Hotel rewards homeless man Joel Hartmen after he turned in guest's lost wallet...

Joel Hartman was homeless, hungry and dumpster diving for food when he came across what could have been an easy payday, a tourist's wallet with her identification and credit card. 

Hartman, who admitted to HLN affiliate WSB that he's has done bad deeds in the past due to drinking and doing drugs, decided to take the high road and find the wallet's owner. 

Hartman, 36, walked the streets of downtown Atlanta going to four different hotels before discovering the owner was staying at the Omni Hotel at CNN Center.

Surveillance videos captured Hartman turning in the wallet to hotel security guards. He gave them a fake name, "Josh Crabber," figuring they didn't need to know who he was since he was doing the right thing.

Scott Stuckey, the managing director of the hotel, found out that the wallet belonged to a French tourist in town for a conference. The woman had reported to Atlanta police that her wallet had been stolen on November 7 and now thanks to Hartman's perseverance, she had it back.

Stuckey knew it was his turn to do the tracking.

"When you're looking through food in the garbage can, it's probably one of the toughest times of his life. But when you find somebody's wallet and you do the right thing, I think we'd like to do the right thing by this person," Stuckey told WSB. 

Stuckey and members of his staff hit the streets talking to homeless people looking for their wallet hero. On November 22 after hearing through word of mouth that he was being sought, Hartman showed up at the Omni, where Stuckey and hotel staff wanted to reward him in a big way. 

The hotel put the homeless man up in a luxury room through the Thanksgiving holiday. The hotel also treated Hartman to room service and gave him $500. Hartman was speechless at the gesture. All he could do was sweep Stuckey into a big hug and say thank you. 

"It's just for doing the right thing. Maybe someone will see this, totally drugged out and stuff, like that ugly guy can do something about it. Maybe I can too," Hartman said. 

Hartman told WSB that he's been homeless since March, when his longtime girlfriend died. Recently, he'd been sleeping in the woods in an Atlanta suburb. After he leaves the Omni, Hartman said he'll get on a freight train and head to Alaska.

Hartman said he has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and he has a hard time holding down a steady job, but he does odd jobs. 

Today's Good Newsz Quote of the Day...

Ad campaign for the homeless by the London based charity "The Passage" goes viral and as a result donations increase by a whopping 25%...

The Passage, a charity based in London, has come up with an ad campaign that proves how far a simple idea can go.

Last year, the organization decided to have its volunteers stand in for the homeless at London's Victoria station.

Incredibly, donations went up by 25 percent in a three-hour timeframe, according to CLIO Healthcare, proving that visual bias dictates who we give to and who we walk past.

The Passage provides resources such as basic care, education and housing to the homeless to inspire them to want to change their lives.

The next time you want to walk by a homeless person, imagine them as affluent, well-dressed people, and see if this will make you stop.

H/T: Reddit

Sports minded teen Lachlan Connors becomes music prodigy after suffering concussions...

DENVER (CBS4) – Several of the music ensembles at Kent Denver High School are impressive, but the story behind a young pianist in one them is truly amazing.

Lachlan Connors is a junior at the private high school and loves music more than anything.

“Music is the thing that gets me up in the morning,” the Englewood resident told CBS4.

When he was younger it was clear Connors didn’t have of a knack for music. At all.

“He really had no talent,” his mother Elsie Hamilton said. “I would say ‘Can’t you hear what’s next?’ with something like ‘Mary Had a Little Lamb’ or ‘Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star’ and he’d say ‘No.’ “

Connors’ first passion was sports.

“I thought I might become a professional lacrosse player,” he said.

But things changed when Connors was in sixth grade and he sustained a concussion while playing on his recreational lacrosse team.

“I fell backwards and hit the back of my head on the ground,” he told CBS4. “I remember getting up and feeling really dazed. I didn’t really understand something bad had happened.”

Band of Brothers: Students band together to stand up for their 6 year old friend Danny Keefe who was getting bullied...

Boston News, Weather, Sports | FOX 25 | MyFoxBoston

BOSTON (MyFoxBoston.com) -- A group of young Bridgewater kids rallied around eight-year-old Danny Keefe to support him, as he was being teased at school.

A band of brothers is what they call themselves, and these young kids all stand together to face adversity. It all started when Keefe was being picked on at school due to his speech. Keefe suffers from apraxia, a speech disorder, and even battled a brain hemorrhage earlier in life.

Keefe's friends did not like that he was being teased and decided to stand beside him. They even created "Danny Appreciation Day," to honor the young boy who wears a suit and tie every day.

