Man returns lost money twice in same week

A Maine man found a wallet stuffed with cash on the floor in a home improvement store. Two days later, he found a loaded money bag in the same store. Gil Steward was shopping Tuesday at The Home Depot in Auburn when he spied the wallet, which was stuffed with nearly $1,000 in $100 bills. He returned it to The Home Depot store’s service counter, and it was returned to a very grateful owner.

On Thursday, same hour and same store, Steward saw a green money bag on the floor. Again, it was returned to its rightful owner.

His wife, Dee, said her husband thinks he’s being tested. As for Steward, he said he plans to play the lottery this weekend.

From gang member to Youth of the Year

Manuel Contreras loved to fight, to street brawl.

He was running with a gang from a tough neighborhood in south Redwood City. “Manny Lokz” was his nickname.

“I was one crazy dude,” said Contreras, 19, showing a compact, boxer’s build and close-shaven head.

He had been in and out of juvenile hall and kicked out of several schools when his probation officer gave him a deal: Do community service at the local Boys & Girls Club or spend more time in lockup.

Contreras took the deal and has found a different gang to run with — one that has inspired him to change his attitude and outlook on life.

Instead of searching for fights, he’s looking out for young children and helping them with homework and other needs at the club.

Since first walking into the club about three years ago, he has earned his diploma from an alternative high school, won scholarships and attended Cañada College.

His turnaround has brought him the club’s Youth of the Year award and a commendation from the San Mateo County Board of Education.

“I like to have fun in a good way, not the old way,” said Contreras, who works at the club as a social education assistant. “Here I can just be me. I have a big smile on my face. Here I can help.”

Read Full Story - Part of a new, helping crew

Related Links:

• Boys & Girls Club of America
• Boys & Girls Club Facebook
• The Readers Digest donates $1M to Boys & Girls Club of America
• Be Great! - watch the video (below)

9 year old is Health Hero of 2008

Winter Vinecki, a nine-year-old girl who honored her father’s fight against prostate cancer by helping to raise more than $100,000 for Athletes for a Cure and the Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF), has been named a WebMD 2008 Health Hero. She is featured in the November/December print edition of WebMD and on the publication’s online site.

Prostate Cancer Foundation
Dan Zenka, APR
Vice President, Communications
310.570.4714 (Direct)
310.903.1112 (Mobile)
dzenka@pcf.org

Found letter sparks family to donate blood

On Dec. 21, 1944, close to the end of the Second World War, an 88-millimetre shell exploded 20 feet away from Daniel J. MacDonald, severing two arteries in his left leg.  MacDonald lost his leg and his left arm but the blood transfusion he received on the battlefield saved his life.

Last November, his son, Daniel Jr., found a letter written by his father, thanking the Canadian Red Cross for the blood.

On Wednesday, Daniel Jr. and his son, Nigel, currently a member of the Prince Edward Island Regiment training at CFB Gagetown, each donated blood at Canadian Blood Services in Charlottetown.  It was Nigel’s first time donating blood, inspired by his grandfather’s letter.

“Anything I can do to help I’m obviously willing to do,” Nigel, 22, said before giving blood. “If it’s going to help save a life on the battlefield . . . I know my friends have (served in Afghanistan).  “As soon as dad found the letter he called me and had blood services set this up. I thought it was a great idea.”

Daniel MacDonald Jr. said he was in the process of helping move his mother, Pauline, when they found the letter. It was written in May 1946 to the Canadian Red Cross. Col. Al Rogers, who established CFCY Radio, drove up to Bothwell to pick MacDonald up and drive him back to Charlottetown so MacDonald could read the letter on the air.

MacDonald Jr. said he heard the story before but never gave it much thought.  “My father would never talk about the war. He’d say ‘you can find better things to do with your time’.”

Pauline MacDonald suggested her son do something with the letter besides store it in a shoebox where it could get lost.  With Remembrance Day next week, the timing of the donation, and the story behind it isn’t lost on either Daniel Jr. or Nigel.

During November, Canadian Blood Services, the Canadian Forces and the Royal Canadian Legion are asking Islanders to donate blood as a way of honouring the contribution of Canadian Forces personnel in Canada and around the world.

