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From goat yoga to professional play, these people took risks and found their purpose through passion
12.31.20
Lainey and baby goat Annie. Photo courtesy of Lainey Morse
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Oftentimes, the journey to our true calling is winding and unexpected. Take Lainey Morse, who went from office manager to creator of the viral trend, Goat Yoga, thanks to her natural affinity for goats and throwing parties.
Back in 2015, Lainey bought a farm in Oregon and got her first goats who she named Ansel and Adams. "Once I got them, I was obsessed," says Lainey. "It was hard to get me off the farm to go do anything else."
Right away, she noticed what a calming presence they had. "Even the way they chew their cud is relaxing to be around because it's very methodical," she says. Lainey was going through a divorce and dealing with a rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis at the time, but even when things got particularly hard, the goats provided relief.
"I found it impossible to be stressed or depressed when I was with them."
She started inviting friends up to the farm for what she called "Goat Happy Hour." Soon, the word spread about Lainey's delightful, stress-relieving furry friends. At one point, she auctioned off a child's birthday party at her farm, and the mom asked if they could do yoga with the goats. And lo, the idea for goat yoga was born.
A baby goat on a yoga student. Photo courtesy of Lainey Morse
Goat yoga went viral so much so that by fall of 2016, Lainey was able to quit her office manager job at a remodeling company to manage her burgeoning goat yoga business full-time. Now she has 10 locations nationwide.
Lainey handles the backend management for all of her locations, and loves that side of the business too, even though it's less goat-related. "I still have my own personal Goat Happy Hour every single day so I still get to spend a lot of time with my goats," says Lainey. "I get the best of both worlds."
Lainey with her goat Fabio. Photo courtesy of Lainey Morse
Since COVID-19 hit, her locations have had to close temporarily. She hopes her yoga locations will be able to resume classes in the spring when the vaccine is more widely available. "I think people will need goat yoga more than ever before, because everyone has been through so much stress in 2020," says Lainey.
Major life changes like Lainey's can come around for any number of reasons. Even if they seem out of left field to some, it doesn't mean they're not the right moves for you. The new FOX series "Call Me Kat", which premieres Sunday, January 3rd after NFL and will continue on Thursday nights beginning January 7th, exemplifies that. The show is centered around Kat, a 39-year old single woman played by Mayim Bialik, who quit her math professor job and spent her life's savings to pursue her dreams to open a Cat Café in Louisville, Kentucky.
We're not freaking out, you're freaking out (but in the BEST way!) 🤩#CallMeKat premieres Sunday, January 3 on @FOXTV after NFL. pic.twitter.com/XhylqSVeMB
— CallMeKat (@CallMeKatFOX) December 22, 2020
Jeff Harry started making similar moves when he was just 10-years-old, and kept making them throughout his life. After seeing the movie "Big,"Jeff knew he wanted to play with toys for a living, so he started writing toy companies asking for next steps. He finally got a response when he was a sophomore in high school — the company told him he needed to become a mechanical engineer first.