"We all dressed up in suits and sponsored Danny because he's been getting picked on bad at recess and we didn't like that because he's a band of brothers for us and he's a good friend for us and we don't want to see him getting picked on," a friend of Danny's said.

Today's Good Newsz Quote of the Day...

Understanding homelessness first hand...Michael Johnson, Tim Metcalfe and Will Green are changed men and paying it forward.

Understanding homelessness is an important part of the job for Michael Johnson, CEO of the Boys & Girls Club of Dane County, in Madison, Wisconsin. So he set out to get schooled — by going undercover as just another one of the city’s 3,500 homeless individuals. He slept in shelters, panhandled on street corners and asked restaurants for free food, learning life-changing lessons — and helping a family of five get off the streets — along the way. 
“As a nonprofit leader I thought it was important that I understood the issue, so I can know how to tackle it,” Johnson tells Yahoo Shine about his two-night, three-day social experiment, which ended Nov. 15. Local market owner and philanthropist Tim Metcalfe, as well as Salvation Army Community Center director Will Green, joined him.
Their aim, in addition to raising awareness and learning about what homeless people truly experience, was to provide aid to an exceptionally needy case, which they were able to do for a mother of four. They found her living in an SUV in a Walmart parking lot with her kids, ages 13, 8, 7, and 1, and were able to immediately get the family into a hotel. Next they’ll provide a donor-funded apartment and pay the rent for two years, and Metcalfe will hire the mom to work at his downtown food market. 

Sailor Dylan Ruffer rushes home to marry his high school sweetheart Madison Meinhardt at the airport...

It was a moment they had both been waiting for.

Seaman Dylan Ruffer returned home from an 11 month deployment, stepped off a plane in the airport early today and married his school sweetheart. The reception was held in the baggage area.

Travelers in Reno-Tahoe International Airport heard, "Ladies and gentleman, I present Dylan Ruffer, United States Navy," over the loud speaker as Ruffer, 19, made his way to the top of the escalator in the arrivals terminal and descended in a hurry through a trellis of flowers and white fabric at the bottom, to give his bride, Madison Meinhardt, a long hug. Meinhardt, also 19, was resplendent in a white gown.

Ruffer, who is from Chester, Calif., had been aboard the USS Gravely for the past 11 months, much of that time off the coast of Syria. The ship returned to Norfolk, Va., Monday and Ruffer promptly flew from Norfolk to Chicago, from Chicago to Denver, and finally landed to the Reno Airport at 11:23 p.m. The wedding began just before midnight and ended in the early part of today.

"It's definitely more than we could have ever asked for,." Meinhardt, who teared up during the ceremony, told ABC News Reno affiliate KOLO. "We were expecting a wedding in the corner maybe, but this is amazing," she said.

"I don't think we could have imagined how beautiful the ceremony was going to be," Brian Kulpin, spokesperson for the Reno-Tahoe Airport , told ABC News. "It was beyond our expectations."

After the ceremony, the reception was held in baggage claim. The airport roped off a section in baggage claim, and family members and friends dined from a buffet of food donated from the airport. A DJ, a wedding photographer salon services, decorations, flowers were all donated to the couple by local businesses. Because the newlyweds were only 19, no alcohol was served.

"They didn't have the money to put on the wedding," Kulpin said. "Now they had a wedding they will never forget."

Ruffer is home for six days before returning to Norfolk for duty.

Follow Up: Donations pour in for waitress and former Marine Dayna Morales who didn't receive a tip from a family, because she is gay - she donates it all to the Wounded Warrior Project.

The New Jersey waitress who received an anti-gay note on a check in place of a tip because she is a lesbian has received thousands of dollars in donations and is giving it all to military veterans.

Dayna Morales, 22, a server at Gallop Asian Bistro in Bridgewater, N.J., said she has received nearly $3,000 in donations from around the world since her story went viral earlier this month.

"I've had people mailing in letters, coming into the restaurant to either just see me or hand me a check to say, 'Here's the tip that you deserve,'" Morales told GoodMorningAmerica.com. "It's been nothing but overwhelming support."

In order to, she says, "pay it forward," Morales, who served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 2009 to 2011, is donating all of the money she receives to the Wounded Warrior Project, an organization that supports service members injured in the line of duty.

"I just want people to understand I never did this for the money," said Morales. "It was all about the message. It's 2013 and this shouldn't be happening to me or to anybody."

