Not All News is Bad!

Enrique Zuanetto will take a day off Saturday from leading the volunteers at The Soup Kitchen to lead Boynton Beach’s 47th Holiday Parade.

Source: He’s been helping the homeless and hungry; now he gets to lead a parade

What a neat idea! Let’s put real heroes in our parades instead of the usual politicians and beauty queens!

This is Gavel, a German Shepherd who was recruited as a puppy to train as a police dog – but ended up getting the sack.

Source: This police dog was fired from his job for an adorable reason

Reminds me of California’s Sutter Brown and now Colusa Brown (though neither were fired from a previous job, they just came their positions naturally). 🙂

A new store in Spokane is offering at-cost refurbished medical equipment to help people afford the expense of scooters, wheelchairs and other costly items.

Source: New store in Spokane selling refurbished medical equipment to help those in need

A great use of resources.

A woman with Down’s syndrome has become the first person with the disability to compete in a Miss USA state pageant. Mikayla Holmgren took part in the Miss Minnesota over the weekend.

Source: Woman becomes first person with Down’s syndrome to compete in Miss USA state pageant

Very cool.

A single young woman was willing to take on the challenge of parenting six young girls in order to keep their family together.

Source: Meet The Foster Mom Who Kept A Family Together By Adopting Six Sisters – Simplemost

Wow. Just … wow.

A man in New Jersey spent $10,000 to make sure kids’ Christmas wishes get fulfilled this year.

Source: Man pays for layaway orders at NJ Toys ‘R Us

This isn’t the first of this type of story we’ve heard. Seems like each year of late there’s at least one report of someone doing exactly this at a larger retail outlet. Very cool.

Insecticides could be developed that kill pests without harming beneficial insects such as bees, according to a new study. The use of pesticides is currently the subject of much debate, owing to the catastrophic effects chemicals such as neonicotinoids have on the environment, and particularly on the bees we rely on to pollinate crops.

Source: Bee-friendly insecticides closer to reality after breakthrough development

The potential for doing both — not harming beneficial insects, and still protect the food that feeds the world — is very promising.

Makenzee Meaux says she’d lost hope of feeling beautiful until she met her fiancé.

Source: Woman bares alopecia in engagement photos

Inspiring…

A New Jersey woman who was helped by a homeless man when she ran out of gas in Philadelphia is raising money to help him.

Source: Woman Raises More Than $35,000 For Homeless Man Who Gave Last $20 To Help Her

I love how “paying it back” has simply exploded….

COLES will roll out an autism-friendly shopping experience at nearly 70 stores across the country from today, following a successful trial earlier this year.

Source: ‘Do any shoppers really like loudly blaring radios?’ – news.com.au

What a great idea.