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Young man becomes 'neighborhood dad' to group of boys after putting in time playing football with them

"As soon as he gets off work, the kids come knocking 😂."

@its.ambreaaa/TikTok

Young man spends free time playing flag football with neighborhood kids.

There are few things sweeter than growing up in a neighborhood with a tight-knit group of kids who love playing together. And for one lucky neighborhood in Tampa Bay, Florida, a group of boys has been blessed with an attentive young man who has become a 'neighborhood dad', rallying around them and creating a community through flag football in his free time.

TikToker Ambrea Morgan (@its.ambreaa) shared a sweet video of her partner, aka 'neighborhood dad,' answering their door to his crew of adoring neighborhood boys and their son. As she opens it, the camera pans to a total of six boys standing there (with football in hand) who are eagerly waiting for him to come outside and play flag football with them.

"As soon as he gets off work, the kids come knocking 😂," she captioned the video.

@its.ambreaa

As soon as he get off from work the kids come knocking 😂 . . . . . . . . . . #neighbors #neighborhood #Dad #fyp #fy #fypシ #

In the video, they joke around as they wait for him to finally come to the door, and the couple's son tells his Pops to "wake up." It's clear this is a regular thing: the boys wait for him, and when he greets them they share that they've already done their warm-ups (a run to the stop sign and some stretching), and are ready to play.

But because he hasn't seen them warm up, he makes them do it all over again. "You got to do it again cuz I didn't see it!" he says, and the boys all groan and laugh as they start to run downstairs. He follows them and their joy is clearly contagious.

@its.ambreaa

Replying to @Free 😂😂😂 He’s slowing creating the 2038 NFL DRAFT 😭

The touching video resonated with viewers who commended this "neighborhood dad' on his selflessness with the boys.

"Whole time he is single handedly changing the trajectory of these boys lives. He’s doing great work❤️," one wrote.

"omg they’re literally going to remember him forever 😭❤️so sweet."

"I pray they keep this innocence! The way they all ran off to do it again with such annoyance yet so much joy. ☺️"

"The way I let this play, repeatedly! Their joy, their laughs, their little faces! Thank your man for being the village 💕"

@its.ambreaa

Replying to @Kimmy NFL draft in the making 😭😭

Morgan created an Amazon Wishlist and GoFundMe to help further the kids' skills and experience in the neighborhood, where she also shared more about her partner's role: "Watching him out there simply doing what he genuinely loves by pouring into these young boys through football, mentorship, and community and seeing how it touched so many of you has been truly humbling," she wrote on the GoFundMe page. "What started as just a few afternoon games has blossomed into something so much bigger, and it’s clear these boys have found not just a coach, but a real village that believes in them."

The new goal is to start a little league football team, and she notes that the team is now seven boys and growing. "Thank you again for believing in us, believing in these boys, and showing what real community looks like," she added.

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Joy

A dash of sweetness: Guy in San Francisco throws huge pancake party to make new friends

Twitter

Friendship is a dish best served sweet.

Nothing breaks down the hard walls we’ve built up during this pandemic quite like soft, buttery pancakes.

Curtis Kimball had been feeling one of COVID-19’s more insidious symptoms: loneliness. Friends had moved away and no new connections were presenting themselves. But still, the craving for connection persisted.

Kimball could tell his entire city was feeling the same. “San Francisco is in a bad way. The vibes here are all effed up," he tweeted.

Figuring that everybody likes pancakes, or “at least the idea of pancakes,” Kimball decided to host his own flapjacks and friendship party (he didn’t actually call it that, but I wish he did) and he invited the entire neighborhood to join him.

Going for an old-school approach, Kimball posted whimsically odd fliers that read: “My wife said I’m getting weird. She says I need to make friends. So I’m making pancakes.”



Who could say no to that?

Kimball already has experience drawing in a crowd with his delicious food. His now closed Creme Brulee Cart was the sweet stuff of San Francisco eatery legend, having people lining the streets for his super decadent combinations. I mean, he served something called SF Gold, which was creamy custard topped with dark chocolate shortbread crumble and sea salt caramel. So when this guy offers you free pancakes, you take them.

Despite his former food fame, Kimball felt very vulnerable putting himself out there. He admitted to the TODAY show about being “nervous and self conscious,” telling himself that “this could be a really dumb idea and everyone might hate it.” But as soon as the party started, Kimball’s neighbors who lived two doors down came, and “were very excited.”

That was only the beginning. The party totaled out to more than 75 people, of all generations and backgrounds, a “mix of wonder and joy and people hungry to connect,” Kimball told TODAY.

The more people came, the more joy Kimball felt.