After a customer dining at her restaurant on Nov. 13 left a note on the $93.55 bill that Morales would get no tip "because I do not agree with your lifestyle and how you live your life," Morales sent a picture of the receipt to the "Have a Gay Day" Facebook page.

The receipt elicited thousands of comments, quickly went viral and was covered by news outlets around the world.

Morales' employer, Gallop Asian Bistro, stood behind her through it all and has pledged to match the donations.

Morales is now working with the Wounded Warrior Project to coordinate a benefit event at the restaurant, at which time a check with the total donation amount will be presented.

"That way, it will finish where it started," Morales said. "I'm beyond thankful for all the support and why not do something good with that."

Donations to Morales for the Wounded Warrior Project can be delivered in person or sent to Gallop Asian Bistro, 793 Route 202, Branchburg, N.J. 08876, or through Paypal atDayna.Morales12@gmail.com.

Today's Good Newsz Quote of the Day...

Spreading Holiday Cheer - FedEx is sending 17,000 freshly cut Christmas trees to our troops...

FedEx is spreading holiday cheer to America’s service members and their families this season with a special delivery of more than 17,000 freshly cut Christmas trees.

Now in its ninth year, Trees for Troops brings together tree farmers across America with FedEx to transport thousands of real Christmas trees to service members stationed overseas, and on military bases in the U.S.

The initiative kicked off today in Thorntown, Indiana, where FedEx volunteers are helping prepare 250 trees, donated by members of the Indiana Christmas Tree Growers Association, to be shipped to service members stationed in Afghanistan and elsewhere in the Middle East.

"We often feel like we’re playing ‘Santa’ during the holiday season for so many of our customers," said the president and CEO of FedEx Freight, Bill Logue. "But the delivery of these Christmas trees to our men and women in uniform is one of our most treasured traditions.”

Beginning Dec. 3 FedEx Freight will hit the road with more than 17,000 fresh-cut trees addresses to U.S. military bases around the country. Members of the National Christmas Tree Association donate thousands of fresh trees for the project every year through its philanthropic arm, the Christmas SPIRIT Foundation.

Since the Trees for Troops program launched in 2005, FedEx has shipped more than 122,000 freshly cut trees to service members and their families at more than 60 bases in 17 countries.

The public can support the program by donating or purchasing fresh trees during the weekend of Dec. 6-8. Donated trees will be added to the program’s planned deliveries to U.S. bases during 2013. Get that information at www.treesfortroops.org.

Best friends Sarah and Paige, bonded on Skype after each learned they grew up without an arm...8 years later they finally meet-you see Sarah lives in Indiana and Paige in New Zealand!

Sarah and Paige have been best friends for eight years.

They originally bonded over the fact that each has had to grow up without an arm. But their friendship is about more than that now -- they tell each other everything. Until recently, though, they'd never met in real life.

That's because Sarah lives in Nappanee, Ind., and Paige lives in Auckland, New Zealand. Their friendship began and blossomed over Skype.

This past summer, Skype asked its users to send in stories of how they've stayed connected with friends and family using the video chat software. But when the company heard about Sarah and Paige's story, it decided to do more than just write about it. Instead, a surprise reunion was planned.

Here's Sarah learning that she will get to meet Paige in person:

If that clip makes you tear up, you won't stand a chance while watching their reunion (top). This time, no computer screen would get in the way of a long-overdue embrace.

And if you're still not over this incredible duo, below is a clip of the girls, sitting arm and arm, after the shock of meeting each other wore off. Ain't friendship grand?

14 year old Savannah Day is about to have brain surgery so what does she do - she organizes a toy drive for all of the other kids in the hospital

RICHMOND, Va. (WTVR) — In less than a month, 14-year-old Savannah Day will have brain surgery at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.  Her recovery period will keep her in the hospital through Christmas, but that’s not stopping her from bringing yuletide cheer to Cincinnati.

Savannah has chiari malformation, a condition that could lead to paralysis without surgery.

“It’s basically where the brain has actually grown into the spinal canal, and it’s actually blocking the spinal fluid from going in and out of the brain,” said Michelle Day, Savannah’s mother.

The eighth grader has suffered several stroke-like episodes since her diagnosis in August of this year.

Savannah and her two sisters compete regularly in competitive cheerleading competitions.  They found out about Savannah’s diagnosis while on the way to cheer practice in Roanoke.

They came to Richmond Sunday to participate in Savannah’s final competition before the surgery, but they also brought along the “Cheer 4 Savannah” campaign.

