Anyone familiar with Charles Schulz’s “Peanuts” comic strip knows about Linus and his blanket.  It was Linus, in fact, who supplied the name for a nationwide charity group that provides blankets for “every sick and hurting child.” Project Linus, as it came to be known, was founded in 1995.  Inspired by a Parade magazine article about a girl who benefited from her blanket during chemotherapy, Karen Louchs decided to stitch coverlets for the Rocky Mountain Children’s Cancer Center in Denver,... Read more

How did six-year-old Cayden Long, who can’t walk or talk due to cerebral palsy, manage to compete in several triathlons around the country?  With the help of his nine-year-old brother, Connor, who told ESPN, “I’m trying to give him the best life he could ever have.” Sensitive to the fact that Cayden was being denied a normal child’s life, Connor saw an ad for a 2.5-mile triathlon in Nashville, and asked his parents if he and his brother could participate... Read more

Kim Adams of Ulster County, New York, is a CAT scan technician, a mother and, since 2010, the founder of an organization that grants wishes for people with Down syndrome. Interviewed by CBS-TV, Adams gave her reasons for starting Gifts from the Heart for Downs.  “People aren’t always very kind so I just felt this was one way to honor people with Down syndrome, and help them have something for themselves,” she said.  She had adopted two babies with Down... Read more

Dogs are known as man’s best friends because they protect and love all humans unconditionally.  Maybe in time, they’ll also become known as “physician assistants.” Canines have a phenomenal sense of smell in addition to their many other treasured qualities.  In a recent study, German researchers showed that dogs can learn to detect lung cancer in humans by smelling breath samples. “The dogs were also able to distinguish between patients with lung cancer and those with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease,... Read more

“Pull your pants up,” thought Kimberly Ogba, every time she saw young men walking down the street with saggy jeans that exposed their underwear.  Instead of just complaining, she created a line of t-shirts that actually convey that specific message. Ogba, a Nigerian immigrant living in Queens, New York, told the Daily News that the “saggy pants” trend is disrespectful to society and insults the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. She said, “When you see young boys pull their... Read more

With few programs that teach Syracuse, New York’s urban youth about leadership, interpersonal skills, and conflict resolution, Team A.N.G.E.L. has stepped into the breach.  Though angels are usually helpful heavenly beings, in this case the word stands for “Avoid Negative Garbage and Enjoy Life.” Created as a way to prevent local youth from getting involved with drugs, gangs, and violence, Team A.N.G.E.L.’s founders—Eddie Mitchell Jr., Ryedell Davis, Isaiah Gregory, and Shenise Stevens—serve as positive role models and mentors for the... Read more

On July 16, 2012, a first-of-its-kind safe haven for pregnant college students was created on the grounds of Belmont Abbey College in Charlotte, North Carolina. Several years ago, a study discovered that even when there are resources for pregnant college students on campus, the perception of a lack of resources can drive a woman to have an abortion or drop out of school.  That study motivated a Charlotte-based pregnancy resource center called Room at the Inn to pursue a college-based... Read more

Are you too busy?  Does your busy life keep you up at night, thinking about everything you didn’t get done? In Be More with Less, author Courtney Carver encourages others to make the choice she did—and get un-busy! “Becoming less busy was not an accident, but a decision I made on purpose,” she says.  “Being a good person, loving wife, mother and friend…that was the life I wanted.” Here are some to-dos so you stop doing too much. ▪ Only... Read more

Cicero, the Roman orator and statesman, set forth what he considered the six most drastic mistakes made by men over the course of their lives.  They are: ▪ The delusion that individual advancement is made by crushing others. ▪ The tendency to worry about things that cannot be changed or corrected. ▪ Insisting that a task is impossible because we cannot do it ourselves. ▪ Refusing to set aside trivial preferences. ▪ Neglecting development and refinement of the mind, and... Read more

After 72 years of marriage, Gordon and Norma Yeager died one hour apart while holding hands. The Des Moines, Iowa, couple got married on the day Norma graduated from high school in 1939.  From then on, they were inseparable.  “They believed in marriage till death do you part,” their youngest son Dennis told KCCI-TV. In October 2011, Gordon and Norma were in a car accident and rushed to the intensive care unit where the nurses knew not to separate the... Read more