Hi! Welcome to today’s episode of Yes to Good News! Today we are featuring good news from March 14, 2020.
First Good News Story from March 14
The first story we are sharing with you today was featured on goodnewsnetwork.org where we came to learn about a coffee shop named La La Land Kind Cafe in Dallas, Texas.
Francois Reihani, the 24-year old entrepreneur owner of La La Land Kind Cafe, has made it a priority to hire young workers who have aged out of the foster care system. To date, he has hired 9 former foster kids who had been facing difficult times since turning 18 years old and aging out of the system. In doing so, he has created a safe haven and community support system for his workers.
Reihani told CBS News,
“We’re not in the business of coffee, we just serve coffee — We’re definitely in the business of kindness.”
Francois Reihani
Reihani hopes that other business owners will come to follow this same initiative.
One of his employees, 20 year old Ciara Martin, has overcome homelessness and depression since working at La La Land Kind Cafe. She told CBSDFW,
“I have people to believe in me and support me. I’ve never had that kind of support in my life. So I’ve been able to believe in myself, and realize what I want in life and chase after it.”
Ciara Martin
Second Good News Story
Our next story was featured in sunnyskyz.com where we found out about a young lady, Rebecca Mehra, who helped an elderly couple get their groceries. Mehra heard an elderly lady yelling from her car. Mehra walked over to find an elderly woman with her husband, both too afraid to go into the store for fear of contracting the coronavirus.
The elderly woman handed Mehra a $100 bill through her window along with her grocery list and asked if Mehra would be willing to buy her groceries.
Mehra did just that! Once done, she placed the groceries in the trunk of the elderly couple’s car and handed them their change. It was then that Mehra came to understand the couple had been waiting 45 minutes for the right person to come along to ask for help.
Mehra insists that most people she knows would have done the same thing she did. She encourages others to reach out to those in our communities who may need help or feel forgotten.
Third Good News Story
Our next good news story comes to us from bbc.com. Some farmers and local businesses in Scotland are reaching out to help elderly and people with underlying health issues who are not able to leave their homes at this time amidst the coronavirus outbreak.
Langside Cafe in Glasgow’s Southside is delivering free soup. Day Today Express in Stenhousemuir is delivering care packages to pensioners. Mossgiel Family Farm in East Ayrshire, is offering a home delivery service of fresh goods.
Farmer Bryce Cunningham indicates,
“Over the past few years we’ve been very community-focused, and the local community has supported us very well and helped us get our business off the ground.
“I’ve got an elderly gran and grandpa and I wondered how we could give back to the community a wee bit.
“I’ve got an elderly gran and grandpa and I wondered how we could give back to the community a wee bit.
“As a business that relies on local trade, we really should be helping our local communities out.”
Bryce Cunningham
Fourth Good News Story
Our final good news story of the day was featured on msn.com. Single mother and pharmacist from Friendswood, Texas, Tameka Maiden, has come up with a communication solution for non-verbal children. Maiden has created a teddy bear named U’Neek — the Gifted Bear. U’Neek’s paws and ears are pre-programmed with common phrases children would tell their caregivers.
By communicating through the bear, children are able to let their caregivers know things like when they are hungry, sleepy, need to use the bathroom, or want to play.
With Autism Awareness Month coming up in April, Maiden is looking to get U’Neek into the hands of as many nonverbal children as she can. She has partnered with former NFL player, James Ihedigbo and, together, they will be launching a “Get a Bear, Give a Bear” campaign via Ihedigbo’s wife’s Kiddie Academy locations. The goal of this campaign is to provide children with autism and other special needs a bear for free.
“The bear is the outpouring of love and appreciation for nonverbal children. I want to do more and more.”
Tameka Maiden
Thank you!
Thank you so much for watching today’s episode of Yes to Good News filmed March 14, 2020! We ask that you please hit the ‘like’ button under this video and also subscribe to our channel. When subscribing, be sure to hit the bell notification so that you will be notified of new episodes. The world truly is a great one filled with many good news stories!
Inspirational Clip of the Day
Be sure to also watch our inspirational clip of the day featured here. Today’s clip is about a two-legged dog, Lieutenant Dan, from New Richmond Ohio. His owner, Laura Weber, told CNN that Lieutenant Dan doesn’t know he has a handicap. He just knows he has a wonderful life to live and enjoys every day of it.”
In the mood for more good news? Check out our report from yesterday!
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