Category Archives: FEEL GOOD FRIDAY

FGF | 8-Year-Old Surprised With College Admission

 

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How fly is 8-year-old Jordin Phipps?

The Texas native isn’t even in middle school yet, and already, like, today, she got accepted into the University of North Texas.

Not an easy thing to pull off.

Jordin managed to by reciting the university’s daily mantra, while wearing one of their T-shirts, and having mom record the spiel.

Which is actually quite empowering. It put a pep in my step, anyway.

“I am smart. I am a leader. Failure is not an option for me,” Jordin declares in the video. “Success is only moments away.”

Jordin’s mom, Nichole Smith, a University of Texas alumna, posted the video on Facebook earlier this month.

ABC News reports, University of North Texas school officials got wind of Jordin’s enthusiastic school pledge and wanted to help her.

They contacted me on Wednesday and said they wanted to present her with a scholarship,” Smith, a special education teacher, told ABC News.

Did they ever. Joined by some UNT cheerleaders, an early, early, early admission letter to join the class of 2030, aaanndd a $10,000 scholarship check–usually reserved for high school kids–school’s director of admissions surprised Jordin  during her elementary school assembly.

This makes the pre-teen the youngest student ever admitted in the university’s history.

And she already knows her major–school teacher, like her mom.

You better come through young scholar.

Feel Good Friday Roundup

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Beyonce’s Lemonade album drop wasn’t the only good news this week. Sorry Beyhive. There was a lot of reasons to slap on that Kool-Aide smile, starting with FLOTUS Michelle Obama’s fencing lesson from Olympian Ibtihaj Muhammad in Times Square Wednesday. To kick-off coverage of the Olympics this summer and promote her Let’s Move Campaign!

Gotta love a woman that kills two birds with one stone.

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Knicks baller Carmelo Anthony and wife LaLa paid a visit to their No. 1 fan, Anthony Skipper at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in Florida earlier this week. Melo and La have been visiting Anthony, who suffers from a brain disorder, frequently since learning he’s a big Knicks fan. So they couldn’t miss being by his side during one of his major surgeries.

Awww who says you shouldn’t meet your heroes.

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Black-ish star Marcus Scribner was picked to be the first ever Youth Advocate Ambassador for The Sandals Foundation. Marcus visited Jamaica recently where he lent a hand for Earth Day.

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Finally, my favorite feel good story of the week is about perseverance and a piano. Ohio teen Darrius Simmons was born with just four fingers, but it didn’t stop him from teaching himself how to play the piano. At 10.

Recently he began posting videos of him tickling the ivories and got noticed by pianist Yiruma, who was scheduled to play Carnegie Hall on April 22nd. He invited Darrius to join him, reports NBC New York. Not only did 15-year-old Darrius accompany Yiruma he brought Carnegie Hall to their feet.

Check the video below for a small sampling of Darrius’ piano skills.

Hope all this goodness is contagious.

 

 

Feel Good Friday Roundup

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I know the real Feel Good Friday news you want on this April Fools Day. Sadly, Donald Trump’s presidential bid is 100 percent a joke, but he’s the fool for thinking otherwise. With that being said there are no announcements of him throwing in the towel, only this.

While we continue to shake our heads on that one, here are a few news items that will make you nod ’em.

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First, Diddy, P.Diddy, Puffy whatever the hell he goes by–GOT IT–Sean. Let’s just stick to his government name. So, Mr. Sean Combs is opening a charter school in his birthplace of Harlem. The Capital Preparatory Harlem Charter School, an independently funded school, will open in the Fall and is accepting sixth and seventh grade applications. Sean said this of his latest venture:

“I want to impact the lives of young people in my community and build future leaders. The first step is offering quality education.”

It’s quite a detour from the media mogul making us dance (Not that he stopped. Who else is trying to cop the Badboy reunion tickets?) but I can so dig it.

And we can all take a collective sigh of relief knowing Sean Combs will not be running the school. Educator extraordinare Dr. Steve Perry will be the headmaster.

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Two Michigan prisons–Pugsley Correctional Facility and Oaks Correctional Facility–got into the philanthropic spirit this week when they ran a contest to see who could collect the most water for Flint residents.

The winner is…Pugsley Correctional with 30,000 collected water bottles during a one month period.

Newsone reports, Pugsley administrator and creator of the contest said the real winners are the recipients.

“It wasn’t us that won. It wasn’t Oaks that won. This is going to those kids at ISD in Genesee County. They won.”

The inmates generosity knows no bounds, they even pooled together $600 to give to the cause. Inmates’ average hourly wage is $.26. About $1.17 a day.

Finally, when you get an opportunity, go for it like this little boy did to get a hug from fave basketball player–Carmelo Anthony.

Yes, some things you have to make happen yourself. Kudos to the real people uniting us.

Feel Good Friday | Howard Students Spend Spring Break in Flint

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Not every college student is spending spring break in a lounge chair sipping a Mai Tai.

Howard University students (43 to be exact) from D.C. ditched the beach for the Motor City earlier this month.

Not just to visit Motown’s Hitsville studio (how can you pass that up?) but to deliver bottled water to Flint, Michigan residents.

