Category: News

It’s not every day you hear a story like this…

A kindhearted woman in New Jersey helped a stranger who was short on cash only to learn it was country music star Keith Urban.

Ruth Reed, age 62, works as a teacher. She was grabbing a bite at the Wawa along Route 541 in Medford when she saw the ‘struggling customer’ ahead of her was having an issue at the register.

“It looked like he was using a card and it didn’t go through and then he asked a young lady for five dollars and I thought this is it so I said ‘No I’ll get it’,” Reed said to CBS Philly.

Although she had suspicions that he looked like somebody she had seen before, she didn’t immediately recognise that it was him.

“And he said what’s your name? Ruth, he said ‘Ruth I’m Keith’ and I said ‘That’s who you look like Keith Urban do people ever tell you that you look like Keith Urban’ and he said ‘I am Keith Urban’,” Reed said.

She was still unconvinced by the strange man, even asking why Nicole Kidman, his wife, wasn’t with him!

It was at that point she noticed Urban’s bodyguards and realized it really was him.

“And I just fell apart,” Reed recalled.

She said Keith was “very gracious” for her kind act, and posed for a picture with her before he headed off.

When a Walmart cashier in Burton, Michigan saw a customer get turned away from the store’s nail salon, she took matters into her own hands.

Tasia Smith works at the Subway inside the Walmart and witnessed the scene.

“Today, this sweet girl went into burton Wal-Mart’s nail salon “Da Vi nails” and they denied her service because ‘she moves too much’,” Smith wrote in a Facebook post. “Out of the kindess of the walmart workers hearts they went and bought nail polish and came into my work to paint this sweet girls nails. They were so patient with her (which she did great, barely moved & was just so sweet)… Thank you to the walmart workers for making this beautiful girls day!”

Smith snapped a photo of Walmart cashier Ebony Harris skipping her break to paint the woman’s nails and posted it on Facebook.

“I just wanted to post it for awareness and appreciation, because people needed to know what was going on with the business and Ebony deserved all the appreciation she could get,” Tasia told WJRT. 

Harris said she watched the nail salon, located next door, refuse to do the woman’s nails because her hands shake quite a bit due to cerebral palsy. So, she decided to do something about it.

“I just wanted to make her day special. I didn’t really want her day to be ruined. That’s why I did it,” Harris said.

“And you know, she moved her hands a little bit and she kept saying she was sorry. And, I told her ‘don’t say that’. I said ‘you’re fine’.”

Harris says she hopes her actions inspire others to treat people with disabilities the way they would want to be treated themselves.

“We’re not trying to bash the nail salon. We’re not trying to make them lose customers, make them look bad,” she said.

“But maybe spread awareness that no matter the person, who they are, what color they are, disability, whatever, they’re people too. She’s a girly girl. She’s just like you, me, Tasia, my daughter, anybody. She wants to look pretty, you know, and so why can’t she?”

The Ferguson fire in California has been burning since July 13 and has consumed more than 43,000 acres.

The fire “has threatened homes and critical infrastructure and caused power outages and the evacuation of residents,” the governor’s office said in a statement.

Brenda Ann Marks thought she was going to have to evacuate her cabin again when Turlock firefighters arrived unannounced at her home on Thursday, but the firemen had other plans.

“I heard a knock at front door, when opening the door there stood 4 firemen in full gear…I said oh no I have to leave again?

He Instantly replied Nooo ma’am we’re here to help you, Is there anything we can do? I thought for a second no sir… I couldn’t think of anything.

He then replied so sweetly do you have a lawn mower? Your lawn needs mowing and we want to do it! So one guy head out and mowed my back yard!!”

“Then the other guy said why is your freezer out here on the deck? Oh I said I still have to clean it out it’s empty of rotten food…I’m going to do that today!

He replied well I’m going to clean it out for you… do you have cleaning supplies bleach, 409, some rags… I said oh that’s ok I can do it. 

Low and behold before I knew it two of them pick up my freezer at took it over to the gravel out front. Cleaned it and carried back into my home…stepping over water in hallway.”

“I had a ice chest that was leaking water inside the front hallway…. well I’m sure you can guess he took everything out transferring it to a good freezer next to it!

I also had a lot of pieces to the inside of the refrigerator freezer propped up in the hall drying from being cleaned.

Ma’am can I put these pieces back in the freezer for you…and before I knew it he had put everything back in and screwed down all the pieces taken out to get yuk stuff cleaned up.”

“I teared up…I thank them all so much for everything from saving all the homes and helping me out here at my Cabin.

God Bless you all!

They all gave me a big hug and said nice to meet you Brenda, Cheyenne and Daphne.

Thank you!”