<p>He did that, and eventually got a job with Toys R Us in the Labor Planning Department where he was almost immediately disillusioned. "There was no play, no fun, no high fives, and no kids," says Jeff.</p><p>Soon after, in late 2001, he decided to quit the business and move across the country to Oakland, California. While there, he found a job posting on Craigslist for a STEM education company called <u><a href="https://www.play-well.org/" target="_blank">Play-Well</a></u>, which uses LEGOs to teach kids about engineering. Even though they only had 7 employees and only paid $150 a week, he thought it sounded promising and applied.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTA4NDM0OS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY3MTEyODUyMX0.5gSODJaYGYQ5TERTQmpygPNemkQ8dUGdXgIGuONPdE4/img.png?width=980" id="e44b6" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="53871d8cd78217d3c8d12e443114dc2a" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">Courtesy of Jeff Harry</small></p><p>Over the next 16 years, Jeff helped grow the company to over 400 employees. By "embracing a play-oriented mindset, we said yes to everything even if we didn't know if we would be able to figure it out," says Jeff. "We were constantly doing experiments, open to failure, not fixated on certain results." Through this method, they became the largest LEGO-inspired STEM organization in the United States.<br></p><p>Since they were teaching lots of kids whose parents worked in Silicon Valley, they were eventually asked to run team-building workshops with some of the top tech companies in the business. They did this for nine years and excelled at it, but eventually, Jeff began to feel like the importance of play was getting lost. In response, he created a consulting business called <u><a href="https://www.rediscoveryourplay.com/" target="_blank">Rediscover Your Play,</a></u> which uses positive psychology and play to help reinvigorate employees and help companies tackle workplaces challenges.</p><p>Now, he finally feels like he's found his purpose because he's living, and sharing, his passion for play every day.</p><p>Your life and career path don't have to look like anyone else's, in fact, it's usually better when they don't. If you follow your gut and buy some goats or apply to an unorthodox job posting on Craigslist, you might just open a door to one spectacular future.</p><p>So, this New Year...Quit your job. Open a cat cafe. Live your best life.</p><p><strong><a href="https://www.fox.com/call-me-kat/" target="_blank">Call Me Kat</a> premieres on FOX Sunday, January 3rd after NFL and continues on Thursdays beginning January 7th at 9/8c. Starring Mayim Bialik, the show is about a 39-year-old woman who quit her successful, yet unfulfilling, job to pursue her dreams to open a cat café. Kat couldn't be any happier with her new life… despite her mother pushing Kat to get married already!</strong></p>
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Photo by Naomi Hébert on Unsplash
gray steel 3-door refrigerator near modular kitchen
There's more to keeping a green kitchen than recycling your yogurt containers or opting to store your leftovers in glass Tupperware. Little things, like your trash bags, can add up, which is why it's important to try to reduce your footprint as much as possible. Fortunately, these sustainable kitchen products make it easy keep a green home!
Reusable silicone cupcake liners save you money on having to buy disposable paper cupcake wrappers every time you bake. These sustainable cupcake liners are just as festive as anything you would throw away. Because the liners are made with a sturdier silicone, they can be used for other purposes, like arts and crafts projects.
<p><strong><a href="https://amzn.to/2LEesiR" target="_blank">Stainless Steel Reusable Drip Cone Coffee Filter</a></strong></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<a href="https://amzn.to/2LEesiR"><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDk5MzQxMi9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0OTQ1MTkzOX0.iLM_WnT3uP3b1ybYqM8VdoCG7MM3WPTDt7lz8SG2EbM/img.png?width=980" id="1f06a" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3b4d68ba9f7edf8b2a6827f6ca813edc" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt=""></a>
</p><p><br></p><p>Now you can have filtered coffee without the guilt of wasting paper. This metal drip coffee filter is dishwasher safe, making for easy clean up. It's also travel-friendly, meaning you can have the same, sustainable coffee as you do at home when you're on the go!</p><p><a href="https://amzn.to/2LEesiR000" target="_blank">Maranello Café, $17.99; Amazon</a></p><p><strong><a href="https://amzn.to/35spOh0" target="_blank">Reusable Grocery Bags</a></strong></p><p><br></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<a href="https://amzn.to/35spOh0"><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDk5MzQxNS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzOTY0MzQzNn0.aLsc35qI-guqJZx48tPEqONISSh5uIzKJRfHYjdxYzs/img.png?width=980" id="01d17" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="e77642d36b7ce9988f80a3c25e92b48a" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt=""></a>