“We never know what’s around the next corner, none of us, (or) when we’re going to need blood to save our lives,” MacDonald Jr. said. “It’s a good message to get out there, to encourage all Islanders, all Canadians, all other troops to get involved in blood donating.”

MacDonald’s letter is now on display in the Prince Edward Island Regiment museum at  Queen Charlotte Armouries.  Daniel Jr. felt since his father was an honorary colonel of PEIR from 1977 to his death in 1980 that it was the most appropriate place for it.

Read full story and the family history - An Inspirational Act

Young fighter battles cancer to the end with Bernard Hopkins

You won’t find Shaun Negler’s name in the FightFax database, the official record-keeping service of professional boxing.

There are no tapes of any of his memorable wins or stories of epic triumphs left behind. That’s because they don’t exist. He was robbed of a career in the sport he loved.

But none other than Bernard Hopkins, one of the greatest fighters of this or any generation, will tell you that he hasn’t met a tougher, or more courageous, fighter than Shaun Negler.

The improbable friendship between the long-time middleweight champion and the 18-year-old who worshipped him officially ended at 12:15 p.m. EDT on Oct. 23, 2008, when Negler could fight no more and succumbed to a 2½ year battle with cancer.

But Hopkins, who first met Negler in 2006 when he learned that the then-16-year-old had a deadly form of cancer, isn’t ready to accept that his friend is gone.

“This kid’s soul is still with us,” said Hopkins, who served as a pall bearer at Negler’s funeral in Philadelphia on Oct. 29. “His spirit lives inside of me and inside a lot of the people I met over these last couple of years.”

Hopkins said that for as much as he may have given to Shaun and the Neglers, he received much more in return.

“This was a kid who had every reason to feel sorry for himself, who had every reason to give up, and he never once would give in and he never once looked at the dark side of anything,” Hopkins said. “He looked at death and said, ‘I want to live. And I’m going to make the most of what I have.’ And that’s what we have to do while we’re here on this Earth. Take what you have and do the best you can with it. Look at what this kid was dealt and look what he did with it.

Read the entire article on Yahoo Sports - Hopkins and an even tougher fighter

Yahoo Sports

Frances Leach - helping patients at Children’s hospital

Frances Leach works full-time, but she still manages to find time to collect arts and crafts supplies for patients at Children’s Hospital in Aurora.

For six years, Leach has gotten co-workers and local companies to donate supplies and money.  This year, she filled 102 boxes, her biggest haul yet.  The supplies fill “art carts” throughout the Children’s Hospital Network, from Broomfield to Parker.  They allow children to make art and crafts during their hospital stay.

“Without her ability to coordinate all these donations of art supplies, I honestly don’t know what we would have done without that,” said Mary Navin from Children’s Hospital.

See Video: Frances Leach - Everyday hero

A Winner in the Fight for International Justice

The MacArthur Foundation will honor Justice Richard J. Goldstone, former Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, with the MacArthur Award for International Justice. The Award provides Goldstone with $100,000 for his own work and invites him to suggest an additional $500,000 in support for non-profit organizations working on international justice issues. The Award will be conferred upon Justice Goldstone in The Hague on May 21, 2009.

“Justice Goldstone has played an instrumental role in building the emerging international system of justice,” said MacArthur President Jonathan Fanton in remarks at a conference on international justice at American University. “He gave the tribunals moral authority and legal credibility. It is, in large part, a testament to the quality of his work that the international community accepted the Rome Statute and established the International Criminal Court with confidence. His unquestioned competence and integrity won the faith of the world.”

As Chief Prosecutor of the Tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, Goldstone helped shepherd these courts, the first of their kind since Nazi war criminals were tried at Nuremberg following World War II. He stressed the importance of reaching top political and military perpetrators and, in 1995, filed charges of genocide and crimes against humanity against Bosnian Serb leaders Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic for their roles in the “ethnic cleansing” of Bosnian Muslims.

Goldstone also chaired the Commission of Inquiry Regarding Public Violence and Intimidation in the aftermath of apartheid in his native South Africa. His service on the Commission proved invaluable to the democratic transition in that country, where he also served as an inaugural member of the Constitutional Court.

