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Joy

A lost teddy bear is reunited with his family after becoming a star on social media

milwaukee airport, david burnett, lost teddy bear
via Mitchell Airport

Original Teddy was lost and found by his friend Ezekiel.

For a 5-year-old to lose their teddy bear is akin to the death of a family member or a pet. Children become attached because they truly believe their stuffed animals have an innate life force.

That’s why when a child loses their attachment object, it can be impossible to replace, even if the parents find something that’s identical.

"If there was a machine which copied a favorite object in every way down to atomic level, we would still prefer the original. It has an essence to it,” psychologist Bruce Hood told The Guardian. "We anthropomorphize objects, look at them almost as if they have feelings. The children know these objects are not alive but they believe in them as if they are."

That’s why 5-year-old Ezekiel Burnett was devastated after losing his teddy bear, aka “Original Teddy” at Milwaukee Airport last November. He was boarding a plane with his parents when he threw it up in the air on the concourse and it got stuck in the rafters.

The family didn’t have time to stop and retrieve the bear for fear of missing their flight. So Original Teddy was left behind.

“He’s had this bear since day one and slept with it every night. It has a lot of sentimental value to him,” his dad, David Burnett, recounted. “When we got back home he literally cried the whole flight and was still upset. So, it’s really special to him.”

In January, the bear was found and returned to the airport’s information desk and it put out several tweets searching for Original Teddy’s family. A post featuring the bear went viral and was seen more than 4 million times.

Earlier this month, David Burnett and his wife were watching “Survivor” on TV when she nearly jumped out of her chair like "she won the lottery" after seeing a video of the bear shared by a friend on Facebook. “She couldn't even speak,” he later recalled.

The family got in touch with the airport and it shared the good news on Twitter.

This type of bear resonated with many of the people who shared the video and tweets because it has a heart on its chest with stitches. These bears have been given to children born with congenital heart defects. Ezekial was born with a healthy heart and was given the bear as a gift from a friend of the family.

Southwest Airlines was kind enough to fly the family from their home in Texas back to Milwaukee to retrieve the bear at a ceremony in one of its terminals.

“We’re very honored to be a part of this special moment,” Airport Director Brian Dranzik said. “Small moments like this, along with the bigger ones, are why we support our hometown airport.”

David Burnett said that his son was overjoyed that the bear had been found and can’t quite understand the “magnitude” of the event, “but has been talking about it every single day.”

At the ceremony, Ezekiel and Original Teddy were reunited and hopefully, this time, it’s forever.

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KFC
KFC
Joy

KFC tackles food insecurity this holiday season with its Sharemobile food truck

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The last thing children should have to worry about is where their next meal will come from. But the unfortunate reality is food insecurity is all too common in this country.

In an effort to help combat this pressing issue, KFC is teaming up with Blessings in a Backpack to provide nearly 70,000 meals to families in need and spread holiday cheer along the way.

The KFC Sharemobile, a holiday-edition charitable food truck, will be making stops at schools in Chicago, Orlando, and Houston in December to share KFC family meals and special gifts for a few select families to address specific needs identified by their respective schools.

These cities were chosen based on the high level of food insecurity present in their communities and hardships they’ve faced, such as a devastating hurricane season in Florida and an unprecedented winter storm in Houston. In 2021, five million children across the US lived in food-insecure households, according to the USDA.

“Sharing a meal with family or friends is a special part of the holidays,” said Nick Chavez, CMO of KFC U.S. “Alongside our franchisees, we wanted to make that possible for even more families this holiday season.”

KFC will also be making a donation to Blessings in a Backpack, a nonprofit that works to provide weekend meals to school-aged children across America who might otherwise go hungry.

“The generous donations from KFC could not have come at a better time, as these communities have been particularly hard-hit this year with rising food costs, inflation and various natural disasters,” Erin Kerr, the CEO of Blessings in a Backpack, told Upworthy. “Because of KFC’s support, we’re able to spread holiday cheer by donating meals for hunger-free weekends and meet each community’s needs,” Kerr said.

This isn’t the first time KFC has worked with Blessings in a Backpack. The fried chicken chain has partnered with the nonprofit for the last six years, donating nearly $1 million dollars. KFC employees also volunteer weekly to package and provide meals to students in Louisville, Kentucky who need food over the weekend.

KFC franchisees are also bringing the Sharemobile concept to life in markets across the country through local food donations and other holiday giveback moments. Ampex Brands, a KFC franchisee based in Dallas, recently held its annual Day of Giving event and donated 11,000 meals to school children in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods.

If you’d like to get involved, you can make a donation to help feed students in need at kfc.com/kfcsharemobile. Every bit helps, but a donation of $150 helps feed a student on the weekends for an entire 38-week school year, and a donation as low as $4 will feed a child for a whole weekend.

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“We were thrilled that she was doing that.”

Caldwell Police via Gregory Mascera

Body cam footage of the police approaching 9-year-old Bobbi Wilson and her mother.

On October 22, 9-year-old Bobbi Wilson was excited to go out into her Caldwell, New Jersey, neighborhood to see if a mixture she put together would be effective at killing spotted lanternflies. She had learned about the dangers that the lanternflies pose to the local tree population during the summer and created an insecticide that she learned about on TikTok.

Spotted lanternflies are an invasive species dangerous to trees because they feed on their sap.

“That’s her thing,” Wilson’s mother, Monique Joseph, told CNN. “She’s going to kill the lanternflies, especially if they’re on a tree. That’s what she’s going to do.”

While Wilson was peacefully working on her sustainability experiment, her neighbor, Gordon Lawshe, called the police on her. “There’s a little Black woman walking, spraying stuff on the sidewalks and trees on Elizabeth and Florence. I don’t know what the hell she’s doing. Scares me, though,” he said, according to CNN.

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And you know, for being the forgotten generation, the world can’t seem to stop talking about it. From Gen X pop culture classics re-emerging into the mainstream, to making headline-worthy spikes in wealth over the past couple of years, this group is (finally) in the spotlight.

Recently u/Ruffffian asked the Reddit community to share what they consider to be “THE most Gen X” thing. As a certified millennial, I have absolutely no idea what half of them are (seriously, what is a “Garbage Pail Kid” and why are they terrifying?). But I guess that’s why only you latchkey kids can proudly claim them.

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