Hello! We hope you, and your family, friends, and colleagues are doing well. For the 20th consecutive week, the Ball State University Center for Peace & Conflict Studies (www.bsu.edu/peacecenter) has compiled a list of acts of kindness and peace, as a response to COVID-19 and the racism pandemic. Please share these stories. If you have stories of positive acts people/organizations are taking in the midst of our pandemics and you would like to share them, please email them to Brandon Miller at peacecenter@bsu.edu. All the stories starting from week 1 are available online. Additionally, you can follow the Peace Center on social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) at bsu4peace.
Couple donates wedding food to shelter for women and children
Melanie and Tyler Tapajna of Ohio were among the many couples whose summer wedding plans were impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. Although the pair decided to scale back their ceremony and cancel the reception for their 150 planned guests, they had already pre-ordered food through a favorite local food truck and caterer. Rather than requesting a refund, the couple chose to donate the food to Laura’s Home, a nonprofit organization with The City Mission of Cleveland that houses and feeds women and children in crisis. Their caterer worked directly with the mission to translate her menu into a form that could be served in the cafeteria style kitchen. The couple spent a day at Laura’s Home serving their food to the community. The donation continued to feed guests at the mission for several days thereafter.
Source: Today - https://www.today.com/food/couple-donates-wedding-day-food-shelter-spends-day-serving-homeless-t190127
Tennessee teen fights food insecurity by making and selling his own vanilla extract
A Tennessee teen, William Cabaniss, 14, has been selling his homemade vanilla extract during the pandemic to raise money for a food bank in his community. William was baking brownies after having watched a news segment about food insecurity during the pandemic. Like many recipes for baked goods, William’s brownies included vanilla. It gave him the idea to capitalize on its ubiquity and to make his own for a good cause. William created a website and began making his own labels, but the enterprise has been a family affair: his mom helps make deliveries, his father helps with financial and legal matters, and his grandmother helps him maintain the Vanilla Feeds Tomorrow Facebook page. Since beginning to sell his homemade vanilla, he has made $9000. His efforts have provided meals for over 27,000 food insecure people through Second Harvest Food Bank of East Tennessee. William’s 8 ounce bottles of vanilla can be purchased at the Vanilla Feeds Tomorrow website for $30. For each bottle sold, the food bank is able to provide 42 meals.
Source: Good News Network - https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/tennessee-teen-raises-thousands-for-food-bank-by-creating-vanilla/
American Girl celebrates heroes who have served during the coronavirus pandemic
The American Girl doll company has memorialized 5 heroes from the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic by making dolls in their likeness. More than 1000 kids across the country nominated people in their lives who had risked their health by providing essential services during the pandemic. The five individuals chosen for the honor included a 17-year-old grocery store associate who works 5 days per week despite having asthma; a teacher who visited each of her students’ houses to provide them words of encouragement and a bag of books; a nurse assistant who provider food and served as a caregiver to homeless people in her community; a pilot who flew a team of doctors to Haiti to assist in the treatment of COVID-19 patients; and a paramedic who was diagnosed with COVID-19 after serving on the frontlines.
Source: MSN - https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/good-news/american-girl-honors-pandemic-heroes-by-turning-them-into-one-of-a-kind-dolls/ar-BB18cK8O
Chicago teens convert a liquor store into a food market
Prolific instances of racial discrimination and the subsequent outcry has moved a group of teenagers in a marginalized Chicago neighborhood to channel their passions into a profound act of social justice. Their neighborhood is considered a “food desert” – an area in which food markets providing fresh food are absent or rare. To combat that, this group of teens spearheaded a project to repurpose a community liquor store into a food market. The initiative snowballed, attracting the backing of professional athletes who raised over $500,000 for the market. With help from a local kids club – By the Hand – the kids decided what the market would sell, where it would be located, and how it would be promoted in the community. Austin Market officially opened on August 24th.
Source: Good News Network - https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/from-food-desert-to-city-oasis-pro-athletes-help-chicago-teens-transform-liquor-store-into-pop-up-market/