Coin Turns Red Kettle Into Pot of Gold

It wasn't what suburban Chicago Salvation Army workers sorting through loose change expected to find at the bottom of a kettle.

But last week employees uncovered a rare treasure wrapped inside a $2 bill: a 1 ounce gold South African Krugerrand coin worth about $1,200, reported The Beacon-News.

"It was like carrying the Super Bowl trophy of donations," Maj. Robert Hall told the newspaper.

This isn't the first time an anonymous benefactor dropped a gold coin in the red tin kettles.

Just last year, the same Chicago Salvation Army found four smaller gold coins in its buckets.

Th new donation will go toward the chapter's goal of $211,000 in kettle collections.

"We are already $1,000 ahead with just this coin," Lt. Rick Garcia told the newspaper. "It's a relief and a blessing. We're glad someone is listening to our bells."

Go to The Beacon-News for the full story.

Dude Perfect

These young men (Dudes) do this completely for charity...



and this is The World's Longest Basketball Shot by Dude Perfect.

'Wheelchair Recycler' Gives Back Freedom

The man best known as the "Wheelchair Recycler" has spent the past 11 years building and fixing power chairs for the people with the greatest need, but who often could not otherwise afford one.

Permanently paralyzed in a car accident in 1995, David Heim, 47, of Marlborough, Mass., knows what a wheelchair means for a disabled person: "Independence. That's the greatest thing."

"You can't be without your chair for a week, let alone a day," he told NBC Nightly News.

His nonprofit organization takes used wheelchairs and refurbishes them with other donated parts. The work ranges from quick repairs to custom-made jobs, but each one is personalized to address the client's individual needs.

Heim has helped over 500 people across the country, and even internationally, since he first started his company.

"When I go into any rehab, or see anybody, I don't see their face first. I look at their chair -- what's wrong with it, are they comfortable, how are they positioned," Heim told NBC News.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Heim's chairs typically sell for $800-$1,000, a fraction of what a chair would typically run. Though Heim's shop is struggling itself to break even, he often gives away chairs or services to people who can't pay.

When The Christopher Reeve Foundation learned of Heim's charitable works, it donated the late actor's chair. Its parts were used to fix six other people's power chairs. The foundation also provided two grants that allowed the Wheelchair Recycler to buy vans to pick up donations.

Heim envisions operations like his existing in every state, and is now working to make that happen: "It can't stop with just this one shop."

For more details, visit NBC Nightly News and USA Today.

To find out more about Heim's operation, visit wheelchairrecycler.org.

Try A Little Kindness Tommorrow

My daughter has lived in Baltimore for many years now and works for a large medical facility

there that sees hundreds of patients per week I am sure. She finds it amazing when patients

come in and recognize that she is from the Eastern Shore. How? The accent. And we

don't even realise it. The ones that recognize it are the patients from the good old Eastern

Shore. Talking to them about things "down home" makes her not miss home so much and I am

sure puts the patients' worries about themselves at ease for a while.

In a world like today, when things seem to be spinning out of control, people

don't seem to care about each other, except with criticism, and there is no kindness

from anyone somedays, there is the exception.

My daughter called me today to tell me that a patient from the Eastern Shore

had been in and asked her, "when was the last time you read one of these?".

She looked at it and responded, "Not since I last saw my mom." He had

handed her a simple thing as the Daily Times. Something from the good old

Eastern Shore! Though this person is ill, traveled

hours away, he thought enough about someone else and did a simple act of

kindness.

Simple as that! Kindness. Nice word and the results of its actions are

rewarding. Try it tommorrow. Then try it the next day. You might be

surprised if in return someone is nice to you.

The world isn't a bad place all the time. And the world isn't filled with rainbows and

pleasant sunshine everyday. But if everyone practiced kindness at least once a

day, every day, it might seem like it...........if only for a little while.

Kindness, like a boomerang, always returns. ~Author Unknown