Delivering Smiles
After facing food insecurity as a child, Shawn now ensures families in his community have enough to eat
11.13.20
True
This year more than ever, many families are anticipating an empty dinner table. Shawn Kaplan lived this experience when his father passed away, leaving his mother who struggled to provide food for her two children. Shawn is now a dedicated volunteer and donor with Second Harvest Food Bank in Middle Tennessee and encourages everyone to give back this holiday season with Amazon.
Watch the full story:
Over one million people in Tennessee are at risk of hunger every day. And since the outbreak of COVID-19, Second Harvest has seen a 50% increase in need for their services. That's why Amazon is Delivering Smiles and giving back this holiday season by fulfilling hundreds of AmazonSmile Charity Lists, donating essential pantry and food items to help organizations like Second Harvest to feed those hit the hardest this year.
Visit AmazonSmile Charity Lists to donate directly to a local food bank or charity in your community, or simply shop smile.amazon.com and Amazon will donate a portion of the purchase price of eligible products to your selected charity.
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via Brittany Kinley / Facebook
Brittany Kinley, a mother from Mansfield, Texas, had a hilarious mom fail her and she's chalking it up to being just another crazy thing that happened in 2020.
When Kinley filled out the order form for her son Mason's kindergarten class pictures, there was an option to have his name engraved into the photos. But Kinley wasn't interested in having her son's name on the photos so she wrote "I DON'T WANT THIS" on the box.
Well, it appears as though she should have left the box blank because the computer or incredibly literal human that designed the photographs wrote "I DON'T WANT THIS" where mason's name should be.
<p>Kinley shared the photo on Facebook where it's gone viral receiving over 16,000 likes and 38,000 shares.</p><div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="f56dfa7d2bf53b5d6d0c74fe107c3b3a"><div class="fb-post" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10124125803263754&set=a.10101049561961304&type=3"></div></div><p><br></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDgyODA2MS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxMjE3ODI4MX0.5hUbdvVBsC0y01oI5jplHMIHOwL1oVz2Ncj6wxGZ5Hg/img.jpg?width=980" id="b3fd6" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="5e9b3d1ceb60239e5e4c8869a56a4fed" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">via Brittany Kinley / Facebook</small></p><p>"I'm sure everyone needs a good laugh these days so thanks to my latest mom fail...you're welcome in advance haha," Kinley captioned the photo. "Mason got his kindergarten pictures and I didn't want his name on the bottom so I typed in "I don't want this" and they freaking printed this…"<br></p><p>Having "I DON'T WANT THIS" printed on a photo that represents 2020 resonated with a lot of people on Facebook. Probably because it's what we've been saying to ourselves day after day of being stuck in the house or going outside and seeing normally busy places turned into ghost towns.</p><p>"Love! This is something I would definitely do!! and... it's the motto for 2020," a commenter named Chrysa wrote.</p><p>"This is a 2020 MOOD! Trying to smile but deep inside we are all I DON'T WANT THIS," Omar added.</p><div class="rm-embed embed-media"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="giphy-embed" frameborder="0" height="198" src="https://giphy.com/embed/hRwtOlZ1SBdpHV6QRZ" width="480"></iframe><p><a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/justin-meme-2020-hRwtOlZ1SBdpHV6QRZ"></a></p></div><p>But Kinley is just happy she's given people the chance to laugh in such a trying year.<br></p><p>"I think 2020 has been such a hard year for everyone and people need some positivity and a good laugh," Kinley said <a href="https://www.today.com/parents/see-why-one-mom-s-school-photo-fail-going-viral-t200189" target="_blank">according to Today.</a></p><p>"I've gotten so many messages from people saying they haven't laughed this hard all year and that it made their day," she added. "I never thought it would have that effect but I'm so glad we can spread laughter in a crazy time like this."</p><p>Mason now feels famous after all the attention his photo is getting. "He'll occasionally ask how many more people is he making laugh," Kinley said, adding "his teachers gave him a round of applause and yelled, 'I do want this!' during drop off!'"</p><p>Kinley has tried to get a hold of the company that printed the pictures but she hasn't had any luck as of yet.</p><p>"It's not their fault. It was my mom fail," Kinley said, "so no bad feelings there!"</p><p>Even if she does get new photos printed that don't say, "I DON'T WANT THIS" she has to keep a few of the original shots because they're sure to be a perfect reminder of the year nobody wanted.</p>
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It isn’t always easy to ask for help. But when organizations like Bread for the City bring you into their family, anything is possible.
