Daily good news about people, places, things, business, sports, technology and more...no wars, violence, gossip and car chases here - just the GOOD NEWSZ!
Monday, December 31, 2012
Student to fulfill her dream of playing in a marching band at the Tournament of Roses Parade - a big deal for anyone - especially when your blind.
Kwak appreciates Bindle lending a guiding hand. It's tough enough for anyone to march the entire 5.5-mile parade route. Especially for Kwak, who is blind.
Everyone can relate to this one...visiting the doctor and not knowing what to expect-always expecting the worst and then.....
Most kids, heck, even most adults, don't like going to the doctor's office. The girl in the video above is no exception.
10 year old gives of herself on Christmas day and feeds the homeless in order to honor her father..."best part about Christmas Day was serving the homeless"
Ten-year-old Gracie McNulty faced a tough Christmas this year -- it was the first one without her father. What she did to honor his memory, however, was nothing short of incredible.
On Christmas Day, McNulty asked her mother to keep the family's cafe, the Grilled and Filtered in Yokshire, open. It was her father's last wish to feed the homeless during the holiday season.
One of the hottest new contemporary artists...some of her paintings sell for over $20,000 - by the way, she's only 5!
Aelita Andre, a 5-year-old art prodigy, has already held two solo art shows at a New York City gallery. Some of her paintings go for more than $12,000! Read her amazing story.
A birthday for the worlds oldest identical twins...a young 103..."we love each other and always will"
On Monday, the world's oldest living identical twins celebrated their 103 birthday!
Charlotte Eisgrou and Ann Primack of South Florida and Daytona Beach, Fla. are still in the best of health, despite their age. Neither uses a hearing aide or reading glasses, reported the Daily Mail.
"I feel wonderful. I have all my faculties," Eisgrou told the Daytona Beach News-Journal.
Although the pair was unable to spend their birthday together since they are both recovering from recent falls, they still consider each other best friends.
Thought for the day...it's not about yesterday or tomorrow, it's about Today...
“There are two days in every week about which we should not worry, two days which should be kept free from fear
and apprehension.
“One of these days is Yesterday, with its mistakes and cares, its faults and blunders, its aches and pains.
“Yesterday has passed forever beyond our control. All the money in the world cannot bring back Yesterday. We cannot undo a single act we performed; we cannot erase a single word we said. Yesterday is gone.
“The other day about which we should not worry is Tomorrow, with its possible adversaries, its burdens, its large and poor performance.
“Tomorrow is also beyond our immediate control. Tomorrow’s sun will rise, either in splendor or behind a mask of clouds, but it will rise. Until it does we have no stake in Tomorrow, for it is as yet unborn.
“That leaves only Today, and anyone can fight the battle for just one day. Let us therefore live but one day at a time.”
It’s great advice for starting a New Year.
Just make Today a good day.
Happy New Year!
Don't know what to do with that unwanted gift card from your "favorite" aunt...now you have options.
For the sixth year in a row, gift cards were the No. 1 requested item this holiday season. Yet even they can go wrong.
Maybe you're a movie person, and Aunt Annie gave you a gift card to REI. Or perhaps you scored a Starbucks gift card at the office Yankee Swap, but you don't drink coffee. There are numerous reasons why a store or restaurant gift card could end up tucked away in a drawer.
If you're stuck with one of these cards, remember that it's not worthless. The trick is to unlock the cash.
Read here how to turn that unwanted gift card into cash...Are you charting a course and plan for your healthier new year lifestyle changes...the key is to take it slow.
We want to lose weight. Be happier. Eat better. Quit smoking.
Nearly half of us will make New Year’s resolutions this year and, while we may be setting laudable and healthy goals, many of us will be doomed to fail.
But, experts say, there are ways to ensure success.
The key is to stop thinking in terms of “resolution” and reframe the goal as a journey — a lasting lifestyle change that can be accomplished through specific steps.
92 year old won't slow down...in addition to delivering cars he has his own "business" and "customers" at the local hospital.
Haskell resident Charles Swinson, a World War II veteran who is 92 years young, never seems to slow down.
When the former banker, businessman and cotton buyer in 1980 got too old to drive the local ambulance, he began a volunteer venture.
"I had seen a lot of people in the Haskell Memorial Hospital who needed help," Swinson said. "So I started shaving the patients that were not able to shave themselves."
