Good News Tuesday for Jan. 12, 2021: Democracy Prevailed, Women in the Catholic Church, Rice ATM, A Returned Wallet, and Food from the Heart

Seeking Balance One Tuesday at a Time

Democracy Prevailed

After domestic terrorists attacked the US Capitol building on Wednesday in an attempted coup, members of congress evacuated to safety. The coup failed. Lawmakers returned to their posts that same evening and finished their jobs. Working through the night, they certified the Electoral College votes confirming Joe Biden as the 46th US president. The announcement was made at 3:40 AM on Thursday. Later that day, Donald Trump stated for the first time that “there will be an orderly transition on January 20.” We don’t know what the future holds, but on the morning of Thursday January 7, democracy prevailed. This article from MSN provides details and historical perspectives.

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Pope Francis Gives Women More Opportunity to Serve in the Catholic Church

 Pope Francis, “in another step towards greater equality for women in the Roman Catholic Church,” decreed on Monday that women will be allowed to serve as readers at liturgies, altar servers and distributors of communion. These things have been happening in some churches, but the decree formalizes and ensures the opportunity to be allowed even in conservative Catholic parishes.

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Rice ATM

In India, Ramu Dosapati has spent close to $61,000 of his own money to create a ‘Rice ATM’, giving out rice and other necessities 24 hours a day, to those in need. Here’s more from the Good News Network.

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Girl Donates Birthday Money to Homeless Man who Returned Grandma’s Wallet

Sean Curry, who has been homeless for five years, found a wallet in a dumpster behind a coffee shop. He found no cash, but there were credit, debit, and medical cards in the wallet. Sean arranged to have the wallet returned to the owner, Evelyn Topper. Evelyn’s grand daughter, Mikayla had planned her 12th birthday party to include a drop off for charity donations. She gave the several hundred dollars in birthday money, to Sean. For more details and a video from the Good News Network, click here.

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Food from the Heart

The Sakina Grill has served rich and poor alike. When the pandemic threatened the business, the community rallied in support with over 65 donors contributing more than a quarter of a million dollars. You can learn more about the Sakina Grill and be inspired by owner/chef Kazi Mannan here.

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Good News Tuesday: Teens Save Neighbor, Recycling for School, and a Free Food Forest

Seeking Balance One Tuesday at a Time

Teens Save 90 Year Old Neighbor from Burning House

High school students Dylan Wick, Seth Byrd, Nick Byrd and Wyatt Hall were hanging out at Wyatt’s house when they stepped outside and smelled smoke. Then they saw the flames coming from the home of their 90 year old neighbor. Two of the boys broke into the house to save her while the other two called 911 and alerted neighbors. Here’s more of the story:

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Recycling for Tuition in Nigeria

Families in Lagos, Nigeria who were struggling to pay school tuition can now pay student fees with plastic bottles. A recycling company picks up the plastic bottles, cans, and cartons twice a month. It would be nice if we could get rid of plastic all together, but for now, it’s helping students earn money for school. I’m thankful they have that option. Here’s the story from BBC.

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Free Food Forest

Atlanta has turned 7 Acres near a “food desert” into the biggest free food forest in the US. Read more here.

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Good news can be global, local, or personal.

(Next week I’ll be sharing about Canada’s new law that bans the captivity of whales and dolphins.)