Good Samaritan Carlos Guerra's unselfish act teaches Elaine Lomenzo, in her time of despair, "that people can be good"

DENNIS – Elaine Babineau Lomenzo thought it was a hopeless loss.

On Jan. 30, in her rush to get home to Dennis, she left a large suitcase containing jewelry and some irreplaceable mementos on a sidewalk outside the family's Back Bay condominium. After some searching, she came to the sad conclusion the bag and its contents were gone forever.

Not so, thanks to a Good Samaritan.

That day, Lomenzo was not only in a hurry, she was pre-occupied. Her parents had died within five days of each other two weeks earlier. While Helen and Robert Babineau had lived long, full lives - Robert was 91 and Helen, 97 - Lomenzo was shaken by the loss.

A considerable clan of Babineaus was on the way to the Cape for a memorial service, traveling from Idaho, Arizona, Rhode Island and Central Massachusetts.

“We were going to have a gathering of 35 people the next night,” Lomenzo said. Even more family would arrive for a memorial service the day after that.

Thinking of all the preparations ahead, Lomenzo dropped the heavy suitcase on the sidewalk behind her car in the Back Bay as her daughter, Molly, hoisted her own luggage into the trunk.

After asking Molly to load the black suitcase, Lomenzo got behind the wheel. Molly didn't hear her mother's request or see the bag, and the pair pulled away, leaving the suitcase behind.

When she arrived home and realized the suitcase was missing, Lomenzo rushed back to Boston. “I checked the door of the condominium in case someone found it and left a note,” Lomenzo said. “I had identification inside.”

She even checked nearby dumpsters in case the bag had been stolen and discarded.

Her search was fruitless, and she was despondent.

“I'm just in the middle of this profound loss of these people who meant everything to me, and now I've just lost everything material that mattered to me,” she said. “It just sort of made me sadder than I already was.”

But Jamaica Plain resident Carlos Guerra had been renovating an apartment nearby and seen Lomenzo drive away without taking the suitcase. He ran out and picked it up for safekeeping.

Guerra knew Lomenzo by sight, he said in a phone interview. He put the suitcase in his van and figured Lomenzo would return to Boston the following day and he could return it.

When Guerra didn't see her on Jan. 31, he took the bag home, opened it looking for information and saw Lomenzo's telephone number. His daughter Angela made the call.

“My husband got up at the crack of dawn on the morning of the funeral and picked the suitcase up,” Lomenzo said. “He gave them a reward but they didn't want to accept it. He had to practically force them.”

Guerra was empathetic. “I have things that are important to me, and I know how bad I would feel if I lost them.”

At home on Friday, Lomenzo shared a few of the keepsakes in the bag: a poem written to her by her now adult son, Thomas, when he was 7; pictures of a younger Molly with her grandparents; a watch her husband, Peter, gave her 25 years ago; even a leftover note from Santa.

Molly said the episode offered a valuable lesson. “It was a reminder that people can be good.”

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

Rico Roman representing his country once again...

Rico Roman has represented the country he put his life on the line for not only once, but twice.

As the first war-wounded veteran to be nominated to the U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey Team , his inspiring journey from losing one of his legs during his third deployment in Iraq, to making his way overseas yet again as he competes in Sochi, is certainly one to be commended.

"Every setback you have a chance to come back and rise up from that," Roman said of his remarkable perseverance on "GMA Live!" today.

In 2007, Staff Sgt. Roman was nearing the end of his deployment when his Humvee was hit by a roadside bomb, ultimately taking his left leg.

"I was running a vehicle checkpoint, and we were all up in the armored Humvees," he explained. "Sometimes you get clues, wires on the ground, big bomb right in the middle of the road or maybe even nobody in the road at all. Unfortunately I didn't see any of these signs that day and my vehicle struck the IED. I sustained injuries to both my right and left leg, ultimately having to do an amputation in my left leg."

Despite the devastating setback, Roman remained eternally optimistic, thanking his family for motivating him to get back out of bed and right back on his feet where he was before.

