upworthy

donation

Celebrity

Steve Carell calls into high school assembly and announces he's buying 800 students' prom tickets

Carrell did a great thing, but that didn't stop him from going full Michael Scott.

alicewillhelp/Instagram

Steve Carell announces free prom tickets for seniors affected by southern California wildfires.

Actor Steve Carell showed up in a big way for high school students affected by the recent wildfires in Altadena and the Pacific Palisades in Los Angeles. The Office actor, 62, partnered with charity Alice's Kids (@alicewillhelp), to pay for all seniors to attend prom at six different high schools in Altadena, California.

According to Alice's Kids founder and executive director Ronald "Ron" Fitzsimmons, Carell will be sending about 800 seniors to prom for free. Fitzsimmons told USA Today that Alice's Kids will donate about $175,000 in total.

The uplifting news was shared via Alice's Kids Instagram page, with a personal message from Carell that was played at each high school via video projection in auditoriums. "A special message from our friend Steve Carell. Right now, this is being viewed by every senior at the six high schools in Altadena, CA!! @stevecarellofficial," the video's caption reads.

“Attention. Attention all seniors. This is Steve Carell with a very special announcement. I work with a wonderful charity based out of Virginia called Alice’s Kids. And Alice’s Kids wanted me to let you know that they will be paying for all of your prom tickets,” he said in the video. “And if you have already paid for your prom tickets, they will reimburse you for your prom tickets. It’s a pretty good deal. Have fun. Enjoy the prom, and remember, this is Steve Carell.”

Fans of The Office will notice that the video is a subtle nod to the hit NBC show, where Carell played boss Michael Scott. During a 2009 episode from the sitcom titled "Scott's Tots," he promises to pay the college tuition for a group of third graders if they graduate. But when the time comes to cough up the cash, he doesn't have it. Thankfully, Carell's donation to Altadena students had a different outcome.

The video got an overwhelming response from viewers, many who caught on to The Office reference. "'Hey Mr. Scott! Whatcha gon’ do? Whatcha gon’ do? Make our dreams come true!' This is beautiful," one wrote. Another commented, "Love this! Scott’s Tots for the win!" And another added, "Scott’s tots is coming true!!"

Another wrote, "thank you so much for blessing our students at Pasadena HS with an unforgettable night of memories ✨️🌹🙏🏼." And another shared, "What a thoughtful way to celebrate kids who’ve lost so much!"

One viewer was also personally impacted: "THANK YOU FOR THIS!! MY SISTER IS ABLE TO GO TO PROM!!🫶🫶🫶," they wrote. still another added, "Thank you @alicewillhelp and @stevecarellofficial on behalf of my Muir Senior 💙💛🐴🙏🏽. You all are awesome!!!!! 👏🏽"

Fitzsimmons told USA Today that Carell and his wife, Nancy, have been involved with the organization for over seven years. The idea to donate tickets to prom came after making numerous calls to schools affected by the wildfires.

"That's when I thought, 'Well, let's do something later on. Later on, all the charities will be gone. The kids who are seniors will be going off somewhere,'" Fitzsimmons told the publication. "So that's when I thought, 'What can we do to lift them a little bit in a few months from now?' That's when the idea of prom tickets came up."

True
Frito-Lay

Did you know one in five families are unable to provide everyday essentials and food for their children? This summer was also the hungriest on record with one in four children not knowing where their next meal will come from – an increase from one in seven children prior to the pandemic. The effectsof COVID-19 continue to be felt around the country and many people struggle to secure basic needs. Unemployment is at an all-time high and an alarming number of families face food insecurity, not only from the increased financial burdens but also because many students and families rely on schools for school meal programs and other daily essentials.

This school year is unlike any other. Frito-Lay knew the critical need to ensure children have enough food and resources to succeed. The company quickly pivoted to expand its partnership with Feed the Children, a leading nonprofit focused on alleviating childhood hunger, to create the "Building the Future Together" program to provide shelf-stable food to supplement more than a quarter-million meals and distribute 500,000 pantry staples, school supplies, snacks, books, hand sanitizer, and personal care items to schools in underserved communities.


