Youth Time’s Good News Stories: Friday 30th April

Here at YTM, we want to spread more good news! In the first part of a new series we chart some of the best stories from around the world.

The news tends to focus on negative stories, showing us the worst of humanity. According to Jean-Jacques Rousseau, however, human nature is inherently good. 

In this new series for Youth Time, these three stories are perfect examples of regular people making the world a better place, one day at a time!

 

Bow Ties that Rescue Dogs

Darius Brown was just eight years old when he started learning how to sew bow ties. 

His older sister, Dazhai, was a significant influence in his life, and she taught him this fun skill. 

She made bows for her clients as a cosmetology student, and Darius wanted to help. 

“Who wouldn’t love a dog in a bow tie?” 

The first bow tie he created was a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle-themed. 

Once he made one, with his sister’s help, he was hooked and continued creating bow ties until he could do it independently. 

When he saw the news about hundreds of displaced dogs and cats following Hurricane Irma, he was inspired to use his sewing skills to help them find new homes. 

Darius told CNN that he asked himself, “Who wouldn’t love a dog in a bow tie?” 

Thus, he began his journey as a pet haberdasher. Just four years ago he made a small donation of 25 handmade bow ties to New York City’s ASPCA animal shelter. 

These pet-sized bow ties helped animals stand out in their photos and eventually get adopted!

Today Darius Brown has his own online bow tie business where he sells his beautiful creations. He continues donating to animal shelters and helping dogs find their forever homes. 

You can contribute to the cause and allow him to keep changing the lives of countless animals and the families that adopt them.

 

Humorous COVID-19 Children’s Book Parodies

The pandemic that has changed the lives of everyone on the planet for over a year is no joke. But sometimes, laughter is the best medicine. 

Children have struggled with the changes more than anyone with online learning and cannot socialise with their friends. 

Stefanie Trilling is a mother of two and lives in New York City. 

Professionally she is a lawyer, and despite having zero artistic background, her paintings have gone viral on social media. During the darkest hours of the pandemic, she brought joy to the world.

Her parodies of classic children’s book covers showed the new reality for children all over the world. Goodnight Zoom, Green Eggs and Wash Your Hands, and Dragons Love TP are just a few of her fun covers! 

Stefanie had used these covers to help explain the pandemic to her children. 

Since they were confined to their NYC apartment that happened to be near a hospital, they experienced a lot of friends and unprecedented stress. 

This fun way to help her children understand the new normal made a difference all over the world. You can see some of the covers on her YouTube channel.

 

A Life-Changing $1,000 Tip

Sometimes, giving a gift can mean more to the gift giver than to the gift receiver. Burg Steakhouse in Gatlinburg had a visitor come in with his granddaughter for lunch. 

He returned later for dinner and had a bill of $59 for a Shirley Temple, a filet mignon, crab cakes, and a school of ice cream. 

What surprised everyone was that the tip exceeded the standard 20% or even a more generous 30-40%. 

The kind man had left a tip for $1,000! He wanted everyone at the steakhouse to share it, and the staff was so appreciative. 

The co-owner, Michelle Stranga did some digging and found out that the tourist was terminally ill. With only months to live, he wanted to spend his last days paying it forward. 

Although he requested to remain anonymous, his act of kindness will never be forgotten.  

It can be easy to lose faith in humanity with all the terrible broadcast events every day.

However, it is essential to remember that new sites focus on shock value, and there are so many more happy stories that don’t make it to your news feeds. 

Here at Youth Time Magazine, we want to showcase these acts of kindness that happen more often than you’d expect. Stay tuned for a bi-weekly post with happy stories to brighten your day.


Want some more feel good news? How about these people doing great work around the world.

Five Young People Making A Difference in their Communities

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