Sunday, December 30, 2012
This physics teacher gives a simple lecture every year that leaves the greatest impression on all of his students - the talk is about love, life and family...(when you have a quiet moment take the time to watch this inspiring video below.)
Jeffrey Wright is well known around his high school in Louisville, Ky., for his antics as a physics teacher, which include exploding pumpkins, hovercraft and a scary experiment that involves a bed of nails, a cinder block and a sledgehammer.
But it is a simple lecture — one without props or fireballs — that leaves the greatest impression on his students each year. The talk is about Mr. Wright’s son and the meaning of life, love and family.
They call her the "Teen Whisperer" for her uncanny ability to get into the fortified world of the teen mind...
DES MOINES, Iowa -- Teenagers arrive daily at the West Des Moines home of Ramona Barber, and some expect a psychic.
Parents prefer the title "Teen Whisperer."
Across a paper-stacked kitchen table is a welcoming, no-nonsense woman of 62 with a reputation that stretches across Iowa and beyond.
Barber has an uncanny ability to get inside the teen mind — to go beyond the surface of their monetary dreams, to cast off what others expect, to burrow under even their own faulty self-perceptions — and come out the other side with a life plan that suits them.
Kathryn Giusti is taking on cancer personally and professionally..."I still get a huge knot in my stomach every two months, when I check in at Dana-Farber for my test results"
(Kathryn Giusti in her won words from NYT)
In late 1995, I was feeling tired and went in for a physical. Blood tests found that I had multiple myeloma, an incurable blood cancer. I was shocked because I was only 37. My grandfather had had the disease, but I wasn’t in the usual demographic or age group. The scariest part was that there were no drugs in the pipeline to combat the cancer.
A mother's support helps her dyslexic son thrive..."You have to find a seat on the bus for everyone. I’m a perfect example."
(Mick Wilz in his own words-NY Times)
I was born in 1956. I should have been reading in grade school, but I’m dyslexic — I have trouble reading, writing and spelling — and few people knew much about the condition in those days. My mother realized that something was wrong, but she didn’t know what. She advocated for me at school and told my teachers not to give up on me. I attended five grammar schools because my mother was constantly looking for something to help me. It was a lonely childhood, and I hate to think how I might have ended up if she hadn’t been so supportive.
Ancient Arts Center is discovered in Rome...seen as the most important discovery in Rome in 80 years
ROME—Eighteen feet below one of Rome’s most-trafficked junctions is a 900-seat arts center dating back to the second-century reign of Emperor Hadrian, Italian archaeologists have announced.
The discovery, widely seen as the most important in Rome in 80 years, came as a result of digging for the city’s third subway line. Archeologists spent the last five years excavating two halls of the structure under the Piazza Venezia, which is believed to be an arts center, or auditorium, built by Hadrian. Beginning in 123 A.D., it is believed, Roman noblemen gathered under the auditorium’s 13-meter-high arched ceiling to hear rhetoricians, lawyers and writers recite their works. Archaeologists have also identified a third, previously known hall — located under a 20th-century building opposite the terrace where Mussolini addressed his followers — as part of the complex.
Genetically engineered white blood cells score 100% success rate in treating leukemia...thirteen people with a form of the cancer called multiple myeloma were treated with genetically engineered T-cells, and all improved.
AUGMENTED immune cells have made an impressive impact on the survival of people with leukaemia.
Thirteen people with a form of the cancer called multiple myeloma were treated with genetically engineered T-cells, and all improved. "The fact we got a response in all 13, you can't get better than that," says James Noble, CEO of Adaptimmune in Abingdon, UK, which developed the treatment.
Good guy Jerry York reaches milestone for most victories for Division 1 hockey coach...A rainy, cold day, he’s still the most excited guy coming into the locker room.
As Boston College’s Jerry York closed in on the record for most victories by an NCAA Division 1 hockey coach, he was asked frequently about the achievement.
He began the 2012-13 season at 913, needing just 11 to tie the mark held by Ron Mason. But York deflected the attention, focusing instead on team goals.
Although his players praised the job he did, molding the Eagles into a consistent contender, they, too, reflected York’s philosophy that no single person is greater than the whole.
Trying to make ends meet this man makes up a "catchy" tune to entice people to his booth at the Queens Market in London and ends up becoming an internet sensation...
(AP) — Muhammad Shahid Nazir is a testament to the age-old adage that if you give a man a fish, he will eat for a day, but if you teach a man to sing about fish, his song will shoot up the British pop chart.
