Weeks 55 and 56: Altruistic Stories from the BSU Peace Center

June 25, 2021

For the 55th and 56th consecutive weeks, the Center for Peace & Conflict Studies has compiled a list of acts of kindness and peace. The initiative began as a response to COVID-19 and the racism pandemic but has broadened to include any act of compassion or service to others. Please share these stories. If you have stories of positive acts people/organizations are taking 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.

Week 55

Two Girls Sell Lemonade to Help People on Transplant Lists

After four years of making snow-cones by hand and selling them to her neighbors, the family of Mackenzie Madsen bought her a snow-cone maker for her birthday. Unfortunately, Mackenzie, who had been diagnosed with congenital heart defects at 14-months of age, died before she got a chance to use it. In 2020, at age 14, Mackenzie had to be taken off the transplant list for a new heart and kidney after a year of waiting. Her organs had begun to shut down. She died the night she was discharged from the hospital. A year later, in Mackenzie’s honor, her younger sisters, Myleigh (9) and Makayla (7), set up a lemonade stand under their treehouse where they sell Country Time lemonade and cake pops. Myleigh and Makayla donate the proceeds from their enterprise to a nonprofit that supports organ donation. The idea for the lemonade stand came out of a family discussion between the siblings and their parents. With the one year anniversary of Mackenzie’s death approaching in July, the Madsens wanted to honor Mackenzie’s life. Their memory of Mackenzie selling snow-cones inspired them to do something similar to help others like her. “It’s humbling to see that my girls understand how important it is,” the girls mother, Monica Madsen, said. “And they don’t want somebody else to have to lose someone they love. Between the lemonade and the Oreo and birthday-cake flavored cake pops they sell for $1.50 each, the girls have raised around $1,000 for DonorConnect, which helps to recover organs and tissues for transplant in four western states. The girls plan to continue their operation throughout the summer, but they are considering adding snow-cones to their menu.

Source: The Washington Post - https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2021/06/14/lemonade-stand-organ-donation-makenzie-madsen/?utm_campaign=wp_the_optimist&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_optimist&carta-url=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.washingtonpost.com%2Fcar-ln-tr%2F33b3124%2F60c9f5f89d2fdae302810a41%2F5e4d74439bbc0f462514be64%2F37%2F48%2F60c9f5f89d2fdae302810a41

 

MIT Professor Installs Crib in his Lab to Ease the Burden of a Graduate Student and New Mother

Life as a new parent can be tough under the best circumstances. Add a global pandemic and the stress of graduate school and the burden becomes downright overwhelming. This was Karen Cunningham’s life as a graduate student in biology at MIT and mother of a daughter, Katie, who was born last July. Karen’s husband, Steve, a middle-school math teacher, taught his classes online and was usually able to care for Katie while Karen was conducting her research. When Steve had meetings, though, he was unable to watch Katie. Enter Troy Littleton, Karen’s biology lab professor. “When we have new fathers or mothers in the lab, we usually have a baby shower and everyone pitches in on a gift,” Littleton said. “We couldn’t have a shower for Karen due to the pandemic, but we all agreed that a portable crib would be the perfect gift.” The lab crew pitched in and bought the crib. Karen was deeply grateful: “What Troy has done is like a little warm spot in a mess of unaffordable child care and inadequate parental leave in our country. I can set Katie down for a bit and talk to her while a do a few things, and that means a lot.”

Source: The Washington Post - https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2021/06/18/mit-professor-crib-lab-mother/?utm_campaign=wp_the_optimist&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_optimist&carta-url=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.washingtonpost.com%2Fcar-ln-tr%2F33d1689%2F60cf3c129d2fdae302873f6a%2F5e4d74439bbc0f462514be64%2F26%2F49%2F60cf3c129d2fdae302873f6a

 

Two Coworkers Donate their Kidneys to Save Each Other’s Husbands

Coworkers Susan Ellis and Tia Wimbush, employees of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, have something major in common besides their workplace: both of their husbands were on a list for a kidney transplant. After months of working remotely, the two returned to the office and spent some time catching up. As they compared notes about their situations, the two realized they might be a donor matches for the other’s husband. “My thought immediately was that we could help each other and stop the suffering,” Tia said. The husbands agreed, the couples got tested, and, miraculously, Tia and Susan were each an excellent donor match for the other’s spouse. After some delays due to health concerns, including a case of COVID-19, the transplants proceeded successfully and the couples recovered in close proximity on the same hospital floor. “Our story is a story of kindness. It ended up in a kidney exchange, that was the result of it, but it started with human beings…checking on each other,” Susan said.

Source: Good Morning America - https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/wellness/story/coworkers-donate-kidneys-save-husbands-78086653

