+
Sign up for
The Upworthiest
Our top stories of the day delivered straight to your inbox.
upworthy
Most Shared

Look at the breathtaking mansion this MLB star just donated to charity.

This year, a bighearted baseball player is doing his part to make the holidays merry and bright.

Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images.

MLB pitcher Cole Hamels and his wife Heidi donated their 32,000-square-foot(!) Missouri mansion to charity.

Photo courtesy of Camp Barnabas.

The Hamelses weren't able to put the home to good use after Cole was traded to the Texas Rangers in 2015, their lawyer told the Springfield News-Leader. It prompted them to gift it to a deserving cause.

The property, valued at $9.4 million, is quite a sight to see.

We're talking security check-in.

Photo courtesy of Camp Barnabas.

A tower with scenic views.

Photo courtesy of Camp Barnabas.

Lots and lots of parking.

Photo courtesy of Camp Barnabas.

And roughly 100 acres of surrounding land to enjoy.

[rebelmouse-image 19533384 dam="1" original_size="750x395" caption="Image via Google Maps." expand=1]Image via Google Maps.

The lucky new owners of the Hamelses' old crib? The fine folks at nonprofit Camp Barnabas.

Photo courtesy of Camp Barnabas.

Camp Barnabas, a faith-based group that gives people with various types of disabilities and chronic illnesses an affirming summer camp experience, will use the property to expand its impact.

Seeing as the sprawling property also comes with a big playground and boat docks on adjacent Table Rock Lake, the estate is the perfect place for a fun summer camp experience.

"There are tons of amazing charities in southwest Missouri," the Hamelses explained in a statement. "Out of all of these, Barnabas really pulled on our heartstrings."

“Seeing the faces, hearing the laughter, reading the stories of the kids they serve; there is truly nothing like it. Barnabas makes dreams come true, and we felt called to help them in a big way.”

Photo courtesy of Camp Barnabas.

"This is so much more than a beautiful property," Krystal Simon, chief development officer, said of the Hamels couple's gift — the largest donation ever given to the nonprofit. “This incredible gift allows us to further our ministry and truly change thousands of lives for years to come.”

'Tis the season to give big, after all.

Education

A school assignment asked for 3 benefits of slavery. This kid gave the only good answer.

The school assignment was intended to spark debate and discussion — but isn't that part of the problem?

Trameka Brown-Berry/Facebook

A school assignment asked for 3 "good" reasons for slavery.



It's not uncommon for parents to puzzle over their kids' homework.

Sometimes, it's just been too long since they've done long division for them to be of any help. Or teaching methods have just changed too dramatically since they were in school.

And other times, kids bring home something truly inexplicable.
Keep ReadingShow less
Internet

Woman goes on comically tragic adventure trying to renew her passport after being stranded

What’s the point of expiration dates if they’re not real?!

Nneoma|TikTok

Woman has comically tragic adventure trying to renew passport

Envision preparing for months to celebrate your mom's birthday abroad in Dubai only to get to the airport to watch your entire family board the plane without you. One woman doesn't have to imagine because it happened to her, taking the stranded woman on multiple unwelcome adventures.

Nneoma and several members of her family planned a trip to Dubai for her mom's birthday but when it was time to board the flight, the woman was denied. She thought she had everything in order not knowing that if your passport is expiring within six months of leaving the country–you can't leave. The devastation she must've felt hearing she couldn't join her family.

But Nneoma had a plan. She would simply go to a same day passport place and renew her unexpired passport then catch a flight the next day to join the festivities. The woman planned and the universe laughed. It was not that easy.

Keep ReadingShow less
travel tips
Pop Culture

Merriam-Webster announced the 2023 'Word of the Year,’ and it says a lot about today’s world

Plus, some other terms that made 2023 a historic year.

via TIFF 2022/Wikimedia Commons

Taylor Swift at 2022 Toronto International Film Festival Red Carpet Day 2.

The wordsmiths over at Merriam-Webster have announced their official “Word of the Year for 2023,” they say it’s something we are “thinking about, writing about, aspiring to, and judging more” than ever.

The word is authentic.

According to the dictionary, the most common definitions of authentic are “not false or imitation,” “being true to one's own personality, spirit, or character,” and “worthy of acceptance or belief as conforming to or based on fact.”

Merriam-Webster says the word saw a “substantial increase” in lookups this year. That’s probably because we now live in a world where artificial intelligence, deepfake technology and questionable memes challenge our basic notions of reality.

Keep ReadingShow less
language
Family

Grandma got a secret DNA test after noticing her granddaughter didn't look like her siblings

People think she was right to do it, too.

via Christian Buehner/Unsplash and Warren Umoh/Unsplash

The grandmother was suspicious.

A grandmother always felt her middle granddaughter Lindsay, 15, looked slightly different from the rest of the family because she had blonde, curly hair, while the rest of her siblings’ hair was dark “I thought genetics was being weird and I love her,” she wrote on Reddit’s AITA forum.

But things became serious after Linday’s parents “banned” her from taking things a step further and getting a DNA test. If the family was sure their daughter was theirs, why would they forbid her from seeking clarity in the situation? After the parents laid down the law, the situation started to seem a little suspicious.

“I told my son and [daughter-in-law] that there was something fishy around her birth she needed to know. They denied it and told me to leave it alone,” the grandma wrote.

Keep ReadingShow less
dna tests
Pop Culture

Woman gives her Christmas tree a bath before decorating it and the reactions are priceless

Has cleaning culture gotten out of hand?

@rhema.br/TikTok

A woman went viral on TikTok for washing her Christmas tree in the shower

TikTok is a place where any interest can forge a community. And cleaning is no different. Clean freaks can get their fill on everything from lesser known organizational hacks to viral products to soothing before-and-after videos on the platform.

But, perhaps you can have too much of a good thing.

A woman by the name of Rhema (@rhema.br), who regularly posts cleaning content, recently went viral for her “unpopular opinion” that one should wash their Christmas tree regularly.

Keep ReadingShow less
tiktok
Health

Belgian Olympic marathoner breaks down in tears of disbelief upon hearing she finished 28th

38-year-old Mieke Gorissen had only been training for three years and the Olympics was just her third marathon.

Entertainer Guru/YouTube

Imagine deciding to take up a hobby that usually requires many years to perfect at age 35, and three years later ending up in the top 30 in the world at the highest international competition for it.

That's what happened to a 38-year-old math and physics teacher from Diepenbeek, Belgium. According to Netherlands News Live, Mieke Gorissen has jogged 10km (a little over six miles) a few times a week for exercise for many years. But in 2018, she decided to hire a running trainer to improve her technique. As it turned out, she was a bit of a natural at distance running.

Three years later, Gorissen found herself running her third marathon. But not just any old marathon (as if there were such a thing)—the marathon at the Tokyo Olympics. And not only did she compete with the world's most elite group of runners, she came in 28th out of the 88 competing in the race.

Keep ReadingShow less
inspiration
Trending Stories