The 31-year-old Pakistani fishmonger catapulted to fame in recent weeks in the unlikeliest of circumstances: while hawking frozen snapper and mackerel for one British pound ($1.61) at Queens Market in London.
Not comfortable with shouting about his merchandise to attract customers, as many vendors do, he came up with a simple ditty that someone caught on video and posted on YouTube earlier this year. It became a viral sensation and has been viewed over 7 million times.
One of the top news stories of people doing good and making a difference in 2012 is that of a 15 year old that invented a test for early discovery of pancreatic cancer...
(See Video Above)
A Maryland 15-year-old is overjoyed at winning $75,000 because of a cancer test he created.
There has been a breakthrough in the fight against pancreatic cancer, and it's all thanks to a 15-year-old Anne Arundel County teen and his mom, who drove him to Johns Hopkins University every night after school to test his theory in a lab.
North County High School freshman Jack Andraka won what is considered the Olympics of science fairs with a diagnostic breakthrough in cancer treatment. The Crownsville 15-year-old won a $75,000 grand prize in this year's Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his new way to test for early-stage pancreatic cancer.
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Veterans learn to heal through music in the "Voices of Valor" program...
MONTCLAIR, N.J. -- During stressful times as a combat medic in Afghanistan, Mason Sullivan found solace in Vivaldi. New Jersey native Nairobi Cruz was comforted by country music, a genre she had never heard before joining the Army. For Jose Mercedes, it was an eclectic iPod mix that helped him cope with losing an arm during a tour of duty in Iraq.
These three young veterans all say music played a crucial role in alleviating the stresses of active duty. Now, all three are enrolled in a program that hopes to use music to ease their reintegration into civilian life.
"It's a therapy session without the `sit down, lay down, and write notes,'" Mercedes, 26, of Union City, said of the music program. "It's different – it's an alternative that's way better."
12 heroes for 2012...(stories and photos)
Every week, Huffington has profiled a person who has made a difference in his or her community, from the 10-year old Cub Scout who started a charity to the single dad who traveled around the world volunteering with his family.
Grandma carries granddaughter with cerebal palsy to school everyday...
Every school day, Xiang Yuncui gets up at 5 a.m. to make breakfast for her 7-year-old granddaughter, Tan.
Yuncui then puts Tan on her back and, together, they travel 10 kilometers (about six miles) over mountainous terrain to Tan's school in southwest China, a trip that usually takes around two hours, ITN News reports.
Tan has cerebral palsy and can't walk on her own. Over the last three years, the two have traveled about 10,000 kilometers (6,200 miles), according to ITN News.
Tired of using your finger to navigate and write on your tablet - try one of these stylus pens
WHEN IT COMES to touch-screen computing, your digits—the kind on your hand—have their limits. You wouldn't draft a letter or sketch a still life with an ink-stained finger, but that's what writing or drawing on a tablet amounts to without the proper tool. When tackling tasks that require more precision than simply tapping and pinching, an appropriate stylus can be transformative.
Most are simple designs, essentially a pen with a rubber tip that mimics the conductive property and shape of a fingertip.
The future of medicine is already here - 6 innovations that are changing the way we fight disease
This little 9 year old was born with half a heart and new medical advances helped her grow a full heart
In our era of instant gratification, the world of medicine seems like an outlier. The path from a promising discovery to an effective treatment often takes a decade or more.
But from that process—of fits and starts, progress and setbacks and finally more progress—grow the insights and advances that change the course of medicine.
Here are six of today's potentially transformative trends.
Who is the oldest employee in MA and when did he start working for his department...he's 89 and started in 1949!
The son of an immigrant tailor, Oscar Epstein grew up in the old West End, peddling papers with Melvin Nimoy, whose kid brother would become Spock. He served in World War II, studied engineering on the GI Bill, and helped design Route 128, that symbol of postwar prosperity and suburbanization.
Heading into winter - some basic tips for saving on home heating costs
Freezing winter temperatures soon will be invading New England. That can mean only one thing: Higher home heating costs.
Still, there are simple steps you can take to save money on your heating bills.
Which hangover remedies work best ...?
A tried and true method is coffee and over-the-counter painkillers to dull a hangover, and research proves it works. A study published December 2010 in the online science journal PLoS One found that drinking coffee about four hours after a night out works best, since that is when acetate levels begin to spike, which is blamed for causing those crushing hangover headaches. You might also want to try these methods.
Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Goofy and a whole lot more - it's Disney on Ice time at the TD Garden
Leave it to Disney to create an evening of entertainment that not only includes snippets of scenes from 18 of the company’s animated classics, but also features nods to some favorite moments at its theme parks. All of this is presented on the ice at the TD Garden through Sunday with a cast of nearly 50 talented skaters who impress with flips, spins, and jumps.
The key to a successful ice show is the pace, and director Cory Obst keeps the proceedings moving swiftly from one story to the next. Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Goofy serve once again as the evening’s emcees, but before you know it, Aladdin and his monkey, Abu, have conjured up that frisky genie.
An athlete's soccer team folds so he starts kicking footballs and becomes an internet sensation which ultimate leads to a tryout with the NFL...and oh, by the way, he's from Norway and doesn't know anything about the game!
Havard Rugland does not have the pedigree one might expect for someone who has become an Internet sensation for kicking an American football. He knows next to nothing about the sport. Just ask him to name the quarterback of the New England Patriots or the Denver Broncos.
“I have no idea,” said Rugland, a 28-year-old from Norway.
When asked how many yards an offense is penalized for a false start, Rugland paused. “I’d just be guessing,” he finally admitted.
“Look, I don’t know much about football,” Rugland said by telephone from his home in Aalgaard, a small town near the southwestern coast of Norway.
Ideas to keep your energy levels high all day long - every day
We're a nation of can-do people: We work, we
plan, we organize, we go, fueling ourselves on coffee and pure determination.
Until, that is, we fall onto the sofa in a stupor.
More of us are struggling with energy issues, experts say;
they point to the weak economy, which has us working harder and plugging in
longer, and the belief that we can have it all (so what if we're up till
midnight making it happen?).
"I'm seeing so many women who think of themselves as
machines that can run nonstop, and they're living with this deep fatigue,"
says psychologist Michelle Segar, associate director of the Sport, Health, and
Activity Research and Policy Center for Women and Girls at the University of
Michigan. "Just like houseplants need water, our energy reserves need
regular replenishing."
To the rescue: strategies that will keep you humming along
-- and, happily, don't take much effort.
Friday, December 28, 2012
Taylor Swift named most charitable celebrity of 2012 by dosomething.org - donates lots of money, but more importantly she spent hours visiting with young cancer victims and became the youngest person to ever receive the Ripple of Hope Award from the Robert F. Kennedy Center for her charity work.
DoSomething.org, a non-profit organization that aims to harness teen's "awesome energy" and unleash it on causes they care about, has announced the 20 Most Charitable Celebrities of 2012 and Taylor Swift topped the list!
While the singer was snagging headlines and trophies for her diary-like music, she was also donating serious chunks of cash to important organizations (she gave $4 million to the Country Hall of Fame Museum). Swift also spent hours visiting with young cancer victims and became the youngest person to ever receive the Ripple of Hope Award from the Robert F. Kennedy Center for her charity work. See the entire list and the good that they accomplished in 2012:
"Grey's Anatomy" star Patrick Dempsey steps in to try to save 500 jobs in Seattle
(CNN) -- "Grey's Anatomy" star Patrick Dempsey believes he and a group of investors are just what the doctor ordered for a struggling Seattle-based coffee chain.
Dempsey said the group wants to save 500 jobs by purchasing Tully's Coffee, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October. The company, citing "rising commodity prices and challenging lease economics," said it planned to close a number of underperforming coffee shop locations as part of its reorganization.
Some seniors in Boston Ring in the New Year Early...the countdown is at noon.
It happens four days early. There’s no champagne. And the countdown is at noon.
But at their age, midnight is overrated.
The city of Boston’s annual early-bird New Year, the First Night Senior Celebration, is the hottest ticket of the year on the senior social calendar, a raging party, relatively speaking, that drew 2,600 people to the Seaport World Trade Center Thursday.
The FDA approved only ONE pediatric cancer drug in the past 20 years and 50 for adults - that's all about to change with the Creating Hope Act legislation that was recently passed...Great Newsz may be more appropriate here.
(NewsUSA/National Children's Cancer Society ) - President Obama broke new ground for pediatric cancer patients when he signed the Creating Hope Act as part of the FDA Reauthorization Act of 2012.
