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All this mom needed for Christmas was a little help. Rapper 2 Chainz delivered. Big time.

This is what the holiday season is all about.

Rapper 2 Chainz, seen here rolling on a hoverboard at an awards show, hasn't always had such a sweet life.

Photo by Gabe Ginsberg/Getty Images for BET.

Growing up poor in Atlanta, Georgia, 2 Chainz (whose real name is Tauheed Epps) knows what it means to struggle. He recounted in a recent Instagram post what it was like to live without hot water and constantly go to bed hungry.

Today Epps is swimming in fame and money. But he hasn't let himself forget where he came from.

When the rapper caught word that Deirdre Plater, a single mother and wounded veteran in Georgia, had been in a tight spot for the past year, he and his charity TRU Foundation showed up big.

On Dec. 5, 2015, 2 Chainz arrived at Deirdre's door with new furniture for her apartment AND the offer to pay her rent for an entire year.

As you can imagine, it caught her off guard.

"I love to see stuff like this happen for other people, but I never thought it would happen to me," she told CBS 46.

For 2 Chainz, new furniture and rent was the least he could do – and proceeds from his Dabbing Santa holiday sweaters are helping to make it happen.

#DabbinSanta started out as a trendy guy but has grown & become a blessing. Not only did he stop eviction for this lady who ser our country and help keep a roof over her sons head but he fully furnished there home!! All of that was made possible by YOU supporting #DabbinSanta Lets keep it going!!! If you know someone in need this holiday please share your stories dabbinsanta@gmail.com
A photo posted by 2 Chainz Aka Tity Boi (@hairweavekiller) on


Deirdre had recently undergone surgery for a military-related injury and had been looking for a job for nearly a year with no luck. The assistance 2 Chainz was able to provide her helps shine a light on the importance of giving back, but it also serves as a reminder of a huge problem many American veterans face today: unemployment.

In fact, veterans face a higher unemployment rate than other Americans and are twice as likely to become chronically homeless. Circumstances that no one, let alone those who defend our freedom, should have to experience.

The stresses that come with chronic poverty and just barely making ends meet are no joke.

A 2013 study suggested that the stress of poverty is the same as pulling an all-nighter every single night, and can drop a person's IQ by 13%. 2 Chainz remembers what it was like:

I remember when we didn't have hot water and I didn't want my friends to know , so I told them it was something wrong with that bathroom and they couldn't use my mommas, i remember using the oven to heat the house , I would stand in the kitchen for hours to stay warm . I remember waiting until the water co. Close at 5 ,so we could use a tool and turn the water back on until 6 am , I remember going to sleep hungry , i remember a long ass extension chord coming from the neighbors house to mine to borrow they're lights ,I remember stealing cable , cars , clothes etc, no matter how much pain I endured I smiled on the outside , it was my defense mechanism. I remember 🙏🏿
A photo posted by 2 Chainz Aka Tity Boi (@hairweavekiller) on


Hopefully, thanks to the generosity, Dierdre will be able to get back on her feet now that she doesn't have to worry about keeping a roof over her family's head.

2 Chainz is also making sure that his kids, who are growing up in very different circumstances, understand the importance of giving back too.

Showing my kids how important it is to give back , when you got it .#TRU
A photo posted by 2 Chainz Aka Tity Boi (@hairweavekiller) on

It's always great to see those with extra giving back and helping others out. Whether it's donating money or time, good deeds can not only put the "happy" in "happy holidays," they can transform lives and future generations.

And really, at the end of the day, it's just the right thing to do.

Check out 2 Chainz visiting Deirdre below (the good part is at 58 seconds):

Family

Korean mom has a perfect response to the teacher who called her son's lunches 'disgusting'

Good for her for standing up for her child's culture.

via Roman Harak/Flickr

A Korean mother and her son

A recently posted story on Reddit shows a mother confidently standing up for her family after being bullied by a teacher for her culture. Reddit user Flowergardens0 posted the story to the AITA forum, where people ask whether they are wrong in a specific situation.

Over 5,600 people commented on the story, and an overwhelming majority thought the mother was right. Here’s what went down:

“I (34F) have a (5M) son who attends preschool. A few hours after I picked him up from school today, I got a phone call from his teacher,” Flowergardens0 wrote. “She made absolutely no effort to sound kind when she, in an extremely rude and annoyed tone, told me to stop packing my son such ‘disgusting and inappropriate’ lunches."

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Joy

Dog does the ‘pick a card’ challenge and we get to live the dream with him

Suddenly dogs everywhere need teddy bear robes.