</p><p><br></p><p>These sustainable grocery bags are so cute, you'll never forget them at home. Each bag replaces two to three conventional grocery bags. They're waterproof, machine washable, foldable, and reinforced to carry heavy loads – so basically they're everything you could ask for in a sustainable grocery bag.</p><p><a href="https://amzn.to/35spOh0" target="_blank">ONME, $16.99 for 8; Amazon</a></p><p><strong><a href="https://amzn.to/35uL1a1" target="_blank">Bamboo Reusable Paper Towels</a></strong></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<a href="https://amzn.to/35uL1a1"><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDk5MzQxNy9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxNDAzMzg0M30.j5KH11N1TdLifSsAzACVUT-wBS_2lZGk2SuUgS3KkCI/img.png?width=980" id="d35a3" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9cc7e1b27b65868140109f6e47719aac" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt=""></a>
</p><p><br></p><p>Yes, you can reuse paper towels. These paper towels are made from bamboo, which means they're sturdy enough to be used up to 1700 times before they have to hit the trash. While these paper towels are more expensive than regular paper towels, you get more bang for your buck. One paper towel roll is the equivalent of 60 standard rolls, which is a lot of trees saved.</p><p><a href="https://amzn.to/35uL1a1" target="_blank">Enviro Safe Home, $19.99 for 2 rolls; Amazon</a></p><p><strong><a href="https://amzn.to/3i1PFkO" target="_blank">Kitchen Compost Bin</a></strong></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<a href="https://amzn.to/3i1PFkO"><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDk5MzQxOC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1MjU4NTQxMH0.q9TKgmMJAdooGjzEB5DeNzRnoXM03p3JtwuiFMOx2sU/img.png?width=980" id="ac7db" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="d053b8ca8cc6431002ddb575ba09c188" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt=""></a>
</p><p><br></p><p>If you've always wanted to try composting, why not give it a shot with this cute compost bin? It's so stylish, it'll practically blend into your kitchen décor. The bin is equipped with charcoal filters, meaning the smells won't build up even when the waste does.</p><p><a href="https://amzn.to/3i1PFkO" target="_blank">Utopia, $21.90; Amazon</a></p><p><strong><a href="https://amzn.to/3i4Kv7x" target="_blank">Bamboo Dish Scrub Brush</a></strong></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<a href="https://amzn.to/3i4Kv7x"><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDk5MzQxOS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2MTEyNzg1M30.7WeK5Rjav1QHDWd_G4khlPXCEpe7Y1TF7oRJmFYzzAA/img.png?width=980" id="18585" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="7c5d8d9da3a0b0a73a2040b219c512d6" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt=""></a>
</p><p><br></p><p>These plastic-free scrub brushes are made from sturdy bamboo, which means that they're completely biodegradable once it comes time to throw them away. But it'll take them a while to get to the point where they're ready to scrap, because they're sturdy and built to last for a long time. Plus, they're designed to feel comfortable in your hand, meaning you can get clean dishes <em>without </em>hand cramps. </p><p><a href="https://amzn.to/3i4Kv7x" target="_blank">Earth's Own, $21.98; Amazon</a></p><p><strong><a href="https://amzn.to/2XveqfD" target="_blank">Biodegradable Kitchen Trash Bags</a></strong> </p><p><br></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<a href="https://amzn.to/2XveqfD"><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDk5MzQyMC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzMjM2ODYyNn0.8_BZfipYgF8LvtAHdjdswMC2Igm6xFnf2lAvcibBU0M/img.png?width=980" id="dd173" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="5bb4b6ce17cda2d39c1c5b8ca4885a51" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt=""></a>
</p><p>Even if you do your best to minimize the amount of plastic trash you make, you still have to throw away your trash in plastic. Unless you get yourself some biodegradable trash bags, which are designed to sturdily hold your trash without doing additional damage to the planet.<br></p><p><a href="https://amzn.to/2XveqfD" target="_blank">ETSUS, $27.95 for 7; Amazon</a></p>
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Photo by Anna Shvets from Pexels
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Increasingly customers are looking for more conscious shopping options. According to a Nielsen survey in 2018, nearly half (48%) of U.S. consumers say they would definitely or probably change their consumption habits to reduce their impact on the environment.
But while many consumers are interested in spending their money on products that are more sustainable, few actually follow through. An article in the 2019 issue of Harvard Business Review revealed that 65% of consumers said they want to buy purpose-driven brands that advocate sustainability, but only about 26% actually do so. It's unclear where this intention gap comes from, but thankfully it's getting more convenient to shop sustainably from many of the retailers you already support.
Amazon recently introduced Climate Pledge Friendly, "a new program to help make it easy for customers to discover and shop for more sustainable products." When you're browsing Amazon, a Climate Pledge Friendly label will appear on more than 45,000 products to signify they have one or more different sustainability certifications which "help preserve the natural world, reducing the carbon footprint of shipments to customers," according to the online retailer.