This is the first move by Congress to confront the dire supply of drugs for pediatric cancers, as well as other devastating childhood diseases. The FDA has only approved one childhood cancer drug in the last 20 years, compared to 50 drugs for adults.
The National Cancer Institute allots only 4 percent of its budget for childhood cancers, and funding for other pediatric diseases is just as scarce.
Congress actually did some good in 2012 - so here are some Good Newsz Only Congress stories.
The holidays are an occasion to step back from the bustle of daily life and reflect on the year just passed. It’s a time when we’re supposed to look for the good in everyone, even the least deserving. Which brings us to Congress, an institution that doesn’t elicit many warm feelings, no matter how much eggnog you’ve consumed.
The "Nutcracker" and other holiday shows are having booming seasons in Boston
Boston’s performing arts institutions are reporting a box office boom, as thousands of patrons stream into time-honored holiday shows this season.
“The Nutcracker” has sold more tickets than in years, and has already earned record revenues as it readies to close Sunday. Holiday Pops and Revels have also set new revenue standards.
For Bostonians, these and other annual shows are time-honored holiday traditions. For Boston arts organizations, they have always been something else: productions capable of making or breaking their budgets.
Police officer risks his own life to help a woman drowning in freezing waters
BOSTON (WHDH) -- A Boston Police officer jumped into the frigid water to reach a drowning woman Friday.Cell phone video captured Boston Police Officer Edward Norton taking the plunge; he jumped into the frigid Fort Point channel in a torrential downpour to rescue the woman who'd fallen into the water.“She was in there calling for help and I can swim,” said Officer Edward Norton, Boston Police Department.
Paying it forward the Canadian way - chain reaction line at coffee shop lasts 3 hours!
In a delightful show of Christmas spirit, coffee drinkers at a Tim Hortons in Winnipeg, Manitoba, paid it forward for 228 customers in a row on Friday, the staff told the CBC.
One generous customer at the restaurant on Beaverhill Blvd. started a chain of customers paying for the person behind them that lasted about three hours.
Before you use rock salt to melt ice-think again.
Rock Salt is the most commonly used method for melting that pesky winter ice that builds up on our roads, driveways, and front stoops. It's cheap and easy to apply and, frankly, it does a darn good job. But before you go out and douse your driveway to keep Santa from taking a nasty spill this year, there’s a few things you should know. Rock salt is a very corrosive and concentrated substance, which can cause problems for your local plants, animals, and waterways. Not to mention it can do pretty serious number on your paintjob.
Thursday, December 27, 2012
When teachers asked students what they would do if they knew they couldn't fail. Most wanted to be a millionaire or start a business. But the legally-blind Ali had a much simpler wish. She wanted to drive a car....an amazing act of friendship makes her wish come true.
With so much darkness in the news lately, it's amazing how one simple idea could bring so much light to so many lives. That's what happened last weekend in Snohomish, when over 100 people came together to make a dream reality for their blind friend.
Glacier Peak High School seniors Brooklyn Dana and Ali Steenis joined the Ross and Burbank Show Thursday to share their inspirational story.
It all started at a club meeting, when their teachers asked what they would do if they knew they couldn't fail. Most wanted to be a millionaire or start a business. But the legally-blind Ali had a much simpler wish. She wanted to drive a car.
"I just remember the room going silent and everyone was kind of taken aback by it," Brooklyn says.
Brooklyn says it hit home something so simple could mean so much. But she didn't give it much more thought.
Weeks later, the pair were sitting at a school assembly. The lights were dimmed and a row of smaller tea lights illuminated a path for the homecoming court like a runway in the darkened gym. Suddenly, Ali told Brooklyn it looked pretty.
Until then, Brooklyn had no idea Ali could see anything. But she explained she can see lights when the surrounding area is dark. It would prove to be a revelation one week later.
A positive use of Facebook...Students Use Facebook to Spread Random Anonymous Compliments
A Facebook profile dedicated to making students feel good about themselves has gone viral, spreading kindness to colleges across the U.S. and Canada.
"Queens U Compliments," the brainchild of four students attending Queen's University in Kingston, Canada, publishes anonymous compliments, and tags the objects of affection.
"If there is something nice you have to say about someone but don't feel comfortable saying it to their face, inbox away," the profile says. "Keep in mind that hateful or rude remarks will be completely disregarded."