He tells San Francisco Eater that serving food in a nonprofessional atmosphere was even more rewarding than owning his business. “The vibes were so good that going back to foodie vibes feels bad. Customers come with expectation of themselves as critics rather than just enjoyers.” He even reflected that rather than cooking, maybe bringing people together was his real calling. He’s certainly a natural at it.

By the way, round 2 was even better.

On Feb 12, Kimball followed the same winning strategy: fliers + pancakes. This time, 300 people showed up, thanks in part to Kimball’s previous pancake party going viral and making several headlines.

“The joy, the laughter, the gratitude, the kindness was all overwhelming (as was the smell of pancakes),” he tweeted. “Not to be a softy, but I got a little misty a few times as every person thanked me for what to them felt like the perfect antidote at the perfect time after a rough 2 years.”

Now Kimball dreams of “people all across the country hosting Saturday morning pancake parties for their friends and neighbors.”

For Kimball, this fun, creative thing he discovered is actually vital. “I think it’s important because most of our public spaces are dominated by the big arguments over our differences as people,” he told TODAY. “And those things are important. But what feels lost and might be equally important is celebrating each other and our commonalities. We need more chances, as people, to root for each other and to believe in each other as humans.”

Perhaps he is onto something here. Our souls have been left unnourished and starving. Because of the pandemic, political division, technology … the new normal. But all it takes is one one thing, one simple thing, to shift perspectives and feed that innermost part of ourselves.

Feeling good and connecting with others is the sweet stuff of life. And we should savor every bite of it.

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Popular

How Nextdoor neighbors are helping each other get through the pandemic

All photos via Nextdoor
True

Life during the coronavirus pandemic has been challenging for everyone, both the sick and the healthy. But despite the hardships people are facing on a daily basis, many have also performed incredible acts of kindness for those in need.

When it became clear there was a shortage of masks and other personal protective gear for health care workers on the frontlines, people all over the world cracked open their sewing kits and got to work. Even though they were closed to patrons and losing money, a number of New York City restaurants collaborated to help feed the city's hospital teams. The fact that we're all going through this together seems to be resonating with people in a significant way, and sparking an unprecedented trend of good will. That's especially apparent on apps like Nextdoor.

Being kind to others has an uncanny way of making the giver feel better, too. In fact, the more random and unexpected your acts of kindness are, the more they'll trigger pleasure in your brain.

And if you start doing them in and around your community, chances are you'll create new bonds with your neighbors that will help make everyone stronger at the end of this pandemic experience. Even if you don't currently know your neighbors, it's surprisingly easy to reach out and offer assistance. Just take it from these folks:


Octogenarian Block Party

Maddy Silverman's 80th birthday was coming up, and even though she loves to get down, due to coronavirus and quarantine restrictions, it didn't look like a traditional party was in the cards for her. But that didn't stop her party spirit. She decided to reach out on Nextdoor and see if any local DJs would be willing to host a socially distanced block party for her neighbors and herself. Not only did one respond and offer to play the party for free, many of her neighbors showed up wearing masks to party with her safely and responsibly.

"I'm a young 80, a very young 80," Silverman told Spectrum News 1.


Stimulus Check

Austin, Texas native, Andrew May, realized that he could use his stimulus check to help someone in his neighborhood who was struggling. So he offered it to anyone "in need" on Nextdoor, and almost immediately received tons of positive responses. A few individuals who could benefit from his generosity were also suggested to him. Eventually he decided to give money to two families he met via the app. One is a single mom of three kids who's been unable to pay rent for the last two months. The other is a husband and wife whose 16-year-old daughter reached out to him. The couple weren't able to receive stimulus checks because they only recently became American citizens. Both husband and wife had been out of work due to the virus.

But Andrew didn't stop there. He and a few other neighbors he met on Nextdoor are now working on helping a family living in an RV who has a son with special needs.


Gen Z Deliveries

17-year-old Danny Goldberg's father is an ER physician, so Danny realized how impactful the pandemic would be early on. He knew that keeping away from other people during the pandemic would become a priority, but not everyone would be able to do so. One particular thing he quickly saw becoming an issue was elderly and immunocompromised individuals' access to the essentials. "The elderly and immunocompromised should be sheltering in place, and if they can't get food deliveries, they would eventually need to go to the store, which is too big of a risk," Danny told Forbes.

So he created Zoomers to Boomers (ZTB) — a volunteer group of Gen Z neighbors who deliver groceries and other essentials to their Baby Boomer and immunocompromised neighbors for free. Danny set up the flagship website, posted about it on Nextdoor, and orders took off from there. Many of ZTB's core management team are high school friends of Danny's, but once word got around, and sites like Upworthy reported on it, the group expanded exponentially. There are now Zoomers to Boomers groups in cities all over the world.