But he didn't just get out of bed. He got onto the ice, developing a passion for the sport of sled hockey, something that had never interested him prior to his injury.

"At first I was really hesitant," Roman recalled. "I didn't come from a hockey state, never watched hockey, but I went and tried it out and was hooked instantly. The camaraderie in that locker room … We have an all-veteran team in San Antonio, and it was an amazing feeling being part of a team again."

And he's not part of just any team. Roman is heading to Sochi on Feb. 26to fight for the gold alongside his fellow veterans, an impressive feat that hasn't completely hit him yet.

"I don't think it's going to hit me until we're on the ice and everybody's cheering and you hear those national anthems playing and the Zamboni comes and cuts the ice," he said, confident of USA's ability to take home the gold.

But despite all his achievements, Roman recognizes none of it would have been possible had he not had that fateful run-in with the IED that tragically took his leg.

"None of these other things would have happened if that hadn't have happened," he explained. "And now I'm on my way to Sochi, Russia, to represent USA.

"It's just a great feeling."

The gifts keep coming from "Ellen" for Sarah Hoidahl the waitress that bought lunch for two National Guardswomen....

One never knows what will happen when performing a random act of kindness to others and one local waitress is continuing to find that out.

Sarah Hoidahl, a single mother from Henniker, New Hampshire made national headlines after buying lunch for two National Guardswomen during the government shutdown last year. On Feb. 6, Hoidahl took delivery of a new 2014 Hyundai Santa Fe SUV that was purchased for her by comedian Ellen Degeneres.

The SUV was parked outside the Grappone Hyundai dealership as Hoidahl drove up with her mom to take delivery.

“Oh my goodness,” she exclaimed. “Look at the bow!”

It’s been a whirlwind for Hoidahl, who described the experience to be "like a dream.”

Back in October 2013, Hoidahl picked up the tab for two female soldiers with the New Hampshire National Guard when they came in to the Rudy Tuesday restaurant on Loudon Road in Concord to have lunch. Hoidahl wrote a note thanking them for their service. The guard later posted a picture of the note on its Facebook page, thanking the waitress for the lunch. 

Little did anyone know but Hoidahl only made $27 that day, the bulk of which was used to buy lunch for the women, meaning she went home, pretty much, empty-handed.

After the story made national news, comedian Ellen Degeneres flew Hoidahl out to California to thank her for being such “a good person” and proceeded to write her a check for $10,000.

“I always watch ‘Ellen’ and see people like that go on the show and get stuff,” she said, “but I never thought in a million years that I would be that person sitting on that couch … that was amazing.”

A month later, Degeneres surprised the waitress again. 

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

"Goodwill" - 29 year old Goodwill store manager Tyler Gedelian finds $43,000 in donated clothing, returns it...

Tyler Gedelian regularly checks the pockets of donated clothing at his Monroe, Michigan, Goodwill store for loose change.

On Wednesday, the 29-year-old store manager and his coworker, Goodwill job coach Laura Pietscher, found more than just a few coins and crumpled receipts: they discovered stacks of $100 bills, stuffed in blue envelopes, in the pockets of some old suits and a robe.

"We were getting lots of donations, and as I sorted through it, I saw a blue envelope sticking out of a bathrobe. I took it out, figuring it was garbage," Gedelian told Detroit News.

"But when I opened the envelope, lo and behold, it was several bands of $100 bills. We might normally find a dollar, or 25 cents, but mostly it's old Kleenexes and grocery lists."  

The cash totaled more than $43,000.

Without hesitating, Gedelian called the police.

"My biggest concern was getting the money back to the rightful owner," he told the Monroe Evening News. I certainly can't imagine losing that kind of money. I was so nervous having so much of someone else’s money."

Because a wallet was found among the bills, the police were able to track down the owner of the cash. The man, who asked to remain anonymous, said he was cleaning out an elderly relative's closet and donated the clothing to Goodwill without knowing the money even existed.

The man was shocked that his relative had so much cash stashed away — and that Gedelian would be so honest about finding it.

"I am really proud of those people at Goodwill," the man said. "It makes me feel good there are people out there like that, especially in this day and age."

