we are) to have had all our children attend school in this district. Working in Special Ed at the elementary level, I personally know how dedicated some of the Poway Special Ed team works and their tireless commitment to their students. It is incredible!”
“Katie was so honored to share that moment with him and so proud and happy for him. It was the highlight of the her night,” she added. “She really loves him.”
The teachers and administrators at the school will very much miss Scott when he says goodbye in 2 weeks. He cheerfully helped out in the office over the years and “people couldn’t help but love him”.
Kathy, who works in his critical skills classroom told her spouse, “On Monday morning, when the doors to his bus opened it looked like a bull busting out of a rodeo gate with Scotty yelling, “MISS KATHY, MISS KATHY, I am the SUPER SENIOR POWER PROM KING!”
Mr. Wild summed it up best: “For as much as Westview High gives him, Scott Shaver has no idea how much of a gift he is to us.”
Watch the video of Scott (the tall one) dancing at an assembly in 2010
Scott Shaver and Katie Buell were crowned prom king and queen last week at Westview High School. Sound typical? Yes, but Westview is not your typical high school.
Sure, Katie is an all-American girl, class president, champion in girls basketball, and “an absolute sweetheart,” according to her teachers. Yet, it seems every student, no matter their ability, is accepted here and treasured.
“Scotty”, as the kids call him, is a HUGE personality at the school, brought out of his shell over four years by the nurturing attention given, not only by specialized staff who have tutored him as a special needs student with autism, but by the accepting student body.
The Sierra Club, the nation’s largest environmental organization, last week announced a new partnership with Sungevity, one of the country’s leading residential solar providers, to help families switch to solar easily and affordably.
When Sergeant First Class Jed Lewis re-enlisted in the military after 9/11, it took an emotional toll on his entire family, but Sgt. Lewis felt a strong drive to serve his country. Before deploying to Baghdad, he recorded video messages to each of his four children, creating an intimate, visual record of their father in case he didn’t return. While her husband was overseas, Mindy arranged for the kids to Skype with their father on Christmas and kept a cardboard cutout of him at the dinner table — and the homecoming she planned was equally thoughtful. Home video reveals the priceless expressions on the Lewis children’s faces as the touching, middle-of-the-night reunion unfolds.
Marlene also credit the 
