More

A terminally ill dog's love of cheeseburgers is the uplifting story we all need right now.

A terminally ill dog's love of cheeseburgers is the uplifting story we all need right now.

Cody, a 10-year-old boxer-Labrador mix, loves cheeseburgers. And since his cancer diagnosis, his humans have been happy to indulge that craving.

Two months back, Cody got the bad news, with his vet giving him between just one and three months to live. His owner, Alec Karcher, shared his dog's story on Twitter, explaining how they were trying to make Cody's final days as happy as possible.

"My family and I were heartbroken by the news, but we decided we wanted to try and make the last part of his life the best we could," Karcher wrote. "Every day since we found out, we've gotten him a plain cheeseburger to eat with his many medications to make it easier and more enjoyable for him."

On July 15, as Karcher stopped at his local Burger King in Toledo, Ohio, an employee asked about the family's newfound love of plain cheeseburgers. Karcher responded by telling the employee Cody's story.

"She immediately asked us to wait a second after she gave us our food," he wrote. "A few minutes later, she returned after talking to her manager. She asked us for a name and said that the rest of the cheeseburgers for Cody would be free at their location."

This might seem like something small, but to Karcher and his family, the gesture meant the world.

"I can't explain how much that means to us, and my family and I are beyond appreciative," he wrote.

The official Burger King account got in on the action, replying to Karcher's original post, offering well wishes and a thanks for allowing that location to have an effect on their lives.

Burger King is right. The world does need more kindness and empathy. Small acts can add up in unexpected ways.

Maybe a small act of kindness is offering comfort to a heartbroken family or keeping a terminally ill dog's belly filled with his favorite food. It could also take any number of other forms, each as helpful as the one before it. The point here is that we all have the chance to make the world a better — or a worse — place for those around us. It's up to us how we choose to use our influence.

Cody is a good boy. Photo via Alec Karcher, used with permission.

May each burger be as delicious as the one before it, Cody. You are, of course, a very, very good dog.

Wear your values with products from PSA Supply Co., an independent site owned by our parent company, GOOD Worldwide Inc. GOOD makes money when you buy these products, and 10% of profits go to The Center for Community Change Action. Use discount code UPWORTHY to get 15% off your first order!
Badge
Capital One
Capital One
Capital One Impact Initiative

This Harlem chef is cooking up international dishes to strengthen his local community

Courtesy of FIELDTRIP
True

The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected diverse communities due largely in part to social factors such as inadequate access to housing, income, dietary options, education and employment — all of which have been shown to affect people's physical health.

Recognizing that inequity, Harlem-based chef JJ Johnson sought out to help his community maximize its health during the pandemic — one grain at a time.

Johnson manages FIELDTRIP, a health-focused restaurant that strives to bring people together through the celebration of rice, a grain found in cuisines of countless cultures.

"It was very important for me to show the world that places like Harlem want access to more health-conscious foods," Johnson said. "The people who live in Harlem should have the option to eat fresh, locally farmed and delicious food that other communities have access to."

Lack of education and access to those healthy food options is a primary driver of why 31% of adults in Harlem are struggling with obesity — the highest rate of any neighborhood in New York City and 7% higher than the average adult obesity rate across the five boroughs.

Obesity increases risk for heart disease or diabetes, which in turn leaves Harlem's residents — who are 76% Black or LatinX — at heightened risk for complications with COVID-19.

Keep Reading Show less
covid-19
popular

'Back to the Future' actor has a hilarious card for fans with questions about the movie

via KrustyKhajiit / YouTube

Thomas F. Wilson played one of the most recognizable villains in film history, Biff Tannen, in the "Back to the Future" series. So, understandably, he gets recognized wherever he goes for the iconic role.

The attention must be nice, but it has to get exhausting answering the same questions day in and day out about the films. So Wilson created a card that he carries with him to hand out to people that answers all the questions he gets asked on a daily basis.

Keep Reading Show less
movies
Badge
Capital One
Capital One
Capital One Impact Initiative

This Harlem chef is cooking up international dishes to strengthen his local community

Courtesy of FIELDTRIP
True

The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected diverse communities due largely in part to social factors such as inadequate access to housing, income, dietary options, education and employment — all of which have been shown to affect people's physical health.

Recognizing that inequity, Harlem-based chef JJ Johnson sought out to help his community maximize its health during the pandemic — one grain at a time.

Johnson manages FIELDTRIP, a health-focused restaurant that strives to bring people together through the celebration of rice, a grain found in cuisines of countless cultures.

"It was very important for me to show the world that places like Harlem want access to more health-conscious foods," Johnson said. "The people who live in Harlem should have the option to eat fresh, locally farmed and delicious food that other communities have access to."

Lack of education and access to those healthy food options is a primary driver of why 31% of adults in Harlem are struggling with obesity — the highest rate of any neighborhood in New York City and 7% higher than the average adult obesity rate across the five boroughs.

Obesity increases risk for heart disease or diabetes, which in turn leaves Harlem's residents — who are 76% Black or LatinX — at heightened risk for complications with COVID-19.

Keep Reading Show less
covid-19
popular

A U.S. Senate candidate asked people to prove her racist assertion wrong. And boy, did they ever.

Lauren Witzke, viet thanh nguyen/Twitter

Sometimes a politician says or does something so brazenly gross that you have to do a double take to make sure it really happened. Take, for instance, this tweet from Lauren Witzke, a GOP candidate for the U.S. Senate from Delaware. Witzke defeated the party's endorsed candidate to win the primary, has been photographed in a QAnon t-shirt, supports the conspiracy theory that 9/11 was a U.S. government inside operation, and has called herself a flat earther.

So that's neat.

Witzke has also proposed a 10-year total halt on immigration to the U.S., which is absurd on its face, but makes sense when you see what she believes about immigrants. In a tweet this week, Witzke wrote, "Most third-world migrants can not assimilate into civil societies. Prove me wrong."

First, let's talk about how "civil societies" and developing nations are not different things, and to imply that they are is racist, xenophobic, and wrong. Not to mention, it has never been a thing to refer people using terms like "third-world." That's a somewhat outdated term for developing nations, and it was never an adjective to describe people from those nations even when it was in use.

Next, let's see how Twitter thwapped Lauren Witzke straight into the 21st century by proving her wrong in the most delicious way. Not only did people share how they or their relatives and friends have successfully "assimilated," but many showed that they went way, way beyond that.

Keep Reading Show less
politics
Culture

Disney has added new 'negative racial depictions' warnings to six of its classic films

via WatchMojo / YouTube

There are two conflicting viewpoints when it comes to addressing culture from that past that contains offensive elements that would never be acceptable today.

Some believe that old films, TV shows, music or books with out-of-date, offensive elements should be hidden from public view. While others think they should be used as valuable tools that help us learn from the past.

Keep Reading Show less
disney
Trending Topics
Trending Stories
Sister Sites