The man plans to thank Gedelian and Pietscher in person soon.

"There aren’t many people like that today," he said. "I want to thank them from the bottom of my heart. In this world we live in, we need more people with morals like that."

In 2012, a man donated a pair of old shoes to Goodwill without realizing the his wife had stashed their entire life savings — about $3,300 — inside the footwear.

The store put aside the cash, hoping the owners would return for it. They did.

Artist aleXsandro Palombo Reimagines Disney Princesses With Physical Disabilities...

"There is a very sad laugh hiding in those artworks," says artist aleXsandro Palombo, who has created a powerful series imagining Disney princesses with disabilities.

In a few attention-grabbing works shown here, two of Disney's most prominent characters, Cinderella and Snow White, use a wheelchair, while Pocahontas and Jasmine deal with their own circumstance.

"I have decided to portray disabled Disney's characters because they never create a disabled character and I think that they should consider that there are so many disabled people in the planet, it's a fact," he wrote to The Huffington Post.

"Two years ago I had a rare form of cancer and some parts of my body are now paralyzed after surgery to remove it," the Italy-based Palombo continued. "I am now a disabled person, and every day I have to deal with all forms of discrimination and humiliation. Through this series I wanted to give visibility to this problem."

"I think that disabled people doesn't [sic] match Disney's standards of beauty so my message is very simple: Disabled people have rights and are part of the world."

Credit for all photos by permission: aleXsandro Palombo. Check out the rest of Palombo's gallery at Humor Chic.

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

Anita Garlick tries her hand at stand-up comedy...makes her debut at her 90th birthday party!

You can see a clip of her performance here

After years of wondering if she could do it, wondering if she would ever do it, Anita Garlick was ready. Slowly, she made her way to the microphone, turned toward the audience, and started in on her first joke as a stand-up comedian.

“I can’t stand up so long,” she said, “so I’ve decided I’m going to be the world’s first sit-down comedian.”

And with that, Garlick took a seat on her walker as the crowd erupted in laughter. She had them, but it was a soft crowd. Everyone in the room already loved her. That’s because she made her stand-up debut recently at her 90th birthday party.

The road to that first laugh began in the fall, when Garlick, a Brookline resident, enrolled in a stand-up comedy class at the Boston Center for Adult Education.

“To be honest, when she first walked into class, using a walker, I didn’t know what to think,” said Dana Jay Bein, who has been teaching the class for several years to a student body whose average age is about 24. “But she just lit the class up the second she opened her mouth. She was witty. She had anecdotes. She came ready to write. And she took the class on her back, despite coming in with a walker. Everybody was more alive because she was there.”

‘I can’t stand up so long, so I’ve decided I’m going to be the world’s first sit-down comedian.’

ANITA GARLICK 

Garlick wasn’t a complete stranger to comedy. In high school in Brooklyn, N.Y., she had written a humor column for her school newspaper, “Corridor Capers,” and after moving to the Catskills to raise her family, she spent years watching the great Borscht Belt comedians during their heyday at the famous Catskills resort hotels.

“I’ve always loved comedy, and I’ve always loved to make people laugh,” she said. “There are people who appreciate comedy, and there are joke-makers.” She was definitely a joke-maker.

But the stand-up class, a gift from her son, Jonathan, was the encouragement she needed to enter the craft of comedy, to sit down and think and write and try to pull it all together into a 10-minute set.

As she prepared, she had a lot to choose from, because, as she likes to say, “I’ve had three lives.”

World class kindness from anonymous South Boston U.S. Veteran..."John" finds $5000 and returns it to a family from Vietnam.

Carolyn was right. It’s never too late for a good story.

This one came to her just before Christmas, and she’s been wanting to share it with the world ever since, or at least that portion of the world she grew up in down on Third, between G and H, in Southie.

“My brother’s not one to blow his own horn,” she said of her younger sibling, John, now 65, a retired Boston school teacher and a Vietnam veteran. “He’s not the kind who’d want to be in a newspaper.

“But what he did says so much about the family we were raised in, the Southie we were raised in. So that’s why I wrote to you.”

