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He was secretly homeless. When his town found out, they made him a miracle.

When a small town’s quirky ticket-taker fell on hard times, his neighbors were there to catch him.

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Dignity Health old

Everyone’s gotta find some way to pass the time at work. But the way Eric Glover does it … is kind of hard to describe.

Eric is a ticket-taker at a movie theater in Morristown, New Jersey, where he has worked for years. And he’s well known in the community for his unique approach to his job: He makes “tick-tick-tick” noises to imitate a ticket machine, gestures wildly when he’s tearing off the stub, and tries to make every ticket-holder smile.

You kind of just have to see it for yourself:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/embed/7VXn7wO3-Y0?rel=0&start=178&end=192&autoplay=0 expand=1]


It may not seem like a huge claim to fame, but Eric is well known in Morristown for his quirkiness and undeniable ability to spread positivity.

Morristown loves him for it. The local bar, where he has worked as a bouncer, once gave him a 2003 Cadillac DeVille for his birthday. He even has a Facebook fan page— "dedicated to the coolest guy ever" — which is how you know you’ve really made it.

A couple of weeks ago, though, a community member found out that Eric had a big secret.

His work hours had been cut, and he had been living out of his car. "I’ve been homeless now for going on ten months," Eric said in this video.

When they found out about this, Morristownians kicked into high gear.

A community member set up a GoFundMe page for Eric, and 10 days after the page was created, contributors had exceeded the original fundraising goal of $50,000 — by more than $15,000. Some people even commented on the page to offer up personal support.

Screenshot via Eric's GoFundMe page.

"I have a spare room if he needs a place to stay," one commenter wrote. "No one should be on the streets, especially this time of year."

Another community member said:

“I donated because on my first date with my wife, Eric took my ticket, and made me smile. Then, hundreds of times, thru out my life, he did it over and over. ... For one single man, to rise up every day, despite his own troubles, and give a smile to the world every day he goes into it ... that is a gift. It is a gift this man has given to thousands.”

It can be easy to feel like the world is huge, cold, and impersonal.

But every single day, communities across the globe are showing us that people still believe in the importance of lending a hand to their neighbors.

We saw it in the Ohio pizza shop that hosted a free Thanksgiving dinner for the homeless. We saw it in the community that replaced an elderly woman’s stolen bike. And we saw it in the town that fundraised to rebuild a mosque that had burned down.

Now, we’re seeing that kindness again in Morristown.

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How to end hunger, according to the people who face it daily

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Even though America is the world’s wealthiest nation, about 1 in 6 of our neighbors turned to food banks and community programs in order to feed themselves and their families last year. Think about it: More than 9 million children faced hunger in 2021 (1 in 8 children).

In order to solve a problem, we must first understand it. Feeding America, the nation’s largest domestic hunger-relief organization, released its second annual Elevating Voices: Insights Report and turned to the experts—people experiencing hunger—to find out how this issue can be solved once and for all.

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See, not even their human parents can tell them apart because when the swapped dog got home, nothing seemed odd to the owners at first. She was freshly groomed so any small differences were quickly brushed off. But this accidental doppelgänger wasn't fooling her feline siblings.

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“It’s important to know that he’s been unemployed since 2021,” the woman wrote on Reddit’s AITA subforum. “He receives benefits. It’s also important to know that he’s extremely lazy. He doesn’t cook, clean, or help out in any way. I was nervous about leaving her home with her father, but I had no choice.”

The mother had reason to be worried about leaving her baby home alone with her husband, but in the beginning, things seemed fine. “When I came back from work, she was clean and sleeping. The next few times I came home, he was either playing with her, feeding her, or out for a walk with her. I was happy,” she wrote.

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A study published in the Harvard Business Review found that women who have a strong circle of friends are more likely to get executive positions with higher pay. "Women who were in the top quartile of centrality and had a female-dominated inner circle of 1-3 women landed leadership positions that were 2.5 times higher in authority and pay than those of their female peers lacking this combination," Brian Uzzi writes in the Harvard Business Review.

Part of the reason why women with strong women backing them up are more successful is because they can turn to their tribe for advice. Women have to face different challenges than men, such as unconscious bias, and being able to turn to other women who have had similar experiences can help you navigate a difficult situation. It's like having a road map for your goals.

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Downey shared a video in May of 2022 in which he chats with a couple of squirrels on his porch while feeding them and offering them water. That video received over 26 million views and kicked off a whole series of videos showcasing the adorable antics of Richard, Maxine, Hector, Consuela, Norma (may she rest in peace), and Hood Rat Raymond. He's built Richard a house, rescued Maxine's babies, mourned Norma's transition (to wherever squirrels go when they die) and more.

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Library of Congress

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