Each school participating in the inaugural "Building the Future Together" program across Atlanta, Baltimore, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Orlando and Phoenix will receive donations of approximately 5,000 items per month consisting of food and everyday essentials for the entirety of the school year. Overall, it's estimated students in these markets will engage with the program and receive needed items over 100,000 times throughout the 2020-2021 school year.

"As a food company, we have an opportunity to serve a greater good and work to support children having access to the food and resources they need," said Steven Williams, CEO, PepsiCo Foods North America.

Because programs like "Building the Future Together" can pivot their giving, regardless of whether students are in school or at home learning online, they will still receive the resources they need on a consistent basis.

"With the 'Building the Future Together' program, we've pivoted our longstanding community giving efforts to provide a level of food security for thousands of disadvantaged students," Williams added. "While a lot of uncertainty remains, we will do our part to support students and families in underserved communities no matter how schools operate this year."

Nearly eight in 10 students attending schools participating in the "Building the Future Together" program qualify for free meals, according to Public School Review.

"We believe that no child should go to bed hungry, especially during this unsettling time around COVID-19," said Travis Arnold, president and CEO of Feed the Children. "We understand that many are facing unexpected challenges and we are working diligently with our partners such as Frito-Lay and the 'Building the Future Together' program to ensure that as needs rise, students continue to receive the food and supplies they need."

Since the onset of COVID-19, PepsiCo, including Frito-Lay and other PepsiCo business units, have committed more than $60 million to COVID-19 relief, which has provided 57 million meals to help feed communities in need, medical and economic aid, jobs creation and more. In addition, Frito-Lay has donated more than $16 million in product to more than 90 organizations in nearly 90 cities across the U.S.

For more information, visit: FeedtheChildren.org or FritoLay.com.

Derrick Nelson, Principal of Westfield High School in Northern New Jersey heroically decided to donate his bone marrow to a 14-year-old boy in France whom he had never met.

Normally the procedure is relatively routine, but Nelson suffered from sleep apnea — a sleep disorder that occurs when a person’s breathing stops repeatedly during sleep — and wasn’t able to go under general anesthesia, the more common method used for the procedure.

During a pre-procedure interview with his school newspaper, Nelson explained that he was initially told he couldn’t donate his blood marrow not only because of his sleep condition, but  also because he carried a certain gene.


“I said well I don’t have sickle cell, but I have the sickle cell trait,” Nelson said to the interviewer. “[The doctors] said, ‘Well if you have the trait, you can’t do stem cell.’”

But the doctor’s didn’t close his file when he told them that — instead, they came up with a modified bone marrow retrieval process — using local anesthesia and extracting cells from his bone marrow.

Nelson made it through the procedure okay, but afterwards, it was immediately clear something was wrong.

“He couldn’t speak,” his father, 81-year-old Willie Nelson, said during an interview with NJ Advance Media. “His eyes were open and he realized who [family members] were. But he couldn’t move. He never spoke again.”

After a month-long coma, which his family expected him to come out of, Nelson died on Sunday, according to NJ.com.

According to his father, they “really don’t know the full story of what happened” to the 20-year member of the Army Reserve.  Nelson is survived by his mother, Juanita, his fiancée, Sheronda, and their 6-year-old daughter.

While what happened to Nelson is troubling, his case is extremely rare. Normally, bone marrow donation procedures are considered very safe.

According to the Mayo Clinic, the most serious risk associated with donating bone marrow involves the use and effects of anesthesia during the removal surgery. Furthermore, local anesthesia is considered much safer than general.

In very rare cases, a person under local anesthesia may experience a depressed CNS syndrome, in which the central nervous system slows down too much. This can lead to a decreased rate of breathing and heart rate and result in cardiac arrest if the blood stops pumping to the heart.