Carolyn, 73, was also right about her brother.

He does not like talking about himself. “I’d rather be anonymous,” John explains.

He continues to receive treatments at a VA hospital for skin cancers resulting from exposure to Agent Orange during his 16-month hitch in Vietnam, much of which was spent in Can Tho in the Mekong Delta.

He was returning from one of those treatments when he made a stop at National Wholesale Liquidators in Dorchester to purchase a windshield wiper. On his way out John noticed a cellphone case on the ground.

“Nobody saw me pick it up,” he said. “I brought it to my car, thinking there might be some identification in it. Instead I found 50 $100 bills. I knew somebody had to be heartsick, especially just before Christmas. So I went back into the store and told the manager I had found some money. I didn’t tell him how much; I just left my phone number, so that if someone came looking for it, they could properly identify what they had lost.

“Then I went home and an hour later my phone rang.”

The couple who’d lost the $5,000 had been saving a long time to come to America and had arrived just the day before, moving in with family in Dorchester.

They said they were from Vietnam.

“When I met them,” John recalled, “they hugged me so hard it hurt, because I had just undergone another treatment. Then they tried to give me a reward, but I said, ‘No, I can’t take your money.’ I was raised to believe we shouldn’t expect rewards for doing something right.

“But I did ask, ‘Where was your home?’ ”

They told him they had just come from Can Tho.

Joe Fitzgerald / Boston Herald

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

Mom-to-be Krisit Olivares surfed her way through 9 months of pregnancy...

To a non-surfer, it seems hard enough to hold your balance on a surfboard on your own two feet. Now imagine adding a baby bump.

That's exactly what mom and surfer Kristi Olivares did, four days a week, through all nine months of her pregnancy. She filmed her experience, too, in a video that she posted to YouTube earlier this month.

Olivares, who is from Vancouver, B.C., but now lives in Sydney, has been surfing for four years, and she wanted to share her love of the ocean with her not-yet-born baby. Here's how she described a typical pregnant surfing session to the website shesurfs.com: “I wait for a wave with my hand on my belly and know that my growing baby can feel the magic, too.” (This, by the way, was at 30 weeks!)

She says that she was able to gradually adjust to the changes in her body and her new center of balance.

"I felt like I had to learn to catch waves all over again," Olivares said in an email to TODAY.com. 

Olivares did have a set of surfing-while-pregnant rules for herself: She tried to only surf in waves that were waist high or smaller. And she enlisted her husband or a friend to help her carry her board to the beach – or, if no one was available, she’d carry the board to the shore by balancing it on her head, which, she says, distributed its weight more evenly.

She says she got a “strong reaction” from some people who were quick to give her the “Isn’t that dangerous?" speech, usually from those who weren't familiar with surfing. But she explained to them that she adjusted her surfing style to fit her changing body, and she argued that surfing keeps her fit, and acts as a stress-reliever. 

Her doctor, who is a surfer himself, approved her decision to keep surfing, providing that she did it sensibly and carefully, Olivares says. Dr. Raul Artal, chair of the department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women's Health at Saint Louis University, says he agrees with her doctor's recommendations, but adds that she should also make sure to use sunscreen liberally, wear warm enough clothing and hydrate adequately, because hyperthermia, hypothermia and dehydration could trigger preterm labor. (Under U.S. guidelines, the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology recommends that a healthy pregnant woman may continue an exercise program she did before she became pregnant.)

Olivares gave birth to her water baby, Alexander Bobby, on Sept. 10, and she says Baby Al has been to the beach almost every day since he was 5 days old. She says that her little boy is always a relaxed, happy baby, but that's especially true at the beach. 

"I believe that he recognizes the sound of the crashing waves and the motion of walking on the sand from when he was in my belly," she said. "I always got such a sense of calm and happiness from him when he was in my womb and I was out surfing, I could almost picture him smiling as we sailed along the water. He is a true ocean baby!"

Stranger makes dream come true for Nathan Contreras who is battling Cystic Fibrosis...