Some sample compliments include: "Annie Dearden smells like rainbows and happiness" and "Your spirit is that of a young joyous dolphin."
Since launching in September, the profile has attracted more than 4,300 friends. It has inspired "Compliments" pages and profiles for at least 56 colleges and universities in Canada and the U.S. according to Time magazine. For more on the profile, check out the video above.
Looking too sell or get rid of some of your old gadgets...here's a few options
(CNN) -- If you received shiny new gadgets for the holidays,
you probably have some older device that is now unwanted or obsolete. If you
can't regift your old computer, tablet or TV, make sure you get rid of it the
smart way by selling, donating or recycling it.
Before you part ways with your device, make sure to wipe it
clean and permanently delete any personal data.
A new type of nerve graft made from processed cadaver nerves is giving surgeons another option for rebuilding nerves, sometimes in limbs that previously couldn't be saved...graft helps nerves regrow.
Edward Bonfiglio was on a routine patrol with a Marine unit in Afghanistan in 2009 when it was hit by small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades. A round smashed through the Navy medic's left leg, leaving him unable to move it or feel anything but pain.
A few weeks later, at a military hospital in Bethesda, Md., Mr. Bonfiglio was given a choice: try a new technique to regrow his severed sciatic nerve, or have his leg amputated below the knee.
"I was pretty adamant about keeping my leg," he said.
Three years and hundreds of hours of physical therapy later, the 26-year-old Mr. Bonfilgio has regained much of the use of his leg. He has graduated from a wheelchair to a cane and can even jog slowly. His leg isn't perfect and never will be, but, he said, "I never saw myself being able to walk with just a brace on my leg."
This cool device lets you project the small screen of your cell phone onto the wall...a tiny projector with a big picture.
As consumers switch from laptops to tablets and smartphones, the makers of projectors are adapting.
Brookstone has come out with an HDMI Pocket Projector, which connects to multiple devices through an HDMI cable for a variety of uses, including presentations, videos, slide shows and games.
Measuring 3.8 inches by 3.9 inches, the compact projector is about the size of a thick piece of French toast. But Brookstone found room for a powerful Digital Light Processing chip from Texas Instruments, which it claims can project high-definition images up to 1080p at 60 inches diagonal on a flat surface.
Housing recovery is still gaining strength... "We expect home price appreciation to continue for the foreseeable future..."
WASHINGTON (AP) — Home prices were up in most major metropolitan areas in October from a year earlier, pushed up by rising sales and a decline in the supply of available homes. Higher prices show the housing market is improving as it moves into the slow fall and winter sales period.
The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller national home price indexreleased Wednesday showed that prices increased 4.3 percent from October 2011, the largest year-over-year increase in two and a half years, when a home buyer tax credit temporarily increased sales.
Local teacher and celebrity Maria Menounos, two of many continuing the good deeds of random acts of kindness...the big lesson is to share your acts in order to inspire others
Grafton High School English teacher Karla Evers has seized the opportunity to engage her students.
Medford native and “Access Hollywood” host Maria Menounos joined in. “I sent treats 2my teachers @AnnCurry: Despite your wish to be humble, reveal your #20Acts #26Acts of kindness Theres honor in inspiring others,” she tweeted last week.
From buying strangers cups of coffee to making anonymous gifts of cash, Bay Staters are doing good deeds to honor victims of the Newtown school shooting.
NBC television personality Ann Curry recently suggested via Twitter that people remember the teachers and children killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., through generous acts using the hashtag #26actsofkindness or #26acts.
Since Curry announced the campaign Dec. 16, it
has earned more than 85,000 likes on Facebook (facebook.com/26acts).
Businessman keeps the memory of his son Joey alive and makes huge strides to help others inflicted with Cystic Fibrosis...
JOE AND KATHY O’DONNELL could have done many different things after their first child, Joey, drew his final, labored breath and succumbed to the disease, cystic fibrosis, that had plagued him all 12 years of his life. They could have cursed their fate, then and forever. They could have banished the very name of that dreadful illness from their vocabulary. They could have simply become different people, harder people, and moved on.
But they didn’t. It’s not their way. Even before Joey died in 1986, Joe O’Donnell began raising money to battle cystic fibrosis, not so much to help his son, but to help those he didn’t know. After Joey died, he launched the Joey Fund, bringing in many millions of dollars at annual movie screenings, hot dog festivals, and bowling nights.
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