Savannah and her sisters decided they would try to collect enough toys to give at least one to each child who will spend Christmas in the Cincinnati Children Hospital with them.  The goal of 500 toys has come and gone.  As a part of the Cheer 4 Savannah campaign, the family said they have received more than 1500 donated toys.

“It’s like a toy factory,” said Savannah about the family basement, which serves as storage space for all the toys.

At Sunday’s competition at the Richmond Coliseum, squads and cheerleaders from across the state brought toys to donate to Savannah’s cause.  A Facebook page created for the group has more than 1,200 “likes.”

Savannah’s surgery is scheduled for December 12.

“I just think about the toy drive, and it helps me get through it,” said Savannah.

“I think it’s going to be very rewarding.  I think Savannah will go into surgery on such a high note,” said her mother.

More information and updates on Savannah’s progress can be found on the Cheer 4 Savannah Facebook page.

Today's Good Newsz Quote of the Day...

Colin Southwood didn't get a haircut for 5 years...all in the name of helping people battling cancer.

When Denise Southwood thinks of her son the words energetic, curious, and "10 going on 40" come to mind.

That's because it's not every day that a 4 going on 5-year-old boy asks to grow out his hair for Pantene Beautiful Lengths -- the 7-year-old program that makes wigs for cancer patients out of donated hair. But Colin did.

Denise thinks he was inspired by the St. Jude commercials he saw at the time, and his own family members -- a grandmother, two great-grandparents, a teacher at school -- who were diagnosed with cancer.

He spent the next five years growing his hair.

He was mistaken for a girl several times, Denise told HuffPost, but says her son handled himself with grace and stuck to his goal.

"I'm proud that he came to this decision by himself. I get choked up really thinking about it," she said.

And finally, in May of this year, the now 10-year-old decided his hair was long enough to cut. He went to the salon and chopped off 13 inches to donate.

That day, he wrote a letter about his hair:

"He's a good-hearted kid," Denise said. So good, that he's already growing out his hair for another donation.

Homeless family makeover...

The young men from GiveBackFilms carry out a new good deed each week, and somehow, the acts of kindness keep getting better.

This week, the trio met with a homeless couple, Reggie and Donna, and their 4-year-old daughter, Heavenly. The family from Utah had been living at a shelter for three months, after both Donna and Reggie lost their jobs a little over a year ago.

So the GiveBackFilms crew decided to surprise them with haircuts, a new wardrobe, fresh groceries, toys (from Santa!), and a job interview.

The complete makeover is recorded in the 7-minute video above -- and each minute is more emotional than the last.

Chad Pregracke is the 2013 CNN Hero of the Year - he has organized 70,000 to pick up 7 million pounds of trash in the past 15 years...

(CNN) -- Chad Pregracke, an Illinois man who has dedicated his life to cleaning the Mississippi River and other U.S. waterways, was named the 2013 CNN Hero of the Year on Tuesday night.

Pregracke organizes community cleanups across the country through his nonprofit, Living Lands & Waters. About 70,000 volunteers have pitched in, helping Pregracke collect more than 7 million pounds of trash in the past 15 years.

"The garbage got into the water one piece at a time," Pregracke said earlier this year. "And that's the only way it's going to come out."

Pregracke was recognized Tuesday night along with the rest of this year's top 10 CNN Heroes -- everyday people doing extraordinary things to help change the world. He was chosen as Hero of the Year through a five-week public vote on CNN.com.

"I'll just keep on cleaning up America's rivers and loving every minute of it," said Pregracke as he accepted the award Tuesday night.

Chad Pregracke pledged to give some of his Hero of the Year money to the rest of the top 10 CNN Heroes.

For being named CNN Hero of the Year, Pregracke receives $250,000 to continue his work. That is in addition to the $50,000 that each Hero receives for making the top 10.

On Tuesday night, Pregracke pledged to spread some of his Hero of the Year money to the rest of the top 10 Heroes: "I've met so many great people today, the other Heroes, and I'm really moved by all their stories and all the things they do around the world. ... I'm going to give 10 grand to each of them, because they're awesome."

Pregracke, 38, grew up in East Moline, Illinois, where the Mississippi River was in his backyard. As a teenager, he worked as a commercial shell diver and began to notice the heaps of debris in the fabled waterway, which supplies drinking water to 18 million people in more than 50 U.S. cities.

"I saw thousands of barrels, thousands of tires, cars, trucks and tops of school buses. ... I got sick of seeing it and just wanted to do something about it," said Pregracke, whom some have called "the rivers' garbageman."