Philadelphia News, Weather and Sports from WTXF FOX 29

A Tucson boy with cystic fibrosis is thanking a complete stranger for making his dream of adopting a dog come true.

Two years ago, you wouldn't have recognized her Bella.

The pitbull was near-death when she was saved by the family of a little boy who knows exactly what it's like to be sick.

Brendan Desmet of ACACIA Animal Hospital says she is a strong, brave girl.

"She was thin, limping, she obviously hadn't received any kind of loving care," Desmet said.

The Contreras family had been looking for a dog to keep company with their 8-year old son Nathan. He has cystic fibrosis, and is too sick go to a public school, but caring for a sick dog seemed too costly on top of Nathan's medical bills.

"When I looked at the picture, she looked incredibly sad" Leslie Contreras said.

Until a stranger stepped in...

"We were thinking it would be a miracle if someone would call right now, and they did," Nathan said.

A random stranger offered to cover all adoption and medical costs for anyone who would take Bella home.

"She was two hours away from being killed. And I think of the gift, and the blessing, and the miracle of what has happened," Leslie said.

Bella and Nathan help each other in more ways than the family could have imagined.

"Bella is really helping with his attitude, because he really needed a friend and she's his best friend right now," Patrick Contreras said.

"I've always wanted a dog, since I was like 4 or something, and yeah- it's been great," Nathan said.

The Contreras family is sharing their story to raise awareness about cystic fibrosis. And they hope to encourage others to adopt from local shelters.

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

Woman postpones her wedding to help her ailing mother by donating part of her liver to her...

A WOMAN postponed her wedding just so she could donate part of her liver to her ailing mother, major Chinese dailies reported.

Liu Xiao Na, 29, from Urumqi in Xinjiang, China, found out that her mother – who had been suffering from liver cirrhosis since October last year – had kept her ailment secret from her. The mother did not want Liu to be worried during her wedding.

Liu told her fiance – whom she had been dating for 13 years – that she couldn’t go ahead with the wedding as long as her mother was not well.

The man graciously supported her wish and told her they would marry after the surgery.

Both mother and daughter went through an 11-hour surgery last Tuesday and were reportedly recovering well.

Liu said her mother’s health was the greatest New Year gift for her.

5 year old cancer survivor Skylar donates her birthday toys to Children's Miracle Network...

David and Kitzi Sobkowiak have every right to feel very blessed that their daughter, Skylar, celebrated her fifth birthday. A year ago, there was some doubt Skylar would see her fifth birthday after doctors found a neuroblastoma about the size of a baseball in her abdomen.

“She was in the hospital for her fourth birthday,” said Kitzi. “This year, we celebrated her fifth birthday and a year of being cancer-free.”

They also have good reason to feel blessed that she has a generous heart. About 70 friends and relatives joined Skylar for an early fifth birthday celebration Jan. 18 at the Eagle’s Club in La Crosse, bringing gifts that Skylar could donate to the Children’s Miracle Network.

“When we asked her if she wanted to donate her toys to Children’s Miracle Network, it was amazing how quickly she responded (that she wanted to donate the toys),” Dave said.

On her fourth birthday (Jan. 26), Skylar was in the hospital preparing for surgery to remove the tumor. The Sobkowiaks took Skylar to the hospital last January when they couldn’t wake her that morning. Initially, they were told it was a virus, but the results of a blood test and the fact that Skylar was nearly comatose indicated there was a more serious problem. She also had a blood sugar level reading of 44 (normal pre-breakfast range is 70-100).

“She was really brave through everything,” said Dave. “We were blessed with all the prayers.”

After the cause of her symptoms was discovered, Skyler underwent a 10-hour operation, which proved to be successful. According to Skylar’s mother, all the cancerous cells were contained in the tumor.

“She didn’t need to do chemo.” said Kitzi. “None of the cancer cells spread. Kids can be born with this kind of tumor. By the time the doctors find it, the kids are 3 years old and the (cancer) cells might have spread.”

Throughout the ordeal, Skylar and her family were supported by the Children’s Miracle Network. “They (pediatric patients) get tokens for any shots or IVs they get,” said Mary Rockwell, Skylar’s grandmother. “They use the tokens to pick out toys.”