As part of an “alternative spring break,” an HBCU tradition where spring breakers lend a helping hand in and beyond borders; there are 500 HU spring breakers sprinkling goodness in Chicago, St. Louis and Haiti this year, according to ibtimes.

In Flint, the good karma crew visited a Boys and Girls Club to start a garden (Michelle Obama would be so proud.) As well as organize the incoming bottled water donations.

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Earlier this week, the spring breakers helped cook and sort food at the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan.

Followed that up by visiting International Academy Charter School for family science night.

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Most of the HU students spending spring break in Flint are from the Muslim Students Association. The group donated water to Flint, Michigan’s Muslim House and had an interfaith chat to go along with it late last week.

As to why they’re there.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock or not tuning into C-SPAN (you should’ve it was popcorn eating, soft-drinking slurping type of viewing this week.) Flint, Michigan’s water has been contaminated due to lead piping and a heavily polluted source stream. Nearly 100,000 black and poor residents have been affected.

Keep track of the do-gooders progress in Flint by following them on Instagram–huasb_flint.

 

Feel Good Friday Roundup

It’s finally Friday and these feel-good-stories are the cherries on top of the end of the week.

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Let’s start with our favorite centenarian–106-year-old Virginia McLaurin–who captured our hearts with her jig of joy upon meeting Barack and Michelle Obama in the White House last month.

Now her newfound fans are making the spry senior smile again by starting a YouCaring fundraising page to change her living situation.

Virginia’s asking for $50K (so far $21,580 has been raised) to move into a ground floor apartment–she currently lives in a walkup–closer to her church, reports Huffington Post.

“She’s determined that she wants to live independently and close to her church,” Virginia’s friend Deborah Menkart told Huffington Post.”So we need to make sure that there are the funds to secure that.”

Pretty safe in assuming Virginia can and will.

A Kansas City Community Kitchen turned their soup kitchen into a restaurant-style serving the homeless.

From 11am to 2pm on weekdays the homeless are greeted by a host and given their food orders by a wait staff.

The menu was even created by an executive chef of a local restaurant that once lived in poverty.

The “dine with dignity” style soup kitchen is meant to change the script on how the homeless is treated.

“We are trying to flip the photo of what a soup kitchen looks like,” Mandy Caruso-Yahne, who runs the kitchen at Episcopal Community Service.

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Finally, rapper Fetty Wap inspired a young fan, Jayden Burgos to embrace his short-sightedness (get it?)

By ditching his prosethetic eye in the style of the Trap Queen rapper.

As a reward Jayden met his idol.

 

 

 

 

 

Feel Good Friday | This Cop Proves Humanity Still Exists

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Here’s something to warm your heart because, Lord knows, we need the sunshine.

At least on the East Coast (Damn you, Cali and your stupid February heat wave.) we got our ray of hope.

Massachusetts police officer Keith Perry received a call from a Walmart store manager–a homeless woman collapsed in the bathroom from hunger.

After paramedics revived the unidentified woman, Perry learned she hadn’t eaten all day, Seekonk Lt. David Dyson told INSIDE EDITION.

Perry helped alleviate that by buying her bread, milk and snacks. The two-year police veteran also doled out dough for a motel room where the woman could ride out one of many New England snow storms.

“Officer Keith Perry is a good guy. That’s just the way he’s made,” Dyson told INSIDE EDITION. “It’s just something he would do.”

If only more cops were like Perry.

Feel Good Friday | Two Chi-Town Brothers Take Road Trip Mission to Flint

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Chi-town brothers La’Mont Williams, 27, and Nate Williams, 20, were so struck (as we all should be!) by the tainted water crisis in Flint, Michigan they took a four-hour roadtrip to help.

After filling their wallets with funds from family and friends, the Williams brothers hopped in their car with cases of water riding in the back. This was the motivation:

“These people need help, and it’s not what you see on the news, there is more to it. There is a human element–it’s not a black or white thing–it’s not a rich or poor thing–the city of Flint, no matter where you go people need water, you know?” La’Mont, an attorney, told Fox 32 News. “You can’t go three days without drinking water.”

Not to mention bathing, brushing teeth and cooking. Although I’m sure those in the know (*cough* state govt officials *cough*) last year already prepared for the Flint water crisis. So, I beg to differ on La’Mont’s stance on it not being a race or class issue. And adopt Russell Simmons’ approach: “If this happened in Beverly Hills–first of all they would’ve found out in two minutes, and everybody would’ve been in trouble.”

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Anywho, the Williams brothers arrived in Flint on Saturday and quickly ran out of their clean water supply. But that was a hurdle easily cleared when they made their way to a local Walmart to restock.

The Huffington Post reports the brothers were getting so much H20, store workers thought they were with a charity. Nope, the two-man operation delivered 100 cases of bottled water, just doing their part to help.

“I could not imagine having to live my life one bottle of water at a time,” La’Mont told the Detroit Free Press. “I’m just happy to help.”

Thursday, the Michigan legislature approved $28 million to go towards bottled water and nurses for local schools.