This charity that runs a beach for the disabled got a surprise donor: the pope.

Evan Porter
04.27.17

The beach. It's everyone's favorite summer activity, but for some, it can be a little bit harder to enjoy.

The sandy terrain can be brutal on wheelchairs (meanwhile, a specially outfitted beach wheelchair can run well over $1,000), and even when the coast has a rubber boardwalk leading to the water, that's often as far as people with physical disabilities will get.

But one charity in Italy, called Work of Love, has made it a mission since 2012 to help everyone enjoy the cool waves of the sea.

For years now, the group has rented a small patch of Little Madonna beach (just south of Rome) and outfitted it with special boardwalks, all-terrain wheelchairs, ramps, and other pieces of equipment, along with highly-trained volunteers, that help people get in and out of the water.

The beach has a boardwalk specifically to help people in wheelchairs traverse the sand. All images via Fondazione Serono/YouTube.

Now Pope Francis is throwing his weight behind the problem with a donation in his name that will cover the cost of renting a spot on Little Madonna beach.

A volunteer pushes a young man toward the water in a beach-ready wheelchair.

According to Work of Love's website, the donation caught them completely off guard in the best way.

CNN reports hundreds of people with disabilities come to Work of Love's beach every year. But new faces each summer means rising costs.

Having the pope in your corner sure helps making the rent.

And after nearly five years of service, there are many people with disabilities, and their families, who rely on this little slice of sand to be the getaway they need.

In the wake of Pope Francis' recent and widely discussed TED Talk, it's no surprise to see him make a powerful gesture like this.

"How wonderful would it be, while we discover faraway planets, to rediscover the needs of the brothers and sisters orbiting around us," he said in the video, which has already been viewed tens of thousands of times.

Pope Francis may have flaws, but he's also proven to be a remarkable humanitarian.

Beyond just bringing light to different ways we could better serve the disabled community, he's doubling down on his belief that now — especially now — is the time to look for ways to help our fellow humans.

Even if that just means helping them have a day full of fun at the beach.

More

Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg are making a serious push to expunge people's pot convictions

National Expungement Week is Spetember 21 to 28.

Courtesy of Houseplant.

In America, one dumb mistake can hang over your head forever.

Nearly 30% of the American adult population — about 70 million people — have at least one criminal conviction that can prevent them from being treated equally when it comes to everything from job and housing opportunities to child custody.

Twenty million of these Americans have felony convictions that can destroy their chances of making a comfortable living and prevents them from voting out the lawmakers who imprisoned them.

Many of these convictions are drug-related and stem from the War on Drugs that began in the U.S. '80s. This war has unfairly targeted the minority community, especially African-Americans.

Keep Reading Show less
marijuana expungement national expumgement week stoner comedies Seth Rogen Evan Goldberg High Times seth rogen even golldberg national expungement week
Culture

Breaking down the conspiracy theory mindset at the heart of climate change denial

Becker1999/Flickr

Climate change is happening because the earth is warming at an accelerated rate, a significant portion of that acceleration is due to human activity, and not taking measures to mitigate it will have disastrous consequences for life as we know it.

In other words: Earth is heating up, it's kinda our fault, and if we don't fix it, we're screwed.

This is the consensus of the vast majority of the world's scientists who study such things for a living. Case closed. End of story.

How do we know this to be true? Because pretty much every reputable scientific organization on the planet has examined and endorsed these conclusions. Thousands of climate studies have been done, and multiple peer-reviewed studies have been done on those studies, showing that somewhere between 84 and 97 percent of active climate science experts support these conclusions. In fact, the majority of those studies put the consensus well above 90%.

Keep Reading Show less
conspiracy theories climate change
Nature

After going viral for helping a 91-year-old, this humble plumber now exclusively serves the elderly and disabled

via James Anderson

Two years ago, a tweet featuring the invoice for a fixed boiler went viral because the customer, a 91-year-old woman with leukemia, received the services for free.

"No charge for this lady under any circumstances," the invoice read. "We will be available 24 hours to help her and keep her as comfortable as possible."

The repair was done by James Anderson, 52, a father-of-five from Burnley, England. "James is an absolute star, it was overwhelming to see that it cost nothing," the woman's daughter told CNN.

Keep Reading Show less
Heroes

A mother's viral plea for kids with life-or-death food allergies is one we all need to hear

HR Mom/Facebook

I live in a family with various food intolerances. Thankfully, none of them are super serious, but we are familiar with the challenges of finding alternatives to certain foods, constantly checking labels, and asking restaurants about their ingredients.

In our family, if someone accidentally eats something they shouldn't, it's mainly a bit of inconvenient discomfort. For those with truly life-threatening food allergies, the stakes are much higher.

I can't imagine the ongoing stress of deadly allergy, especially for parents trying to keep their little ones safe.

Keep Reading Show less
popular