The real-life heroes of the Avengers surprised children's hospitals with a $5 million donation.

In Endgame, the Avengers have to team up to save the universe from Thanos, but their real-life counterparts are also teaming up to save kids right here on Earth.
Avengers actors Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Paul Rudd and Brie Larson showed up with Disney CEO Robert Iger at Disney California Adventure Park to help announce a donation of $5 million to children’s hospitals across the country.
At the event, members of the local Boys& Girls Clubs also got to hang out with the Avengers at Downtown Disney’s LEGO store, plus they all went home with new toys. So basically, a bunch of kids just had the best day ever.
A portion of the donation will go to non-profit Give Kids the World, which provides all-expense paid week long vacations for critically ill kids and their families.
Starlight Children’s Foundation will also receive a donation of cash and toys through the Avengers Universe Unites campaign. Disney contributed $1 million to the donation. The LEGO group, Hasbro, Funko, and Amazon collaborated on the rest of the donation.
A superhero is someone who works to save their community from harm, so basically the cast of The Avengers are all now superheroes in real life, too.
"The super heroes in Avengers personify traits like courage, perseverance, bravery and hope — the same traits countless kids and their families in children's hospitals exhibit every day," Iger said in a press release.
At the event, Robert Downey Jr. (aka Iron Man, himself) stressed the importance of giving back to children in need. "More than any time, it’s a time to give back to these courageous kids who inspire us,” Downey Jr. said.
Ant-Man, otherwise known as Paul Rudd, acknowledged that childhood illness doesn’t impact just the child, but rather, the whole family. "I'm grateful and touched to be a part of this group," Rudd said. "I work with a lot of kids and families. It's not just the kids. It's the entire family. The parents, the brothers, the sisters. This is a real honor to giveback. I would like to say the Ant-Man toy is particularly small. So, when you’re walking around barefoot, just be careful. It's a little bit like stepping on a LEGO.”
It really takes a village to help a sick child. The Avengers remind us that you don’t need to be able to fly or shoot lasers from your eyes in order to save a life. Those who haven’t been given mysterious superpowers can still make the world a better place just by getting involved.
There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."