I know this year hasn't been easy for most (or even all) of us. We're swamped with bad news all the time and it's easy to overlook or miss the good things. So here are 18 touching, feel good &/or positive news stories of 2018 that you may have missed in the news cycle or forgotten about because this year has felt long as hell. Maybe, and I hope, reading about these stories will put a smile on your face. Obviously not an exhaustive list, so please add other stories in the comments!
Stormzy Launches His Stormzy Scholarship
In August, London rapper Stormzy announced via instagram that he launched "Stormzy Scholarship" in partnership with Cambridge University.
In his instagram post, he writes "With this scholarship we will be funding and covering the full tuition and maintenance for 2 black students this year and 2 black students in 2019 to study at Cambridge University. We as a minority are still heavily under represented at the top universities and I pray this scholarship serves as a reminder that we are more than capable of studying at places of this caliber." See the full post (screencapped) below:
You may also remember that in July, there was an ONTD post about Stormzy's collaboration with Penguin Random House to create Merky Books to help young authors get published. Chadwick Boseman Honors James Shaw, Jr., at the MTV Movie Awards
At the MTV Movie Awards this year, Chadwick won the Best Hero award for his performance in "Black Panther." He used the moment to honor James Shaw, Jr, a real-life hero: "Receiving an award for playing a superhero is amazing, but it's even greater to acknowledge the heroes that we have in real life. So I just want to acknowledge somebody that's here today. James Shaw, Jr., where are you? Stand. If you don't know James Shaw, Jr., he fought off a gunman in Antioch, Tennessee at a Waffle House. He saved lives. Come on up here." Watch the moment here:
Taylor Swift Meets 8 Year Old Fan Who She Helped Get a Service Dog
Taylor had donated $10,000 to help her young fan, 8 year old Jacob Hill, a service dog. She also gave the family front row seats and backstage passes. Jacob's mom posted about the experience on the Facebook page Autism Speaks, screencapped below (sorry, but I couldnt figure out how to embed a facebook post)
One more pic of Taylor with Jacob and his service dog, Reid:
Taylor Swift photos via the Autism Speaks facebook page, linked in the sources. John Boyega visits his old primary school to give Jedi training
In late June, Star Wars star John Boyega visited a PE class at Oliver Goldsmith Primary School as part of a fitness program to help inspire kids to stay fit. The reactions are adorable!
Metallica Donates to Food Banks at Every Tour Stop
Metallica is on their WorldWired tour and has been donating thousands of dollars to food banks at every stop via their All Within My Hands Foundation.
Recently, the band donated 50k to the North Valley Community Foundation and the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation.
Ken Jeong Stopped Comedy Show to Help a Woman
Ken Jeong - who is a trained physician - was performing at the Stand Up Live Comedy Club in Phoenix when in mid-show, he stopped to help a woman in the audience who appeared to be having a seizure.
Marvel Actors Respond to Fan Fighting Cancer
A young man named Josh battling stage IV brain cancer wanted to meet or receive a message from Marvel actors, specifically Ryan Reynolds. icekofi made a super cute post sharing Reynolds' video message, along with some of the Marvel guys like Tom Holland and Chris Evans. Daisy Fuentes Marx Helps Animals
Daisy Fuentes Marx tirelessly uses her social media accounts to help animals, and I love her for it! In October she helped the ASPCA promote animal adoption with their Find Your Fido program.
Travis Scott Gives Out $100,000 to Fans
In August, Travis Scott surprised his fans when he announced on Twitter that he will give out 100k via Cash App to fans who tweet his lyrics to his new album, Astroworld. He gave out amounts ranging from 5$ to the hundreds.
Dolly Parton's Imagination Library Reaches New Milestone
Since 1995, Dolly Parton's Imagination Library program has been giving away free books to children from birth until 5 years of age. This year, the program reached a milestone of over 100 million books. The 100 millionth book was donated to the Library of Congress.
Pearl Jam Helps the Homeless
sundaymourninshared the news that in just two concerts, Pearl Jam raised $11 million dollars to fight homelessness in Seattle. 90% of the money raised went to different charities; one of them, Mary's Place, "was finally able to actually purchase property to use as the shelter with the funds given to them." Most recently, Pearl Jam is raising money for kids and teens in foster care through The Vitalogy Foundation, which is a nonprofit founded in 2006 by the band. Jermaine Gresham Helps American Airlines Passenger
Twitter user Delilah Cassidy shared a story of a kind stranger on her American Airlines flight. After being told by the airline that carry-on items would be charged 50$, she found herself unable to pay as her credit cards were declined. Delilah was told she couldn't board the flight and to go to the ticket counter to settle the matter. A man offered to pay the fee. That man was Jermaine Gersham, who plays for the Arizona Cardinals!
Jon Stewart Helps Save NYC Subway Goats
Even if you weren't living in NYC at the time, you may have heard about the goats on the subway tracks:A team of people from Farm Sanctuary, which is a farm animal rescue and protection organization with sanctuaries in New York and California, came to take the goats. Oh, and Jon Stewart was there helping, too! Stewart is a long-time supporter of Farm Sanctuary, and even has rescued farm animals at his home in New Jersey. With Stewart's help, the goats were able to get to their forever home upstate. Kylian Mbappe donates World Cup earnings to charity
After winning the world cup at age 19, Kylian Mbappe decided to donate his earnings to a humanitarian cause. He chose Premiers de Cordee, which is a charity that gives free sports instruction to hospitalized and disabled children; he has been a supporter of the organization since 2017.
John Oliver Gets A Koala Chlamydia Ward Named After Him
This sounds very silly but it's actually going to help the threatened koala population. The animals are dying off because of the STD.As zyuranger breaks it down in this ONTD post, John Oliver purchased items from Russell Crowe's "The Art of Divorce" auction. Crowe found out that Oliver has wanted a koala chlamydia ward, and so he donated Oliver's money from the auction items to the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital. The hospital then created a ward in Oliver's name. Lady Gaga Visits Red Cross Shelter
“This is not easy. I know this is not easy. And I know that a lot of you are feeling a lot of pain right now, and a lot of shock, and this might feel very surreal. I know that I feel kinda in a daze and I'm not really sure exactly when or how this is gonna hit me when it does. What I can tell you is that I will pray for each and every one of you. You will be in my thoughts. I extend my love to each and every one of you. I know we do not know each other, but I love you. This is an emergency. But you are not alone. And we have each other.”
Lady Gaga visited a Red Cross shelter to help victims of the California wildfires. She brought food and gifts and talked to every one there.
Lin-Manuel Miranda Creates Arts Fund For Puerto Rico
In July there was an announcement that Lin-Manuel Miranda created the Flamboyan Arts Fund in collaboration with the Flamboyan Foundation to help the arts survive and thrive in Puerto Rico following the devastation of 2017's Hurricane Maria. “As someone whose life has been transformed by the power of the arts, and who has witnessed the incredible healing, growth, stability and wellbeing that cultural institutions can bring to local communities, I cannot stand idly by and watch Puerto Rico’s arts and culture scene suffer,” said Miranda in a statement.
...and finally, Bradley Cooper's Dog
Bradley Cooper's beloved pup, Charlie, made his film debut as adult Charlie in Cooper's A Star is Born. Charlie instantly won over the hearts of audiences everywhere, despite his small role in the movie.
(I don't think this dog in the still is actually Charlie but w/e.)
A gosh darn cute doggo who will put a smile on anyone's face!
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Please feel free to spread positivity and love in the comments, ONTD!