Amazon
In order to distinguish more sustainable products, the program partnered with a wide range of external certifications, including governmental agencies, non-profits, and independent laboratories, all of which have a focus on preserving the natural world.
<p>To qualify as Climate Pledge Friendly, a product must be certified by one of the 19 different sustainability certifications, including Amazon's own <a href="https://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=21221609011" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Compact by Design</a> certification. Compact by Design-certified products are made with more efficient packaging by removing excess air and water, making them lighter and therefore more efficient to ship. "At scale, these small differences in product size and weight lead to significant carbon emission reductions," according to Amazon.</p><p>Other certifications include <a href="https://www.bluesign.com/en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Bluesign</a>, which means qualifying products are responsibly manufactured by using safer chemicals and fewer resources, including less energy, in production; <a href="https://www.fairtradeamerica.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Fairtrade International</a> products are produced in line with ethical and environmental standards, including supporting farmers to tackle climate change challenges; and <a href="https://fsc.org/en/about-us" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Forest Stewardship Council</a>-certified products support responsible forestry, helping keep forests healthy for future generations.Details about the other Climate Pledge Friendly Certifications can be found <a href="https://www.amazon.com/b?node=21221608011" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">here</a>.</p><p>All the Climate Pledge Friendly products can be found at <a href="http://www.amazon.com/ClimatePledgeFriendly" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Amazon.com/ClimatePledgeFriendly</a> and include grocery, household, fashion, beauty, and personal electronics products, and more. </p><p>With shopping more sustainably now easier than ever before, there's no reason not to.</p>
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91-yr-old Holocaust survivor Ben Lesser is sharing his story. It's one we all need to hear.
09.18.20
ZACHOR Foundation
"What's 'the Holocaust'?" my 11-year-old son asks me. I take a deep breath as I gauge how much to tell him. He's old enough to understand that prejudice can lead to hatred, but I can't help but feel he's too young to hear about the full spectrum of human horror that hatred can lead to.
I wrestle with that thought, considering the conversation I recently had with Ben Lesser, a 91-year-old Holocaust survivor who was just a little younger than my son when he witnessed his first Nazi atrocity.
It was September of 1939 and the Blitzkrieg occupation of Poland had just begun. Ben, his parents, and his siblings were awakened in their Krakow apartment by Nazi soldiers who pistol-whipped them out of bed and ransacked their home. As the men with the shiny black boots filled burlap sacks with the Jewish family's valuables, a scream came from the apartment across the hall. Ben and his sister ran toward the cry.
They found a Nazi swinging their neighbors' baby upside down by its legs, demanding that the baby's mother make it stop crying. As the parents screamed, "My baby! My baby!" the Nazi smirked—then swung the baby's head full force into the door frame, killing it instantly.
This story and others like it feel too terrible to tell my young son, too out of context from his life of relative safety and security. And yet Ben Lesser lived it at my son's age. And it was too terrible—for anyone, much less a 10-year-old. And it was also completely out of context from the life of relative safety and security Ben and his family had known before the Nazi tanks rolled in.