11.19.20
True
A lot of people here are like family to me," Michelle says about Bread for the City — a community nonprofit located in Washington DC that provides local residents with food, clothing, health care, social advocacy, and legal services. And since the pandemic began, the need to support organizations like Bread for the City is greater than ever, which is why Amazon is Delivering Smiles to local charities across the country this holiday season.
Watch the full story:
Amazon is giving back by fulfilling hundreds of AmazonSmile Charity Lists, and donating essential pantry and food items to help organizations like Bread for the City provide to those disproportionately impacted this year.
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A woman with dementia adored her haircut. Her husband's letter to the stylist is everything.
07.10.20
Grab a tissue, folks, because this is one of those stories that has almost too much love and goodness to bear in it.
Sara Verkuilen was working at Hair Cuttery in Round Lake Beach, Illinois last winter when an older couple walked in for a haircut. "I don't think I had ever done their hair before," Verkuilen told Upworthy. "They were walk-ins."
The man and his wife were "just really cute together," she recalled. "He was so sweet with her and obviously very in love."
Little did Verkuilen know how much of an impression her personal service and professional skills would have on both them that day.
<div id="1facd" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="349beba8fa39fa4fef7bc26098717129"><blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-version="4" style=" background:#FFF; border:0;
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<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CCEBIzllSxe/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif;
font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none;
word-wrap:break-word;" target="_top">Login • Instagram</a></p>
</div></blockquote></div><p>The stylist shared a letter she received recently from the husband, signed only as "a grateful customer." The letter reads:<br></p><p><em>"Dear Sara,</em></p><p><em>This is a little bit awkward. But I've waited a really long time to pass this on to you.</em></p><p><em>My wife and I came in for haircuts shortly before Christmas of last year.</em></p><p><em>My wife was suffering from dementia, and you treated her as if you'd been working with dementia patients all your life. You let us sit next to each other, and when it came time for her cut you turned her chair towards me so I could watch her expression as you cut her hair.</em></p><p><em>It turned out even better than I thought it would. </em></p><p><em>Sadly, she died in March. And that haircut was one of the last, best moments of her life. She felt so pretty. She visited the mirror in her bathroom several times during the day and would come out beaming.</em></p><p><em>To see her so happy was priceless.</em></p><p><em>Looking back, it was likely dozens of haircuts you gave that day. But one which revitalized a woman's sense of self and her singular beauty. I hope you always realize the power of your profession.</em></p><p><em>It's so easy to take things like that for granted.</em></p><p><em>Sincerely, </em></p><p><em>A grateful customer"</em></p><p>Verkuilen said she wishes she could contact the man. She doesn't remember the couple's name and the letter didn't give any personal information, but it meant a great deal to her to receive it. She says she'd been feeling kind of stuck and bored in her career, which she's been in about eight years, and this letter gave her the boost she needed.</p><p> "Receiving this letter was a huge reminder why I do what I do," she said. "It's an amazing feeling seeing someone look in the mirror after a transformation and smiling. Seeing how beautiful they feel, how confidence levels change. But it's an extremely difficult career. I get burnt out easily. I hope this letter can restore faith in other stylists that are maybe doubting if this career is right for them. We touch more than hair and I hope all the stylists out there realize how important they are and how what we do can have such an impact on our clients."</p><p>She also hopes seeing the letter helps clients understand that stylists don't "just cut hair." </p><p>What a beautiful reminder to appreciate people who work in service jobs, the little things that make us happy, the "singular beauty" of our loved ones, and the time we have with them. </p>
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Design
'It's working!': Pics show animals aren't afraid to cross Utah's new 'Critter Bridge'
11.25.20
via UDOT / Facebook
In December 2018, The Utah Department of Transportation opened the largest wildlife overpass in the state, spanning 320 by 50 feet across all six lanes of Interstate 80.
Its construction was intended to make traveling through the I-80 corridor in Summit County safer for motorists and the local wildlife.