An English teenager who has attached uplifting messages onto a Sunderland bridge to help those in despair has been commended by Northumbria Police for saving lives.

Paige Hunter, 18, has hand-written more than 40 inspirational notes and attached them to the railings of the Wearmouth Bridge to offer hope and comfort to people considering suicide.

“Even though things are difficult, your life matters. You’re a shining light in a dark world, so just hold on”, she wrote on one of her notes.

As the compassionate teenager returned to the bridge this week, Northumbria Police Chief Superintendent Sarah Pitt presented her with a framed commendation certificate to recognize her selfless acts.

“We thought it was important to applaud the work Paige has been doing and the help she has given those in Sunderland who are going through a mental health crisis,” Pitt said.

“Paige has shown an incredible understanding of vulnerable people in need of support, and this is an innovative way to reach out to those in a dark place.”

Paige, who works as a sales assistant at a variety store, said it was just something she wanted to do.

“I just want to help people and I’ve been told it’s already helped save six lives,” she said.

This is the story of Angela Hernandez. A woman who went missing and everyone feared the worst during her week gone.

Angela was in her car driving to Southern California from Oregon when she saw an animal suddenly walk into the road.

She swerved, ending up going off the road and falling around 250 feet near Big Sur, California.

Here is the incredible story that she shared with Facebook about what she did to survive, miraculously.

“After I woke up I was still in my car and I could feel water rising over my knees.

Every window was closed. I took off my seatbelt and found a multi-tool I kept near my front seat. I started hitting the driver-side window with it.

Every bone in my body hurt. The only thing racing through my mind was my sister, Isabel. So I started screaming her name.

Eventually, I was able to break out of my car and jump into the ocean. I swam to the shore and fell asleep for an unknown amount of time.

When I woke up, it was still daylight and it was only then that I had finally realized what had happened.

I stood up onto my feet and noticed a huge pain in my shoulders, hips, back, and thighs.

I saw nothing but rocks, the ocean, and a cliff that I knew I’d never be able to look over.

I looked down at my feet and saw that my shoes were gone.”

“The next few days kind of became a blur. I’d walk up and down the beach in search of another human being.

I could see cars driving across the cliff and felt like if I could yell just loud enough, that one could hear or see me. That’s all it would take to make it back to my family. Just one person noticing me.

About 3 days had passed by now and the back of my jeans were torn apart, my socks were nothing but holes, and I could start feeling the effects of dehydration.

I found my way back to my car and started looking around for anything I could use.

I found a 10-inch black hose that seemed to have fallen off of my vehicle during the crash.

I walked farther south down the beach than I ever had before and heard a dripping sound.

I looked up and saw a huge patch of moss with water dripping down from it. I caught the water in my hands and tasted it. It was fresh!!!!”

“I collected as much as I could in my little hose and drank from it for maybe an hour.

Every day, this became my ritual. I’d walk up and down the beach looking for new high ground, screaming ‘help’ at the top of my lungs, and collecting water falling from the top of the cliffs.

My last morning on the beach was an especially good one.

When I woke up I saw a woman walking across the shore. I thought she was a dream.

I screamed, “HEEELLLPPPPP!” and then got up as quickly as I could and ran over to her. She was with a man and I don’t think they could believe their eyes.

They acted so quickly.

She ran down the beach and up a trail to go find help while the man stayed with me and gave me fresh water.

He told me they were a married couple who loved the ocean and had been exploring when they had come across my destroyed vehicle.

I couldn’t believe that we had finally found each other.”

“Eventually, a rescue team was able to pull me up the cliff and lead me to a helicopter that took me to a nearby hospital.

There, I was reunited with my family and discovered the extent of my injuries.

During the first few days after the crash, I was suffering from a brain hemorrhage.

The crash had also caused me to fracture 4 ribs, break and fracture both collar bones, have a lung collapse, rupture blood vessels in both eyes, and experience intense sunburns on my hands, feet, and face.

But, at the end of the day, none of that matters.

I feel like I have everything I’ve ever wanted.

I’m sitting here in the hospital, laughing with my sister until she makes broken bones hurt.

I’ve met some of the most beautiful human beings that I think I’ll ever meet in my entire life.

I’ve experienced something so unique and terrifying and me that I can’t imagine that there isn’t a bigger purpose for me in this life.

I don’t know, you guys, life is incredible.”

— Angela Hernandez

Technology when paired with human kindness can be an incredible thing, literally performing miracles!

Twenty-six girls were rescued whilst on the brink of being taken by human traffickers after a vigilant  passenger sent out a timely tweet.

The passenger, who has been called a hero, named Adarsh Shrivastava was traveling on a train in the northern Indian state of Uttah Pradesh. He then noticed something suspicious, inside the cabin he was travelling in,  he noticed a very large group of juvenile girls, all of them clearly uneasy, and some visibly upset.