For nine months out of the year, Pregracke lives on a barge with members of his 12-person crew. They go around the country with a fleet of boats, and they try to make cleanup fun for the volunteers who show up in each city.

Through his nonprofit, Chad Pregracke has removed more than 7 million pounds of trash from U.S. waterways.

They use skits, music and mock motivational speeches to get the volunteers amped up, and sometimes they even do a little karaoke. Teams also compete to see who can find the "best" garbage.

"We do everything in our power to get people excited about it," Pregracke said. "We want people to leave feeling good about what they did so they'll come back."

Close to 90% of what they recover is recycled; Pregracke said the rest gets disposed of properly.

In addition to the river cleanup, Pregracke has launched a floating classroom barge where his staff educates high school students and teachers about the damages of pollution on river ecosystems. In 2007, his nonprofit implemented a program to plant 1 million trees along river shorelines to protect and restore the natural environment. The group is halfway to its goal.

Pregracke says his nonprofit has already held more than 700 cleanups on 23 rivers, but he says he's just getting started. He views his work as a different kind of service to the country.

"A lot of people call me a conservationist or an environmentalist, but the thing is I'm no different than anybody else," he said. "I just want to be known (as) a hardworking American."

Today's Good Newsz Quote of the Day...

High school senior Brandon Richardson runs 50 miles a day to help out the family of 6 year old James Snowden who has cerebral palsy...

Running a marathon once in a lifetime is hard enough. Imagine running nearly two of them for several days in a row.

New Hampshire high school senior Brandon Richardson has been logging about 50 miles a day to raise money for a 6-year-old boy with cerebral palsy.

James Snowden "is severely mentally and physically handicapped due to lack of oxygen to his brain at birth," Richardson wrote on his GoFundMe page. "Taking care of James is a huge responsibility, but one that James' family has accepted graciously. This family deserves help."

Richardson began his endurance feat -- 215 miles from the Canadian border to the Massachusetts state line -- Nov. 15 and was scheduled to finish Monday night. He wrote on his "Border to Border Run For James" Facebook page that he "only" had 40 miles left to do on Monday.

According to NewHampshire.com, Brandon took on the long-distance challenge as his senior project at Merrimack Valley High School. After publicizing his intention to help a child, he was put in touch with the Snowden family, WMUR TV reported.

“Just that someone would think to come along and help us like that is incredible,” Jimmy Snowden, the boy's father, told WMUR in the segment above.

As of Monday afternoon, Richardson had raised about $5,000 of his $10,000 goal for medical equipment for James.

Those who would like to donate can visit Richardson's GoFundMe page.

21 year old Bree McMahon is overcoming the odds, playing soccer again and paying it forward despite losing her leg...

When Bree McMahon was a high school senior, her future was set: She had already earned a scholarship to play soccer in college.

But that future changed suddenly one day in 2009, when a close friend accidentally struck McMahon with a car. Doctors could not save her left leg.

Still, McMahon was undeterred. She forgave her friend, and immediately asked her doctor when it might be possible to run again. “I'll admit it, I'm hardheaded,” the 21-year-old told Jenna Bush Hager in a segment that aired on TODAY Monday, a follow-up to a report Hager did four years ago. “I knew what I wanted, and I was gonna chase after it with everything I had.”

And chase McMahon did. She learned how to walk with a prosthetic — and her first steps were taken on a soccer field.

Brevard College in North Carolina honored McMahon’s scholarship, and she joined the soccer team, eventually playing as goalie with her prosthetic leg.

“She took this adversity and she owned it,” said teammate Lindsay Pritchard. “[Playing again] was her dream from day one. And she never gave up on it.”

Not everyone believed McMahon would compete again. Kathleen McMahon, Bree’s mother, said that when the family swore she’d return to the field, most people thought they were “delusional.” But Kathleen never doubted Bree. “Seriously, you don’t know our daughter,” she said.

McMahon’s inspirational tale has touched the lives of other amputees.

After the Boston Marathon bombing in April, McMahon spoke to survivors, including Roseann Sdoia, who lost her right leg. That conversation moved Sdoia, who appeared on TODAY and told McMahon, “You're truly an inspiration, and you really helped me see potential that I have in the future.”

McMahon’s experience, her mother said, shows survivors of physical trauma that “recovery is 99 percent choice and 1 percent chance.”

McMahon is grateful for every moment she’s earned on the field.

“You never know how much you truly appreciate something till it's been taken away from you,” she told TODAY. “And so you just try your hardest to get back what you've lost, and that's what I do with soccer.”