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Welcome, dear readers, to our most positive message of the week - Weekly Uplifting Stories.
Every week, we come together to share reminders that good things are happening in everywhere our every day life - they're just not blown up in the media (They really should be.).
This week's stories include:
When you choose kindness, anything is possible.
Grand Ledge, Michigan resident Joanne Ellena's corner lot sees a lot of traffic in general, but especially now that she has built a kindness rock garden, full of hand decorated rocks for anyone to take a little message of hope with them.
Her rock garden has a sign encouraging people to:
Joanne's idea started in 2020 during the election season.
"I was just tired of seeing all the negative messages and so I just started painting my own signs," she says, "I put the signs out in my yard... it just made me feel better, let's just instill some positive messages." - Joanne Ellena, from interview
She then took her positivity message a little further, creating a little corner garden full of plants and kindness rocks she decorates with messages like, "Hope," and, "Be the Light."
Dale Schroeder worked as a carpenter for 67 years, lived modestly and worked incredibly hard.
He also saved enough money to create a legacy of education and philanthropy that have extended well past his own life.
In those 67 years, Dale saved a staggering $3 million, which he wanted to share with others. Having no children of his own, and not having had the opportunity to go to college himself - Dale wanted to help students in Iowa who would not otherwise be able to afford post-secondary education.
Dale passed away in 2005, leaving his close friend Walt Tomenga and his lawyer, Steve Nielsen to figure out how best to fulfill his wishes of helping underprivileged teens get their education. They partnered with ACT (Acing the Test), which helped them reach schools in small towns and encourage kids 'like Dale' to apply.
Since the program was set up, Dale has helped 33 people with full scholarships, many of whom are now doctors, teachers and therapists, affectionately calling themselves, "Dale's Kids." They now meet for an annual reunion to honor Dale's legacy.
Even though the program closed in 2015, the people Dale, Walt and Steve helped will go on to create their own legacies, never forgetting the selflessness of one Iowa carpenter.
At a very special diner in southwest Berkeley, owner Collin Doran has made a successful business out of giving food away for free.
With his 'Everybody Eats' program, people need only grab one of the coupons at the front of the store to get a free meal of eggs, home fries and toast - the only payment required is a thank you.
He started a few years ago, just giving any hungry diners a free breakfast at his Homemade Café. Once the pandemic hit, the need grew, and Collin made the program official.
"...what I think is important and be able to not only do things I love and make nice and delicious food but do it in a way that is socially responsible and trying to make the world a better place." - Collin Doran
Collin is now giving away about 200 free meals a month. Paying customers have the option of donating an extra $5 towards the program to help, which many of them are happy to do. His business has grown 50%, a staggering number in any restaurant business.
"Customers have reacted positively, and even if they don't always contribute the $5 to help pay for the meals, they like the fact that we do it and they choose to come here more often." - Collin Doran
What an incredible program!
When Melody Morrow plucked her mail from the box, she didn't expect to be tickled by the billing statement from her health care provider.
Someone at the large provider MJHS Health System had taken the time to doodle little music notes on the outside of her envelope, a delightful play on her name.
From there, every month when Melody received her mail, there would be new drawings, becoming more elaborate as time progressed. From music notes to treble clefs, all the way up to rhinestones and gold leaf.
"It's hard to even describe...it was incredible." - Melody Morrow
When Melody finally called MJHS to find out who was creating these vibrant, original works of art just for her, she found one Emily Margolis, an Accounting Clerk who finds opportunities to use her drawings to make people happy.
Fast forward a bit and the two have become friends, and are co-curating an exhibit of Emily's creations! It just goes to show how simple kindness can make a gigantic (and beautiful) impact.
I recommend watching the video! You have to see Emily's gorgeous drawings - they're quite beautiful.
Teaching kids coming out of the juvenile justice system to cook at fine dining restaurants isn't something you hear about every day. But in three very special U.S. locations, flagship restaurant Dallas, Pittsburgh and Nashville, that's exactly what Café Momentum has set out to do.
"Café Momentum is a non profit restaurant that provides workforce development and life skills training for youth involved in the justice system... and we do all of that with mental health services education and wraparound services disguised as a beautiful fine dining restaurant downtown." - Gene Walker, Executive Director, Café Momentum Pittsburgh
Café Momentum founder and chef Chad Houser is on a mission to transform young lives by equipping our community’s most at-risk youth with life skills, education and employment opportunities to help them achieve their full potential.
By taking on these young interns to work in the restaurants, they're helping them rediscover their passion and find their own direction for their future. This program is changing lives and giving kids an opportunity to heal and succeed.
The program also helps kids get counseling, bank accounts and work on getting their education.
You can follow Café Momentum on Instagram here.
And that wraps it up for this week!
As always, if you have any Uplifting Stories of your own, you can contact us in the comments below, or reach out on our Instagram page. We might just share your story in a future article.
Thanks everyone for reading, and have an uplifting week ahead. Take care and see you next week!
Photo by Alex Alvarez on Unsplash
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I find the life lifting stories fascinating and inspiring. Thank you dailymotivation.
Thank YOU for coming to read them, Radhakrishnan 🙂