Shrivastava quickly got his phone out and tweeted at railway authorities in the hopes of alerting them of the situation.

A few stops later, thankfully, plain-clothed railway police officers boarded the train and successfully rescued the 26 girls.

Two men were also arrested, reported the Hindustan Times, citing the railway officials.

The girls were later transferred to state child welfare authorities, who are working hard on reconnecting them with their families and parents.

Despite being hailed a hero by many on social media, Shrivastava said in response, “Thanks, but as a citizen of India it’s our responsibility to help people.”

In Toronto, a new grocery store has opened. But there’s a difference. There’s no price tags on anything!

The reason for that is that the 1,100-square-foot market run on the motto of ‘pay-what-you-can’.

The food available at the world’s first pay-what-you-can grocery store comes from farms, restaurants, cafes, supermarkets, bakeries and more.

None of the food is expired, rotted, or ruined. Companies simply get rid of good produce for being naturally bruised or misshaped, as shoppers can sometimes shy away from these, or simply as they have too much stock in their warehouses.

“There are big companies that have a lot of (food) stuff stored away in big warehouses and not all of it is sold,” said the store owner, Jagger Gordon, who is a chef in Toronto chef who founded the Feed It Forward initiative. “There’s nothing wrong with the products we get; some stores just mandate that the food can’t sit longer for four or six months on the shelf. For example, we have pet food here that’s still six months away from the optimal freshness date.”

Gordon says that in order to feed as many people as possible, customers are limited to one day’s worth of food for a family so the shop is able to feed as many people as possible.

People are also able to sign up to have a box of food, packaged with fresh produce and recipes which is sent to them twice a week.

“The concept behind the store is showcasing how Canadians can utilize the food that’s destined for landfills: perfectly edible food that shouldn’t be thrown out and can be filling the empty bellies of our citizens,” Gordon said to The Toronto Star.

The Feed It Forward store is funded largely by Gordon’s catering business, as well as fundraising efforts. If you would also like to help out, you can donate to the nonprofit, or volunteer at the grocery store, you can visit the Feed It Forward website.

Elon Musk will be sending a team of trained engineers to Thailand to help the rescue efforts of a boys’ soccer team who have been trapped in a cave.

Musk initially got involved in the ordeal after a Twitter user from South Africa reached out to a Tesla engineer and the business leader himself via Twitter to ask for help.

The whole conversation was incredible, as well as the final update received yesterday!

On the 7th of July, 2018, Elon added:

Some good feedback from cave experts in Thailand. Iterating with them on an escape pod design that might be safe enough to try. Also building an inflatable tube with airlocks. Less likely to work, given tricky contours, but great if it does.

A couple of hours later he said:

Got more great feedback from Thailand. Primary path is basically a tiny, kid-size submarine using the liquid oxygen transfer tube of Falcon rocket as hull. Light enough to be carried by 2 divers, small enough to get through narrow gaps. Extremely robust. Continue to be amazed by the bravery, resilience & tenacity of kids & diving team in Thailand. Human character at its best.

Will Smith recently appeared on TIDAL’s Rap Radar podcast where he talked about his marriage to Jada Pinkett Smith, his successful career and his upcoming rap album.

Smith also previewed a track on the album called “The Mountaintop” and explained what the song is about.

“The idea is… I’ve been to the top of money, I’ve had all the sex that I’ve ever wanted, I’ve had all of the adoration,” Smith said. “I’ve been to the top of all those material world mountains and nothing makes you happy other than being useful to others. That’s it. That’s the only thing that ever will satisfy that thing, is that what you’re doing is useful.”

At 48 years old, Will Smith’s net worth is estimated at $250 million, making him one of the richest actors in the world.

But this isn’t the first time he’s discussed the importance of helping others if you want to live a happy, fulfilling life.

“I want to do good. I want the world to be better because I was here,” Smith said in a previous interview. “I want my life, I want my work, my family, I want it to mean something. It’s like if you are not making someone else’s life better, then you’re wasting your time. Your life will become better by making other lives better.”

When Ray Rhinehart’s mother passed away, he decided to donate her doll collection to the Discovery Shop in Santa Monica, a thrift store run by the American Cancer Society.

One month later, he received an unexpected call back.

“I got a phone call saying, we found an envelope in one of the boxes of the dolls, and there seems to be a lot of money in it,” Rhinehart told ABC News. “And I said “Oh really.” And it turned out to be quite a bit of money.”

The honest thrift shop workers returned a total of $36,000 in cash to Rhinehart.

Ray thanked the good people at the Discovery Shop. As for the dolls, they were donated to an orphanage.