Now is the season for delicious food! At Easter meals, Passover tables and iftars around the world, people are gathering to break bread with neighbors and loved ones (or just enjoy a nice spring meal, no occasion needed!). This week, I was lucky enough to talk to some wonderful people who are bringing the gift of good food and fellowship to neighbors in need, year-round. (You can read more about this below!) Food is one of the most powerful forms of connection, so here is my challenge to you this weekend: Share some, whether it's with an old friend or a neighbor you don't quite know yet, or through a donation to a food pantry or community fridge! There's enough for everyone, so let's pass it around.
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Our favorites this week
Get going with some of our most popular good news stories of the week
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Good food for all
Have you heard of community fridges? They have gotten popular in the US during the pandemic. It's essentially a fridge full of free food that anyone can take. But the real magic comes from putting things in. Bought some extra fresh produce? Couldn't resist that bulk deal at Costco? Make a delivery to the fridge! Organizers also partner with local restaurants and grocers to keep fridges stocked with delicious items that would otherwise have gone uneaten. So not only do your neighbors get the good food they need, the practice also cuts down on food waste. It's also a great example of a small concept making a big difference. The organizers I talked to started their projects, which are now flourishing, for a simple reason: They saw a need in their community, and they wanted to help. They didn't ask for permission or wait for someone else to do it. They just got it done. Pretty amazing, right?
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Too much cuteness
The search for the next Gerber Spokesbaby is on! (That's Magnolia, Gerber's 2020 Spokesbaby, beaming above.) The 2022 Photo Search, in which eager parents submit photos of their smiling infants for a bit of Gerber glory launched this week. The lucky winner, who will earn the title of "Spokesbaby" and "Chief Growing Officer," will be featured on the baby food company's social media channels and in its ad campaigns throughout the year. And they will also receive a $25,000 prize. "An irresistible giggle is strongly preferred," Gerber says on its website. "As well as an undeniable lovable personality." Sorry, if your baby is a jerk, this is not the contest for them!
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Happily-ever-after
Long-time Good Stuff readers will know, I'm a huge romance fan. Can't get enough. And the more representation in romance, the better! So you can imagine I'm super excited to hear that the Hallmark Channel is debuting a romance movie featuring a leading lady with Down Syndrome. In "Color My World With Love," actress Lily D. Moore plays Kendall, "a talented artist with Down Syndrome who creates beautiful paintings in the impressionist style that reflect the reality of her subjects as she sees them ... Her life takes an exciting turn when she meets Brad in a cooking class at the local center for diverse learners and romance blooms." Is Brad kind of an overused name for a love interest? Sure, but the rest sounds like a perfect Hallmark confection. "Everyone has a dream to fall in love and get married one day, even people with disabilities," Moore said about the film. "I hope viewers take away that 'Color My World With Love' is about painting your own story through your emotions and that we all have endless possibilities."
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A round of applause for ... |
Omar Hegazy, an Egyptian swimmer who just broke two (!!!) Guinness World Records seven years after losing his leg in a car accident. The 31-year-old broke the record for "longest distance swam underwater with one breath" and "longest distance swam underwater with one breath with fins." What's equally impressive is how honestly he talks about his feelings after the accident, when he first got into swimming. "I only got into swimming because I was a very angry. I found a way to I let out my anger and frustration, but it was also where I felt really free and capable," he says. Now, Hegazy is a motivational speaker and has achieved several other athletic milestones, like swimming across the Gulf of Aqaba in 2017 and completing a 700 km cycling challenge.
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CNN Heroes all over the world have been mobilizing to help people affected by the war in Ukraine. For paramedic-turned-nurse Teresa Gray, that meant traveling 4,500 miles from her home in Anchorage, Alaska to provide critical medical support. Gray, a CNN Hero, is the founder of Mobile Medics International, which deploys medical teams to natural disasters and refugee crises. She and several volunteers set up in Galati, Romania, where they provided care -- and comfort -- to hundreds of Ukrainians. Gray says because they are on the border of a war zone, in the middle of a shifting conflict, it's probably the most dangerous mission her organization has ever done. But volunteers knew the importance of their skills was worth the risk.
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There's only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that's your own self.
- Aldous Huxley, English author and critic, in his 1944 novel, "Time Must Have a Stop." |
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Ah, the smell of a new car. Such a comforting scent, even though it's mainly a mixture of plastics, stain resistant fabrics and leather. The smell is so important to a new car experience that some companies employ professionals to make sure it's just right. For Nissan, that's Tori Keerl, a materials engineer at Nissan's technical center in Farmington Hills, Michigan. She oversees a team of odor experts who carefully analyze the smells of everything that goes inside Nissan's vehicles. They are all "certified smellers" (a real thing, with real certification!), and they sniff test individual parts like steering wheels, seat cushions and visors before they're installed. If something smells off, they do a ton of smell forensics to figure out why. It's often an unusual chemical combination, which, for instance, could be due to a supplier having changed some aspect of how a part is made. In that case, Keerl said she'll work with the supplier to find what has changed and see if the problem can be fixed.
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Rec of the week
Brought to you by CNN Underscored
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Shameless animal video
There's always time for cute animal videos. That time is now.
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Here's to a beautiful weekend full of new beginnings and old traditions! Oh, and baby rabbits. Can't forget those. (Click here to view) |
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