Rollerskating Shark and Taco

Laughter is often the best medicine, especially when everything starts to feel overwhelmingly scary and depressing. That was Colene Robinson's notion when she decided to dress up in a shark costume and roller skate around Boulder, Colorado. She posted on Nextdoor that she'd happily visit any street in her city to bring a little hilarity and joy to her neighbors. Not only did she receive lots of grateful requests, a retired roller derby skater offered to join her on her cheer up mission dressed as a giant taco.

The rollerskating shark and taco team visited over 50 families in one weekend. They danced to the "Baby Shark" song, delivered handmade signs for big events like birthdays, and successfully lightened the mood wherever they went. This video pretty much says it all.


Heartwarming Posts

San Franciscan Nick Munro was at home looking for things to do, like so many of his neighbors, when he realized he had a ton of post-it notes lying around. So one day, he decided to stick them up on his window in the shape of a heart as a little message of support and solidarity for his neighbors during this challenging time. The gesture was quickly noted by locals, and pretty soon, Munro started to see more and more post-it hearts popping up on windows around town.

"These are the things we never would have seen without this coming together," Munro told NBC Bay-Area. He hopes the trend will continue long after the pandemic subsides.

These are just a handful of the incredible, selfless things people have done for their neighbors during this crisis. Contributions like this will also help strengthen communities as we move out of lockdown and into post-pandemic life.

You can check out many more #strengthinneighbors stories @Nextdoor on Instagram. Their page also has information on how you can win a $500 gift card to support your favorite neighborhood spot. Being kind to others is a super power that every single one of us can access to help bring the world back together. So what are you waiting for?

Heroes

When these teens took on Baltimore over a garbage idea, the city actually listened.

True
Starbucks Upstanders

What do you do with your free time? 17-year-old Destiny Watford spends hers saving her neighborhood.

Destiny lives in Baltimore, a city where more people die from air pollution than homicide — and the homicide rate is nothing to scoff at.

This isn’t an exaggeration; it’s a reality. And the people who live there deal with it every day.

Why is the air pollution so bad? Well, Curtis Bay — a neighborhood in Baltimore — is home to a coal export terminal, the nation’s largest medical waste facility, and an animal rendering plant, to name a few reasons.

All images via Starbucks, used with permission.

In 2012, Destiny learned about a plan to build the country’s largest trash-burning incinerator in Curtis Bay just a mile from her school.

Destiny looked around at her neighborhood, polluted by factory after factory, and decided she’d had enough.

Watch Destiny's full story:

These students banded together and stopped what would have been the nation's largest trash incinerator from being built just a mile away from their school. A Starbucks original series.

Posted by Upworthy on Friday, September 23, 2016

You may wonder, how could the country so completely disregard the health of these residents?

There's a reason Curtis Bay and communities like it are often the proposed sites for these types of facilities (ahem, environmental racism). A study published in Environmental Research Letters revealed that factories using toxic substances and waste plants are usually found in poor neighborhoods — and those neighborhoods are often predominantly made up of people of color.

The phenomenon is nothing new. History has shown time and time again that poor neighborhoods are often used as dumping grounds. See the Flint water crisis.

The communities being affected often don’t have a voice to fight against this injustice. That’s why Destiny is so special.

Determined to stop the incinerator from invading their neighborhood, Destiny and her classmates started a movement.

"Curtis Bay is my home," explained Destiny. "I grew up here. I live here. My family lives here. My friends live here. If a development like this is happening that would be putting our lives at risk, I couldn't ignore it."

She and her peers started Free Your Voice, an organization aimed at stopping the development of the incinerator.

They found out that the Baltimore City Public School System would be purchasing energy from the incinerator and challenged that decision. They won — the school board changed its decision and backed out of the contract. 21 other businesses followed suit.

Then, something even bigger happened.

"We learned that the incinerator’s permit had expired," Destiny said. "This was a huge opportunity for us because with an expired permit, you can’t construct. But it would not matter unless the Maryland Department of the Environment said publicly, 'Your permits are expired.' Which they hadn’t."

Free Your Voice organized protests, with people standing outside late into the night, urging the department to enforce the law and stop the incinerator.

It took months, but eventually the state did declare that the permit was expired, effectively halting all operations.

The community united, and their unified, persistent voice was loud enough to be heard.

Thanks to Destiny and her peers, the future of Curtis Bay — and its air — is clearer.

And Destiny led the charge. Her passion for her community inspired positive change. If more communities follow suit, hopefully together, they can force the tide to change.  

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