Nelson’s tragic death shouldn’t scare you away from donating bone marrow to someone in need. Your body’s a lot more resilient than you might think, and the benefits to donating far out way the risks.

It’s not as difficult as you might think.

Joining a registry takes less than 10 minutes. All you have to do is fill out an online form and take an at-home swab test. If you match up with someone, you will be contacted. If you are asked to make a donation, most of the time it is done via stem cell and not bone marrow — the whole process is pretty similar to donating blood.

Your body will replenish itself.

According to Be the Match, the bone marrow donation organization used by Nelson, your cells will replenish themselves in 4 to 6 weeks after the bone marrow removal. This means that you will be back to normal in about two months with no negative long-term effects.

It won’t cost you anything.

All travel and medical costs involving the bone marrow removal are covered, meaning you won’t have to pay anything out of pocket.

It started with a racist threat, written on a stall in a DePauw University men's bathroom on April 11, according to Indy Star.

Then the N-word, spelled out using rocks, was spotted in a park, the school confirmed in a statement. Another offensive message — this time, one spouting homophobia and anti-Semitism — was found in a different bathroom. And a student was seen sporting blackface and a derogatory sign at a local bar.

Four separate hate-fueled incidents — all in one week, at just one university.



Hate at DePauw University hit a fever pitch in mid-April. And actress Jenna Fischer, of all people, was there to witness the pain, frustrations, and calls for action boil over in real time.

The actress, known for her role as Pam on "The Office," was on campus in Indiana on April 17 to meet theater students, participate in a Q&A, and sign copies of her book, "The Actor's Life: A Survival Guide."


But the event took an abrupt turn when demonstrators from the school's Association of African-American Students interrupted the gathering chanting and carrying a large banner that read, "We are not safe," the Associated Press reported.

This kind of turmoil isn't confined to the small, private school in Greencastle, Indiana.

College campuses have always facilitated social debate and, as a result, often can attract hate-filled bigotry. It was at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, after all, where white supremacists chose to gather in protest of the removal of a confederate statue in August 2017.

But evidence suggests hate crimes increased significantly at many colleges and universities in the months following the election that gave us Donald Trump.

"As spaces often populated by the religious and ethnic minority groups Trump pilloried during his bruising campaign, college campuses were natural incubators for conflict," Dan Bauman wrote for The Chronicle of Higher Education in a report published in February. Many of the incidents, he wrote, involved references to the president.

While no direct ties have reportedly been made connecting Trump to the hate on display in Greencastle, DePauw's recent bigotry problems aren't all that unique.

But the hateful acts have been eye-opening to Fischer, nonetheless.

In a tweet published the day after the DePauw demonstrations, Fischer opened up about the unsettling events.

"Needless to say, I was shocked and upset to hear what was happening on their campus," Fischer wrote.

She continued (emphasis added):

"The student protesters spoke about their experiences and about the hate they have been encountering. I could feel the pain, sadness, and fear coming from these students. No student should feel at risk, or have to suffer the kind of bigotry and hate these students have encountered. These students need to be heard and they need change."

In her statement, Fischer announced she'd be donating the money she received from the university for her appearance to three organizations helping combat racism, anti-Semitism, and homophobia and transphobia among young LGBTQ people: the NAACP, the Anti-Defamation League, and The Trevor Project.

The gesture was well-received.

"What an amazing letter, [Jenna Fischer]. Thank you," one Twitter user wrote. "I'm a DPU grad and watched the live stream last night. You were wonderful. Thank you again for the words of encouragement that was so well said."

Mark McCoy — DePauw's president, who was at the event — thanked the actress for speaking out for the demonstrators. Mark Pitcavage, a senior research fellow at the Anti-Defamation League also sent his appreciation for Fischer's "generosity and ... commitment to combating hate and bigotry." The Trevor Project thanked Fischer "for using this event to inspire hope and support our lifesaving work."

"My hope is for all people to be respected, accepted, and loved for their individuality and uniqueness," Fischer wrote. "And, above all, to be safe."