The support they received was especially gratifying because the family was dealing with other issues during that time. Dave’s mother passed away, and one of Skylar’s cousins was also in the hospital at the same time. And Kitzi was pregnant.

Although Skylar will have to undergo annual exams to be sure she remains cancer-free, Skylar now appears to be a normal, active 5-year-old. In the family’s home on Brice Prairie, she plays with her new kitten, Simon, and enjoys her 5-month-old brother, Landon, and 14-year-old brother, Blake.

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

9 year old Katy Watowich gives away new shoes to the needy for her birthday...

While some nine-year-old girls may have a wish list of toys and other gifts that they want for their birthday, Katy Watowich turned her day of celebration into an opportunity to help those in need.

Instead of bringing presents for the birthday girl, Katy requested that those that attended her party bring a pair of brand new shoes to be donated to Crossroads Mission.

A third-grade student at Southwestern Christian School, she shared that she initially got the idea from a commercial that she saw on TV. After seeing the commercial a few times while watching the Disney Channel, she decided that she wanted to give back to those in her community, too.

“I don’t need toys,” she said, recalling one doll she received for her birthday last year that’s still sitting in her closet unopened. “God has already blessed me with family and friends.”

After making a trip to the homeless shelter and dropping off the 23 pairs of shoes she received, she said that the donation made her feel “happy,” like she hoped it would also make the recipients of her donation feel when they received the shoes.

Katy said she wanted to show people God’s love and, “send out all the shoes to the children who need them.”

Her mother Chardee explained that because Katy came to her with the donation idea about six months ago, she thought that she might forget about it by the time her actual birthday came around.

“I was proud of her for even wanting to do it,” she said. “But that far out… I just thought, ‘Don’t be surprised if she doesn’t bring it up again.’”

Katy added, “But I didn’t forget!”

She said that she hoped her donation would spur other children to give to those in need as well.

Chardee said that her daughter has, “always been a giver.”

Katy also spent time manning a lemonade stand one summer with her friends as a way to help raise funds for AIDS orphans through Tumaini International Ministries. She said that her school actively sponsors children in Africa through the organization.

In the future, Katy said that she has more plans for running a snow cone stand in the summer or a s'mores and hot chocolate stand during the winter for other fundraisers.

“She has more ideas piling up,” Chardee said.

Project Starfish: Helping the blind find work one job at a time...

FALL RIVER, Mass. (AP) — In a good economy, people with disabilities have a difficult time finding work. In a poor economy, it’s nearly impossible to land a job.

Robert Branco of New Bedford was born legally blind and knows this all too well.

‘‘I've had large gaps of unemployment,’’ Branco said. ‘‘It’s generally hard for all blind people.’’

Branco, after studying for eight years at the Perkins School for the Blind, earned an associate’s degree in business administration from Bristol Community College, and a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.

He’s worked as a health benefits counselor, customer service representative, telemarketer, receptionist and managed an auto parts department.

Branco said that during his last stint of unemployment, he heard about Project Starfish, a new nonprofit organization that helps people who are blind find employment.

Based in Boston, Project Starfish matches those without sight to businesses seeking freelance workers. Some of the projects last for a week, others a month and some much longer.

It’s a new opportunity for employment for the blind and visually impaired, according to Branco.

Starfish solicits startups and small businesses that need skilled people for a variety of positions, such as sales, marketing, social media, content writing, research, proof reading, customer service, operations and virtual administration.

Starfish trains prospective employees who can learn and earn while working on various projects. Starfish helps them write a resume, gain confidence and become employed.

According to Project Starfish, about 83 percent of small businesses and startups go out of business every five years because they don’t have the needed help to stay in business. Meanwhile, 80 percent of the adult blind population is unemployed, making the match a win for businesses and for the blind and visually impaired.

‘‘It’s been rewarding,’’ Branco said. ‘‘I really, really believe in this program. We are given an opportunity a lot of other people don’t give us.’’

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

'He wouldn't give up': 10 year old hero follows hunch to save 80-year-old Kathleen St. Onge...

