To ease the stigma of addiction, this mother sends letters to strangers who've lost children to overdoses

via @ResistMoveTRM / Twitter

The number of people dying from drug overdoses in the U.S. is staggering. In 2017, 70,237 people died from drug overdoses, 47,600 of those were from opioids.

According to the CDC, that number has increased over five times since 1999. Since 2011, an alarming number of opioid deaths have been caused by fentanyl, a highly potent synthetic opioid.

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Family

A woman's story of mistakenly sharing the holiday spirit with a stranger has people in stitches

Mary Katherine Backstrom/Facebook

What's better than a heartwarming story of holiday cheer? How about a heartwarming story that turns out to be a hilarious moment of holiday embarrassment?

Mary Katherine Backstrom of Fort Myers, Florida, decided to do a good deed for a stranger in a gas station convenience store, she had no idea that her most embarrassing moment would result in a viral story viewed by millions.

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First Book
First Book

$1 can lead to 1 million books for kids in need this holiday season

Courtesy of First Book

We take the ability to curl up with a good story for granted. Unfortunately, not everyone has access to books. For the 32 million American children growing up in low-income families, books are rare. In one low-income neighborhood in Washington, D.C., there is approximately one book for every 800 children. But children need books in their lives in order to do well in school and in life. Half of students from low-income backgrounds start first grade up to two years behind other students. If a child is a poor reader at the end of first grade, there's a 90% chance they're going to be a poor reader at the end of fourth grade.

In order to help close the literacy gap, First Book launched Give a Million, a Giving Tuesday campaign to put one million new, high-quality books in the hands of children. Since 1992, the nonprofit has distributed over 185 million books and educational resources, a value of more than $1.5 billion. Many educators lack the basic educational necessities in their classrooms, and First Book helps provide these basic needs items.

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