“It is an honor to receive the MacArthur Award for International Justice, as the Foundation has been a leader in supporting efforts to advance human rights and international justice,” said Justice Goldstone. “Since the early 1990s, we have witnessed the emergence of a system of international justice that is growing stronger with each new case tried in a regional court or UN tribunal and with each investigation opened by the International Criminal Court. It has given me tremendous pride and satisfaction to have played a role in ensuring that the perpetrators of mass atrocities have more reason today than ever to fear being brought to justice.”

Former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan was the first recipient of the Award in 2008 in recognition of his contribution to building the International Criminal Court and encouraging the development of the concept of the Responsibility to Protect.

From CEO To Math Teacher

As the CEO of H&R Block (HRB) — America’s top tax preparation firm that revolutionized electronic filing — Tom Bloch produced huge profits and earned nearly $1 million a year.

Despite his success and fortune, he gave it all up at age 41 to do what he saw as more fulfilling and beneficial to society: teaching math at an inner-city middle school.

His career change drew national attention in 1995. Oprah had him on her TV show, as did NBC’s “Today.” People magazine featured him, as did the New York Times.

They all quoted people wondering how a CEO could leave the firm that his dad built and take a 98% pay cut.

Bloch’s answer? He borrowed one from the Dalai Lama on the meaning of life: Be happy and useful.

“I think when you find your calling and you follow your heart, you just become a more fulfilled person,” Bloch told IBD. “I find that my work in urban education in a very, very small way (is) working at repairing the world. And what I learned over these years is that when you work at repairing the world, you repair yourself.”

BY TRANG HO
INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILY

Read the full story From Tax CEO to Math Teacher

Related Posts:

• Tom Bloch interview with Entrepeneur.com - Sept 2008
• Seven Lessons Learned by CEO turned teacher Tom Bloch - Aug 2008
• Tom Bloch’s book - Amazon.com
  • Stand for the Best: What I Learned after Leaving My Job as CEO of H&R Block to Become a Teacher and Founder of an Inner-City Charter School (Hardcover)

Paralyzed Soldier returns home to family and friends

You’ll enjoy this local TV report about a paralyzed soldier returning home to the cheers and support of his local community.

Local TV station builds a wheelchair ramp for returning paralyzed soldier, Wes Hixon.   The soldier who was paralyzed by a roadside bomb in Iraq, returned home Thursday night to a crowd of family and friends. KXLY4’s John Langeler reports.

High Speed Rescue of Blinded Driver

Have you ever seen a good Samaritan moving at 60mhp?   A brave, and talented driver helped avert potential disaster on Interstate 880 in California.  A very small sidebar story in the Mercury News is worth a read.  It starts with a thank you from the rescued driver.  This is in Q&A format.  The ‘Q’ is Mark Underwood (Driver) and the ‘A’ is Gary Richards from the Mercury News.

Q - I would like to thank the man who leaned out the passenger side of a white full-sized truck Monday morning to pull a large sheet of cardboard off my windshield after it flew up and virtually blocked my entire view of the road.

Mark Underwood
Scotts Valley

A - Wow! He did what?

Q - I was traveling south on Interstate 880 before Highway 17 about 10:30 a.m. in the fast lane when a large piece of cardboard blew up from the ground, getting pinned against my window. I had to lean over into the passenger seat of my Civic to see.  I worked my way out of the fast lane and began moving to the right to get off the road or find an exit.  I slowed to maybe 50 mph and the next thing I know, this white truck races up next to me, just a couple of inches from my car.  Then this mysterious good Samaritan leans way out and pulls the cardboard sheet off my windshield.  To him, I say: Thank you very much and God bless you.

Mark Underwood

A - I’ve written about good deeds on the road numerous times, but this may be the topper. There was more than one hero in what could have been a tragic incident. First, a person in a car behind Mark saw what was happening and turned on his emergency lights, alerting other drivers to a problem ahead. Then, this driver of the white truck pulls up next to Mark at 50 mph and his passenger risks his life torescue Mark. Man, what quick thinking. What a story. Mark would love to meet the pair in the truck, and so would I.

Read the entire Mercury News Roadshow article

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