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDQwNjg3OC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzODYyMzI0NH0.H0__oRnJw53k_VNpLUQkskP_qXHABp_4cGqEJ5vCpPk/img.jpg?width=980" id="f5d37" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="86ad90ab1894f1f7d056f5fd91773d83" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">ZACHOR Foundation</small></p><p>Before I spoke with Ben, I had prepared myself for what I was going to hear. The baby story was brutal, but I'd read enough Holocaust stories to expect all manner of horror. The Jews being rounded up and taken to the woods to dig their own graves before being shot and thrown into them. The cattle cars crammed with bodies so tightly no one could move—where men, women, and children languished in hunger and thirst, standing in their own excrement for days. The Nazi <em>commandant</em> who made every 10th prisoner in line hold their body over a sawhorse and take 25 lashes, shooting in the head anyone whose body touched the sawhorse through the beating. <br></p><p>The concentration camps, the death camps, the gas chambers. I was prepared for all of that.</p><p>What I wasn't prepared for was the fact that Ben Lesser's dad was a chocolate maker. He was one of the first, Ben explained to me proudly, to make chocolate-covered wafer cookies, like a Kit-Kat, only he made his in the shape of animals. </p><p>Hearing Ben describe the way he and his siblings would excitedly run to their father when he got home from work, knowing he'd have pockets full of chocolate for them—that was the detail that did me in. The simple sweetness of it. The fact that their life was so delightfully <em>normal </em>before it turned into a nightmare<em>. </em>That backdrop made hearing about the horrors Ben witnessed and experienced from age 10 to 16 all the more heinous.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDQwMDE5OC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1MTAzODgzOX0.vjIq_6JsG_JNAfjtrYNiq9uiWyLmLSpJqIsK-V2RuNU/img.png?width=980" id="8c5b7" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="fd5c629bf3888e92a6e0de026882321b" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">ZACHOR Foundation</small></p><p>Ben was 15 when he and two of his siblings were shoved into a cattle car and transported to Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi concentration camp complex where Nazis systematically murdered 1.1 million people in five years. When they exited the car, a man was directing people to go left or right. Ben, a strong young man, was sent to the right with his uncle and cousin—they were going to work. His sister Goldie and younger brother Tuli were sent to the left. </p><p>Ben only learned that his sister and brother had gone straight to the gas chambers when a guard later explained, with a twisted sense of satisfaction, that the ash gently falling from the sky was made up of the bodies of the workers' loved ones.</p><p>By the time the war ended, Ben would lose his parents, three of his four siblings, and countless extended family members and friends to Hitler and his followers' hatred. His older sister, Lola, was the only member of his immediate family to survive.</p><p>The stories Ben shared from Auschwitz-Birkenau, from the "Death March" to Buchenwald, and from Dachau—where he would ultimately be liberated when the war ended—are every bit as horrific as everything I've described so far. It would take far more space than I have here to share it all, but Ben has written it all down—the tragedy and suffering as well as the miracles that occurred both during and after the war—<a href="https://zachorlearn.org/shop-zachor/" target="_blank">in his autobiography. </a></p><p>But simply putting it all down in writing wasn't enough.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDQwNTA3Mi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNTA0NjgxOH0.Zb5h8tOurcyUKl2856mgwZpwljkNntSJIF-h1BPlqSU/img.jpg?width=980" id="69ee5" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="c69cb86ed5db790169095296b7eadeab" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">ZACHOR Foundation</small></p><p>"In my mind there are questions that have never been answered," Ben writes in the opening of his memoir. "You might be surprised to learn that my first unanswered question is not, Why did that <em>insane</em> Hitler try to destroy the Jewish People? Instead, my first unanswered question is, Why did the so-called sane world stand by and let this Genocide happen?<br></p><p>"Having experienced the savagery of genocide first-hand as a child, while living in a supposedly modern, cultured, European country, I also have two additional questions: One, What are the circumstances and choices that led up to this and other genocides? And two: What must we do to prevent it from happening again? Anywhere. Because, sadly, as the old saying tells us, '<em>The more things change, the more they stay the same.'