Week 56

Teenager Buys Storage Units and Returns Contents to the Original Owners

Shane Jones, 16, of Wakefield, RI was looking for a way to earn some extra cash when he came across some videos on YouTube that explained how to buy repossessed storage units. When renters stop paying the monthly fee on a storage unit, contents of the unit can be put up for auction. Shane decided to give it a whirl. “It seemed like something fun to do. I had some money I’d saved from working in a used bookstore,” Shane said. His first acquisition was the contents of a unit in nearby Providence, which he won with a bid of $100. However, the plan did not work out as Shane imagined. When he opened the unit to view the contents, he realized that he shouldn’t sell them. Among the items inside, Shane found mementos and personal documents. The owner had been sent to prison and had been unable to afford the storage fee. Shane, who had taken to frequenting yard sales in search of unique finds, said “I realized…that this wasn’t the same as getting stuff at a yard sale. This guy was in prison, and his storage unit was auctioned off because he couldn’t afford to pay for it. This was probably everything he had left.” With his parents, Shane tracked down the man’s mother at a nearby retirement home. “I called her up and offered to give her everything,” Shane said. She was elated. Her gratitude inspired Shane to repeat the process. After a few months of saving, Shane bid on a second unit. In clearing it, Shane learned that the couple who owned it passed away, but he was able to track down a family member of the original owners to whom he returned the contents – including a number of family heirlooms. Several months later, Shane won his third bid. Its owner lived in Connecticut and had fallen behind on rental payments after losing her job. The woman had also suffered a terrible loss: three years earlier, her baby had died of sudden infant death syndrome. “All of her baby items and all of her childhood photos were in the storage locker,” Shane said. When he returned the items to the owner, she broke into tears. “I started out thinking that bidding at a storage auction was kind of like a yard sale, but now I know that’s not true. These people didn’t choose to give me this stuff. They didn’t have a choice. It’s almost like a duty to give it back.”

Source: The Washington Post - https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2021/06/14/storage-unit-auction-teen-owner/?utm_campaign=wp_the_optimist&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_optimist&carta-url=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.washingtonpost.com%2Fcar-ln-tr%2F33d1685%2F60cf3c129d2fdae302873f6a%2F5e4d74439bbc0f462514be64%2F13%2F49%2F60cf3c129d2fdae302873f6a

 

High Schooler Had No Ride to his Own Graduation, so His Boss at Waffle House Drove Him

Timothy Harrison, a senior at Woodlawn High School in Alabama, surprised his boss when he showed up for work at Waffle House on May 27th. Harrison had asked for the day off earlier in the week: May 27th was the day of his high school graduation ceremony. Although he had been planning to attend, Harrison’s family had a conflict that was preventing them from going to the ceremony and Harrison had no other ride. The event was going to be held approximately an hour’s drive away from his home. “I didn’t have a ride, I didn’t have tickets, and it was a plan that I couldn’t put together all the way,” Harrison said. Instead he decided to work his usual shift at Waffle House. When he explained to his boss, Cedric Hampton, why he was working on his day off, Hampton jumped into action. “I said, ‘Go home, get your paperwork, call the school, and we will figure out the rest,’” Hampton said. “…it was a no-brainer. Graduation is one of those things you get to do once in life, and when you’ve worked all these years going to school to have that moment, it’s necessary to be there… I could see in his eyes that he really wanted to go..” Harrison was not convinced that the plan would work, though: he had been working during the rehearsal ceremony, so he did not have the required cap, gown, and tickets. But his coworkers were undeterred. The assistant manager, who had the day off, came to the restaurant to fill in while two of Harrison’s coworkers divided and conquered. One drove Harrison to his high school to pick up the graduation regalia and tickets. Another bought Harrison a new outfit to wear under his gown. A couple restaurant customers even chipped in to pay for the outfit. “I felt like the president,” Harrison said after trying on his new dress clothes. “My work family is helpful and thoughtful. They make sure everybody around them is okay. They are very loving people.” The employees rode with Harrison to his ceremony and, though not allowed to attend due to COVID-19 restrictions, waited in the parking lot to congratulate him when he emerged. But all of this was just the beginning of the good fortune for Harrison. The altruistic acts of his coworkers caught the attention of Cynthia Anthony, president of the nearby Lawson State Community College. “This young man was certainly hard-working and dedicated to the task at hand at Waffle House, and it just showed his perseverance and that he wanted something out of life. We just wanted to see how Lawson State could help him to further his education and meet his career goals.” To that end, she offered Harrison a full scholarship. Harrison and Hampton toured the campus together. “I am his full-time mentor,” Hampton said. “I feel really good about what’s about to happen next for him. And I’ll always be there along the way.”

Source: The Washington Post - https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2021/06/14/graduation-waffle-house-teen-work/?utm_campaign=wp_the_optimist&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_optimist&carta-url=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.washingtonpost.com%2Fcar-ln-tr%2F33b311b%2F60c9f5f89d2fdae302810a41%2F5e4d74439bbc0f462514be64%2F8%2F48%2F60c9f5f89d2fdae302810a41

 

New Cop Saves Choking Infant’s Life

Cody Hubbard, 23, is the newest officer in the Pottsville, Arkansas, Police Department. Despite being a rookie, he demonstrated levelheadedness and compassion during a recent call to the home of a panicked family. Joe and Katelin Chronister, parents of a 3-week-old baby, Grady, were administering some medication to Grady to ease his upset stomach. Unfortunately, the boy began to choke on the drops. “We were trying to give Grady his medicine…and he was taking them just fine. Right towards the end, he started choking,” Joe said. The parents became frantic when Grady began to turn purple. It was Hubbard who received the call. Although Hubbard himself claims to have been “freaking out” on the drive to help the Chronister’s, with several firm smacks on the infant’s back, the baby began to breathe normally. The experience was overwhelming, though, even for Hubbard. After he left the home and returned to his car, he turned off his bodycam and began to sob: “I started just kind of bawling because, you know, it felt good to see how that turned out. Mentally I just broke down. I was crying, but it was happy tears.” Hubbard is expected to receive an award from his department for his heroic action.

Source: Fox 16 - https://www.fox16.com/news/local-news/he-saved-my-babys-life-pottsville-officer-saves-newborn-from-choking/

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