The Salt Lake Tribune reports that there were over 100 animal incidents on the interstate since 2016, giving the stretch of highway the unfortunate nickname of "Slaughter Row."
<p>Forty-six deer, 14 moose, and four elk were killed on that stretch of highway <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/working-deer-bears-other-critters-023001198.html" target="_blank">in 2016 and 2017 alone.</a></p><p>The number of deaths is a tragedy for the local ecosystem but the situation is also dangerous for humans traveling at high speeds on the interstate.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDgyNzgzNC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxNDkyMjY4OX0.mUNwo-rRpszmPXpcn4rlDk-ttpWATme158_UV0OWKq4/img.jpg?width=980" id="68cee" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="fd10eafc1271742d8531128d0684e5d0" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">via UDOT</small></p><p>When authorities agreed to build the $5 million project some were skeptical about whether it would work. There was a fear that the animals would be too afraid to cross the bridge. A three-mile cattle fence was installed leading up to the overpass to encourage wildlife to make their way towards the structure.<br></p><p>Well, the skeptics can rest easy, because footage from a surveillance camera recently released by the department of wildlife proudly proclaims, "It's working!"</p><div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="5e8baecfdec389175a703cfe8109d167"><div class="fb-video" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=3416838815036581" data-allowfullscreen="true"></div></div><p>Surveillance video taken over the past seven months shows that bobcats, coyotes, deer, mountain lions, moose, and even bears all use the structure.<br></p><p>Deer</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDgyNzgyNy9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyMjIxMDk5Nn0.6dWWuxz_8ojwYQ5efYQgbe2FWFzIOvQcP23AunuBryw/img.jpg?width=980" id="d16eb" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="6aed826fdc4a64b1188884d10fdd52dc" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">via UDOT / Facebook</small></p><p><br>Coyote</p><p><br></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDgyNzgyOC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1NDI2MDkyNH0.sVq-vEtn_01bpmEvGj-ui-DcdO76T94o9YFgnEzhBSg/img.png?width=980" id="2ad5f" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="110c33bb53ad47525d0d6c18ecc826b1" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">via UDOT / Facebook</small></p><p><br></p><p>Bear</p><p><br></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDgyNzgyOS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzNTcxODMxNH0.XWMdZy4LM-Ey0EcssOpjoaWC9ZCXDIhoXwJiihdlKM8/img.jpg?width=980" id="0b55a" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0ee7f9f1312e30dbcd400d008555b7a3" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">via UDOT / Facebook</small></p><p>"From what we can tell, the number of accidents there is down dramatically," UDOT spokesman John Gleason<a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/working-deer-bears-other-critters-023001198.html" target="_blank"> told the Salt Lake Tribune.</a> "At least initially, it appears the investment in safety is paying off. And we expected it to take several years before the animals got used to using it, so this is great."<br></p><p>UDOT believes it will take up to five years of studying the bridge to know if the project will work long-term.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDgyNzgzMS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxNDMzNDE2MX0.FA2IN6kQA26_TtRRWLlXVAeoTRKFNTsMMt1yYCHlCzw/img.jpg?width=980" id="14aaf" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="57b40c5bd452cdb81498ddd40db06e29" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">via National Wildlife Foundation</small></p><p>News of the bridge's early success has to be good for developers in Southern California building the world's largest and most urban wildlife crossing. The crossing above the busy 101 Freeway in Agoura Hills, just outside of Los Angeles, will be 165 feet wide and span 200 feet.<br></p><p>The $85 million dollar project created mostly with private money aims to help improve genetic diversity in the local mountain lion population and increase biodiversity in the area.</p><p>"Genetic decline, which is the result of isolation from these freeways for these cats is getting so bad, that they're starting to show birth defects," Beth Pratt with the National Wildlife Foundation<a href="https://laist.com/2020/10/25/wildlife_crossing_101_2022_groundbreaking.php#:~:text=The%20101%20Wildlife%20Crossing%20will,scheduled%20to%20take%20two%20years" target="_blank"> told LAist.</a></p><p>Two different microclimates have developed on each side of the freeway and this will allow them to reconnect.</p><p>"This project offers an opportunity to kind of stitch those two spaces back together," he said, "and allow that transition to occur naturally."</p><p><br><br></p>
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