</em>" </p><p>These are the questions Ben seeks to help all of us answer as time takes us further and further away from the Holocaust. Ben is one of a handful of survivors who are able to share first-hand experiences as Jews under Nazi terror—a fact he was keenly aware of when he founded the <em>ZACHOR</em> Holocaust Remembrance Foundation in 2009. "ZACHOR" means "REMEMBER," and the purpose of the foundation is to make sure the world never forgets the lessons of the Holocaust or the millions of individual lives that were taken there. </p><p>The story of the Holocaust isn't just in the masses of humanity killed, but in the individual stories of those who survived. For years, Ben spoke at schools, sharing his story with young people. At 91, Ben has retired from the school circuit, but he's not slowing down in his efforts to teach the lesson of what hate can lead to. </p><p><em>ZACHOR</em> has just launched an <a href="http://zachorlearn.org" target="_blank">online Holocaust curriculum</a>—the first to be created and facilitated by and through the firsthand testimonial of a survivor. Ben told Upworthy that he wanted to create a curriculum that would be free and easy for teachers to access so there would be no excuse for schools not to teach about the Holocaust.</p><p>Considering the study findings that came out today, Ben's curriculum could not be more timely.</p><div id="e9610" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="446af13e5eae2e09da5450e05afc8fb5"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1306210527929077761" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">The findings of a study on young Americans' knowledge of the #Holocaust are terrifying:
• 23% say it’s a myth/exag… https://t.co/DAB9lNLCOS</div> — David Gilbert (@David Gilbert)<a href="https://twitter.com/daithaigilbert/statuses/1306210527929077761">1600259832.0</a></blockquote></div><p>The <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/survey-finds-shocking-lack-holocaust-knowledge-among-millennials-gen-z-n1240031" target="_blank">50-state survey of young adults</a> in the U.S. found that nearly two-thirds were unaware that 6 million Jews were killed in the Holocaust, nearly 1 in 4 say they think the Holocaust is a myth or that it's exaggerated, and approximately 1 in 10 had either had never heard of it, didn't think it happened at all, or—perhaps most alarmingly—think Jews were responsible for it. <br></p><p>Clearly, we need to be doing a better job of educating our kids about the Holocaust. If we don't, the online disinformation machine will lead them to believe it was all a hoax.</p><p>The<a href="http://zachorlearn.org" target="_blank"> Zachor Holocaust Curriculum</a> consists of eight lessons, which interweave Ben's personal story with facts about the Eastern European part of the war, how Hitler and the Nazis operated, and the Holocaust in general. It includes written content, fact inserts, photographs, and videos. It is free to register to use, and available to anyone with internet. </p><p>Perhaps the most unique element of the ZACHOR curriculum is the interactive component. Ben has created a <a href="https://zachorlearn.org/bens-storyfile/" target="_blank">Storyfile</a>—a mix of artificial intelligence and hologram technology that will enable people to ask Ben questions and get answers long after he's no longer here. He spent hours answering thousands of questions, all of which was recorded from various angles and put into the Storyfile program, so people will always be able to hear Ben's answers to their questions from his own mouth.</p><p>Ben's foundation has also launched an anti-bullying campaign called "I SHOUT OUT." Anyone can go to the website<a href="https://www.i-shout-out.org/" target="_blank"> i-shout-out.org </a>and share what they shout out for—equality, peace, human rights, etc.—to let the world they stand against hatred. </p><p>I asked Ben what is the main message he wants people to take from the horrors of the Holocaust. He said, "It's very simple. Stop the hatred." </p><p>We all need to listen and heed Ben's words. Even just this five-minute video in which he shares how the Holocaust got started is worth viewing and sharing with our kids. </p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube">
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="2b080bbd863d2353dc2f099f8a6e8adf"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yOqTNbpAjnc?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">3 - Ben's Testimony. It all started with hatred.</small>
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">
<a href="https://youtu.be/yOqTNbpAjnc" target="_blank">youtu.be</a>
</small>
</p><p>It may be a few more years before I share the full scope of Nazi cruelty with my son. But I will absolutely make sure that he knows what happened during WWII, about the millions of lives destroyed by hatred, and how, as Ben says, "One person with the gift of gab could turn the minds of millions." </p><p><em>Zachor </em>indeed<em>.</em> We will remember. </p>
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Quick thinking waitress had a gut feeling a boy was being abused. So she gave him a sign.
01.15.21
Server Flavaine Carvalho was waiting on her last table of the night at Mrs. Potatohead's, a family restaurant in Orlando, Florida when she noticed something peculiar.
The parents of an 11-year-old boy were ordering food but told her that the child would be having his dinner later that night at home. She glanced at the boy who was wearing a hoodie, glasses, and a face mask and noticed a scratch between his eyes.
A closer look revealed a bruise on his temple.
So Carvalho walked away from the table and wrote a note that said, "Do you need help?" and showed it to the boy from an angle where his parents couldn't see.
