America's Best in 2011

Here are more of this year’s (2011) stories demonstrating the caliber of the US people; the strength and caring of America’s best. 

The American People - The 2010 Miss USA pageant picked 25 year old Rima Fakih as the first Muslim winner. Adam Starr lost his leg to cancer and is training for gymnastics (he did a back flip). A 28 year old Oregon woman survived 3 days in the wilderness eating bugs and berries and crawling around because she had a broken leg. Army Sgt. 28 year old Jacob Perkins rushed into a burning bus in New York (NY) to save passengers. An Ohio man risks his life to save the life of his child that fell down a well. While hiking an Oregon man saves his son from falling off a cliff. A Texas woman, Monique Lawless, chased down beer thieves at WalMart. At a fundraiser for a southern Minnesota school you could pay $10 for a ticket giving you an opportunity to take shot at putting a puck through a space just barely large enough to let the puck in. If you made the shot you’d win $50,000. Nick Smith was to take the shot but when his name was called he was not in the rink so his twin brother Nate took his turn and made the shot. The father, Pat Smith, thinking ‘honesty is the best policy’ called and reported the discrepancy the next day thus foregoing the winnings. This is definitely an example of doing the right thing. It was decided that a $20,000 donation in their name would be made to a local hockey league. When cops couldn’t, 12 year old Jessica Maple of Georgia did, track down the person who broke into her late great grandmother’s house; she also went and found the stolen property at a pawn shop and confronted the guy who did it. An Albuquerque, New Mexico man saves a girl from being kidnapped; a Winter Haven, Florida (FL) man saves a neighbor from a car right before it explodes in flames. A group of Good Samaritans in Logan, Utah lift a burning car off a motorcycle rider in order to pull him out and save his life. Former President Jimmy Carter is helping build 100 homes for victims of the Haiti earthquake. A FL man who couldn’t swim jumped into the river to save a 2 year old who fell off a pier; a man threw him a cooler to stay afloat while another jumps in to rescue them.  Real men do wear pink – a Maryland firefighter, football players and more show support for breast cancer awareness. The American people credit reduced violent crimes by 12% in the last year; the largest drop since 2001 according to the Justice Department. There have been several stories regarding the US’s Millionmomschallenge.com campaign. Women are going to various countries to help other women and Americans contributed $1.5 million to the cause. As part of the campaign, Chelsea Clinton is helping to get cell phones to health workers in other countries in order to stop the 1,000 women who die every day giving birth. And there are many other organizations that instead of doing harm are trying to help people. On December 16, 2011 it was reported that an anonymous donor dropped a rare gold coin worth $1,700 in a Pennsylvania Salvation Army kettle. A West Valley City, Utah police officer vows to (and does) stay with a woman caught under a city bus until she is safe. My favorite story is the secret Santa Clauses showing up all over the country and paying off people’s Kmart layaways; some were also handing out $50 to shocked shoppers.   

People and Business - Living outside Buffalo, New York, Lexi Peters who loves playing and watching hockey, sent a letter to Electronic Arts telling them how unfair it was that there were no females in their hockey game – the company agreed and changed the game. With a grant from General Motors, celebrity photographer Linda Solomon is helping homeless children see life through another lens; she has them take pictures of their hopes and dreams and then their photos are turned into holiday cards and sold to help get them back on their feet; one girl snapped a photo at San Diego State University and the President of the university is offering her a full scholarship. Home Improvement and ABC went to Joplin, Missouri to help rebuild. In the US tradition, thousands of needy people were provided with Thanksgiving meals. Helen Keller International introduced the orange sweet potato to West Africa to help prevent blindness (they had white ones with no vitamin A). A family started a food pantry at their school and took in a needy boy; Target via Ellen gave a large donation to help them to continue and on December 17 because of an Ellen show, Justin Bieber held a concert at a low-income Las Vegas, Nevada school. National and local news stations are having coat drives that are doing well.  

Remember that there is more to a person than the wealth in his/her wallet – it’s the wealth in their hearts. Have a wonderful Christmas; I’ll post more on the day after.