Ten-year-old Danny DiPietro was on his way home from lacrosse practice with his dad on Saturday night when he thought he spotted a dog lying in the open garage of a condo complex near his home in Howell, Mich.

“It was really cold out and something didn’t seem right,” Danny told TODAY.com.

DiPietro’s parents assured him that no one would leave their dog out on such a frigid evening, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. After a bit of prodding, his mom, Dawn, agreed to investigate the garage for him.

“He wouldn’t give up,” Dawn, 44, told TODAY.com. “Thankfully, he was persistent.”

As Dawn walked up the driveway, she realized what Danny had seen was actually an elderly woman lying on the ground, waving her gloveless hands in the air for help.

The woman, 80-year-old Kathleen St. Onge, had been stuck in below-freezing temperatures for an hour and a half after slipping on a patch of ice in her garage. To make matters worse, she had lost her gloves and shoes in an attempt to scoot herself to the front of the garage, where she thought she would be spotted more easily. And a bitter wind was carrying snow inside.

“She said she had prayed to the Blessed Mother that someone would help her and find her,” St. Onge’s daughter Sandy St. Onge-Mitter told TODAY.com. “She knew she only had about an hour left. She thought she would be gone.”

Dawn immediately ran home and called 911. The DiPietros and a neighbor came back with blankets and chatted with St. Onge while she warmed up. When police arrived, she was rushed to a nearby hospital.

“I was amazed,” Danny said. “I just felt really good that she was okay.”

St. Onge was released on Wednesday afternoon after being treated for hypothermia and dehydration. Doctors told her family that she would not have survived an hour longer in the extreme cold.

“She’s grateful,” St. Onge-Mitter said. “She knows that if it wasn’t for Danny's persistency, she probably wouldn’t be here today. So he is a hero.”

St. Onge has yet to meet Danny in person, but her daughter says she “can’t wait.” The DiPietros had an opportunity to meet St. Onge-Mitter on Tuesday during an interview for local television.

“It was very emotional,” St. Onge-Mitter said. “Danny’s a remarkable boy, but his family should also be getting a lot of credit. They acted on his hunch. It was a family affair.”

The two families plan on staying in touch.

“We’ve made a life-long friend,” St. Onge-Mitter said.

Richard family and 72 member strong (and counting) team come together to honor Martin Richard in next Boston Marathon...

At least 72 people will run the Boston Marathon as part of a team in honor of Martin Richard, the 8-year-old Dorchester boy who died while watching the race with his family.

The family’s charitable foundation today announced that their fledgling team, selected from more than 250 applicants, includes 14 runners who live in Dorchester and 22 runners from 15 states.

“We established The Martin W. Richard Charitable Foundation to honor our son Martin’s message of peace, a message that went global in the days after he was tragically taken from us,” said Bill Richard, Martin’s father, in a statement. “While the pain of that day will forever be with us, our hope is that this special event becomes a source of strength for our family and a means to make a difference in the world.”

The foundation received charity bibs provided by the Boston Athletic Association, which offered bibs to all victims who received aid from the One Fund. Each of the team’s runners has pledged to raise thousands of dollars for the foundation, which the family formed to “honor Martin’s message of, ‘No more hurting people – peace’ by investing in education, athletics, and community.”

The foundation is accepting applications from runners who have already qualified for the Marathon or were prevented from finishing last April.

The foundation received applications from 35 states, as well as Europe, Asia, and South America. Of the 72 people on the team, 50 come from Massachusetts. The team includes personal friends of the family as well as students, parents, teachers, coaches, first responders, doctors and nurses, journalists, entrepreneurs, CEOs, a member of Congress, and two wounded veterans, according to the foundation.

“We were impressed that every application we received was sincere and thoughtful,” said Denise Richard, Martin’s mother, in a statement. “Many of them were emotional and told of personal experience with tragedy, perseverance, and heroism.”

She added: “Some stories were difficult to read, but every single application was read carefully and considered fully. In many ways the process was good for Bill and me.”

To support the foundation, visit www.TeamMR8.org.