<p><br></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTQ1NTA2NC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1NzA3Mzg0MH0.3YrEUbRDx2mYITibuL687UUQ3zw_muaU0pcOqTWuVjM/img.jpg?width=980" id="ad20d" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0d0667ab0ed776c7bcd9d9e0e62b3bf4" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Mr.s Potatohead's in Orlando, Florida</small></p><p><br></p><p>The boy shook his head, no. "I knew it that he was afraid,"<a href="https://www.wftv.com/news/local/orange-county/do-you-need-help-orlando-waitress-uses-stealthy-handwritten-note-help-rescue-abused-boy-police-say/PRDSIJIQENDJRCMPCUIY77OUXE/" target="_blank"> she said.</a></p><p>Carvalho made two more attempts until the boy nodded yes.</p><p>The server then called the owner of the restaurant to let her know that she was going to call the police on the boy's parents.</p><div id="440ad" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="fce87e6f359d9b869b54d65e1abe4ef8"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1349741934559039488" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">SEE SOMETHING SAY SOMETHING: An Orlando waitress saw a family withholding food from a boy at a table. She noticed… https://t.co/A1BaOPKyc6</div> — Orlando Police (@Orlando Police)<a href="https://twitter.com/OrlandoPolice/statuses/1349741934559039488">1610638528.0</a></blockquote></div><p>The police arrived and arrested the boy's father </p><p>on one count of third-degree child abuse. His mother Kristen Swann was arrested with two counts of child neglect. A four-year-old girl was taken from the family by authorities. They say she showed no signs of abuse.<br></p><p>Detectives spoke with the boy and learned his parents frequently withheld food from him as a form of punishment. He was 20 pounds underweight. After searching his body, they discovered that he was nearly covered in bruises. </p><p>His father had recently beat him with a broomstick and back scratcher.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTQ1NTA4Ni9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyODMyODA5NX0.sHVdHne262Hiz_gtzShcSybPzMRagX7MoTSudEvhScM/img.jpg?width=980" id="c5e01" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="613e0b2d778f4ad9c461e7dcd86ed12c" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">via Orlando PD</small></p><p>The boy told detectives that he was once hung upside down from his ankles in a door frame by his father and had been restrained by being strapped to a furniture dolly.<br></p><p>"To be honest what this child had gone through was torture," Detective <a href="https://www.wftv.com/news/local/orange-county/do-you-need-help-orlando-waitress-uses-stealthy-handwritten-note-help-rescue-abused-boy-police-say/PRDSIJIQENDJRCMPCUIY77OUXE/" target="_blank">Erin Lawler said.</a> "There was no justification for it in any realm of the world. I'm a mother and seeing what that 11-year-old had to go through, it shocks your soul."</p><div id="9a263" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3c5d1f56ddc50f87fef3eb8884269b35"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1349793544970579971" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Chief Orlando Rolon, @OrlandoPolice, with waitress Flavaine Carvalho (middle) who saved an abused 11yo when he was… https://t.co/8KE3uI61a2</div> — Matt Trezza FOX 35 (@Matt Trezza FOX 35)<a href="https://twitter.com/Fox35Matt/statuses/1349793544970579971">1610650833.0</a></blockquote></div><p>Carvalho's quick thinking and bravery may have saved the lives of two children.<br></p><p>"This could have been a homicide situation if she had not have intervened," Orlando Police Chief Orlando <a href="https://www.wftv.com/news/local/orange-county/do-you-need-help-orlando-waitress-uses-stealthy-handwritten-note-help-rescue-abused-boy-police-say/PRDSIJIQENDJRCMPCUIY77OUXE/" target="_blank">Rolon said.</a></p><p>"The lesson here for all of us is to recognize when we see something that isn't right to act on it… This saved the life of a child," he added.</p><p>The restaurant's owner, Rafaela Cabede, hopes that Carvalho's bravery inspires others to look out for signs of abuse as well. </p><p>"We understand that this has to encourage other people that when you see something, say something," Cabede said. "We know when we see a situation that is wrong, we know what's the right thing to do. We know that speaking up is the right thing to do. But it takes more than acknowledging it. It takes courage.</p>
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