Opie the Pit Bully|TikTok

Dog does the 'pick a card' challenge and it's adorable.

There are a few kinds of dog parents: ones that only have outside dogs, those who have inside dogs but they're absolutely not allowed on the furniture and dog parents who treat their dog as if they birthed them themselves and give them every luxury invented for four-legged fur children.

Clearly, people are going to have feelings one way or the other about dogs and their place within a household, but I think everyone can agree that seeing a dog be pampered will always be adorable. Opie the Pit Bully is one of those lucky doggos who wound up living in the lap of luxury, and the pooch got to do a "pick a card" day to showcase that his owner loves him the mostest.

In a video uploaded to TikTok by Opie's owner because...ya know, opposable thumbs and all…Opie is faced with two cards that he can't read: 1) because he's a dog, and 2) because the cards are facing toward the camera. That doesn't stop the sweet puppers from playing along, though.

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Family

Help is on the way for a desperate mom who couldn't find size 23 shoes for her teenage son

Her son Eric Kilburn Jr. is a 6'10" freshman in high school.

via GoFundMe

A size 21 Nike shoe made for Tacko Fall.

A local reporter at Hometown Life shared a unique and heartfelt story on March 16 about a mother struggling to find shoes that fit her 14-year-old son. The story resonated with parents everywhere; now, her son is getting the help he desperately needs. It's a wonderful example of people helping a family that thought they had nowhere to turn.

When Eric Kilburn Jr. was born, his mother, Rebecca’s OBGYN, told her that he had the “biggest feet I’ve ever seen in my life. Do not go out and buy baby shoes because they’re not gonna fit,’” Rebecca told Today.com. Fourteen years later, it’s almost impossible to find shoes that fit the 6’10” freshman—he needs a size 23.

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parents
Science

90-year-old tortoise is a hero to his species by becoming a first-time dad to 3 hatchlings

Way to go, daddio!

Photo by David Cadenas on Unsplash

What we imagine the look on Mr/ Pickles' face to be after becoming a dad.

It’s been an exciting time for a couple of tortoises at the Houston Zoo—and really, for tortoises everywhere.

The zoo announced on its blog that their oldest resident, Mr. Pickles, a 90-year-old radiated tortoise, and his 53-year-old companion Mrs. Pickles (that’s quite an age gap there sir, but no judgment) recently welcomed three new hatchlings.

Just when you thought things couldn’t get any better, here are the new baby names: Dill, Gherkin and Jalapeño.

Clearly, Jalepeño is the spicy one of the bunch.

While this news is certainly momentous for Mr. and Mrs. Pickles, it’s also a huge achievement for the entire species, which is currently critically endangered.
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animals & wildlife
Education

100-year-old woman's speech against book bans in Florida school district goes viral

Grace Linn speaks for millions of Americans.

Jodi Picoult/TikTok

Grace Linn, 100, speaks at a Martin County School Board meeting on March 21, 2023.

Four hundred years ago, copies of William Tyndale’s English translation of the Bible were publicly burned by the bishop of London, with church authorities insisting that the Bible should only be read in Latin (and only by the clergy). In the centuries since, many books we now consider classics such as Daniel Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe," Jack London's "Call of the Wild," Walt Whitman’s "Leaves of Grass," Victor Hugo’s "Les Misérables, Charles Darwin’s "Origin of Species"—even Beatrix Potter's "The Tale of Peter Rabbit" and "Benjamin Bunny"—have been banned or censored in one way or another in various countries.

Battles over books are nothing new, but once in a while, they become particularly ugly or absurd, prompting people to speak out against book bans.

People like 100-year-old Florida resident, Grace Linn, whose speech at a Martin County School Board meeting has gone viral.

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book bans
Pop Culture

Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler have the cutest friendship, and she has the receipts to prove it

Plenty of teasing. Lots of love.

The Tonight Show/ Youtube

Jennifer Aniston appearing on "The Tonight show"

Let’s face it, platonic relationships between men and women rarely get the same amount of attention as romantic ones, to the point where we debate whether or not they can actually exist in the first place.

That’s what makes a clip of Jennifer Aniston gushing about her decades-long friendship with Adam Sandler so cool to watch. There’s no Harry-Met-Sally-ing here, just one pal talking about another pal.

Aniston sat down with Jimmy Fallon to promote the film “Murder Mystery 2,” starring both Aniston and Sandler, but the conversation quickly veered into several anecdotes about “The Sand Man,” including how the two first met at a deli in their 20s.

As with any healthy friendship, there’s plenty of ragging on each other.

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