Coming up on a positive note where good news does
exist. One man is making his way up and
down the Jersey shore with seashells in hand. Really
glad that I can help someone else who has epilepsy
. It's all in an effort to raise awareness around
epilepsy. Plus young Islanders need your help. If
I have a big brother, I I mature a
lot more and become a better person in life.
How you can become a mentor with the Big Brothers
, Big Sisters organization over in Connecticut. It's telling
kids not to just stay at home and watch TV
, and video games. And until I got sign
and play sports, one little superstar is combining her
love for soccer and reading to enrich the lives of
those around her and she's just become the third sibling
in her family to turn 100 years old today.
Good news does exist and you come to the right
place to find it. It's time for on a
positive note. Hello. Hello and thank you for
tuning in. You're watching on a positive note where
good news does exist here. On a positive note
, you can be sure to find some of the
most heartwarming stories from all around our communities. Our
intention with every episode is to help you at home
feel good to provide you stories that will move and
inspire you. And on that note, let's jump
right into our first story that is sure to do
all of that. If you've spent any time on
the Jersey shore, you may have noticed all different
kinds of colorful painted seashells hidden usually in plain sight
painting shells and hiding them up and down the shore
has become a fun popular trend over in the garden
state. Some of them even painted with messages of
hope and inspiration. Well, for one new Jersey
man, these seashells carry a whole lot of meaning
as he paints them to raise awareness around epilepsy.
He's painted and hidden nearly 500 of them. And
did I mention some of these shells have made their
way to other countries as far away as Asia and
Australia? Take a look at this one. It
didn't take long for these two women to spot one
of Kyle a Demko, which's creations on this Jenkinson's
boardwalk bench. I suspect it would raise awareness about
epilepsy and the number of people that live with it
every day and hopefully find a cure. Kyle's epilepsy
began when he was just a child and underwent six
brain surgeries as doctors tried to control it. Last
October, he sat down and began to paint in
less than a year. More than 400 of his
painted shells have shown up as far away as Asia
and Australia. I hope it helps a lot of
people in the world because there's roughly 50 million people
with epilepsy on the shell is a QR code which
links to his Facebook page gofundme account and information on
what to do. If you see someone having a
seizure. Mitch remick lives with epilepsy since 2018 and
found one of the shells at a coffee shop.
So there's people on the outside that don't live with
people with epilepsy will learn how to respond to an
epileptic episode. Kyle says his mission will continue.
He feels lucky to not only be employed by Jenkinson's
but also be so close to a perfect spot to
share his talents and teach others about his challenges.
Glad that I can help someone else who has epilepsy
and it's a lot of fun on the beach just
to find a little surprise. And um yeah,
if you can learn something along the way, it's
a good day. Kyle says he hopes he can
raise enough money to purchase an epilepsy. Service dog
like his friend Mitch has. It's so amazing.
The dogs can sense a seizure before it happens.
They're trying to bite onto an alert watch during an
episode, potentially saving lives. So if you bought
one of these hand painted shells, be sure to
pass it on. Let's get Kyle that service dog
. He deserves now, you know what that sound
means. It's time for today's feel good fact.
So it's safe to say most people are fine with
never seeing the inside of a police station. Right
. Well, one man out of Pennsylvania has just
celebrated seeing his 400. Check it out. That's
Alex Mann. He has autism and over the last
four years, he's dedicated himself to visiting as many
police stations as possible. And yeah, he's just
hit number 400 over in New Jersey. Cops at
the station made the milestone real special for Alex.
They even painted a billboard to welcome him to town
. Just so beautiful. Alex tells us he does
this to raise awareness about autism, but also just
to show the respect he has for law enforcement everywhere
. 400 there are no signs he's slowing up any
time soon. A big congrats to Alex and that's
today's feel good fact. Now here's another story that
shines a spotlight on how incredible humans really are.
Just like all of our stories here. On a
positive note, one art studio has become a creative
haven and safe space for adults with special needs.
It's called Artisan Studio and it's located in New Jersey
. The special studio offers students classes in all sorts
of art forms like drawing and painting, sculpting clay
and paper mache collage and more all to enrich the
lives of their students. This is Adrian and he's
working on a new project today. And we're doing
fish in um under city and he's working on his
different plants that you might find there. And he's
hope he's coloring and using his own, making his
own decisions to see what he likes. And I'll
help him along, but we like to see the
mess um independently as possible. And um and he's
really good. OK. What are you drawing today
? Do you wanna tell a little bit what you're
drawing today? It fish. How many fish do
you have in there? 3455, count again.
Five. You done? Did that one? Twice
? Four. Are you trying to trick me?
Five. Are you want to take one over here
? Ok. We can do another one. You
wanna have five? Ok. Over on Long Island
, people are coming together to honor the life of
one of their own. You're looking at members of
camp anchor attending a wrestling fundraiser in memory of Tommy
Gallagher. There he is on your screen. You
may recall Tommy passed recently after his second battle with
cancer. Well, his beautiful family tells us that
he attended camp anchor for years and just loved it
. And that's where he met famous wrestler Adam or
Reiner who was put on shows for all the campers
for years. As you can see, I'm wearing
a very special tribute shirt to him and because Tommy
was so active and into body building all the campers
, we've all nicknamed him Tommy Guns. So our
nickname for Tommy is Tommy. Guns. Sun's out
. Guns are out too sweet. All right.
Well, Long Islanders, listen up. Our community
means you. One nonprofit that matches Children in need
with positive role models is sending out a call for
action. Big brothers, big sisters. Long Island
is struggling with a volunteer shortage. And as a
result, hundreds of kids are being wait listed for
a mentor. But this is where you come in
13 year old Deshawn mcneil Smith. So I would
like somebody that I could depend on somebody I could
trust that is older than me and 13 year old
Francisco Rodin. If I have a big brother,
I I mature a lot more and become a better
person in life. Are making heartfelt pleas for a
big brother to be a role model in their lives
. They are among 66 boys on a waiting list
for a mentor at big brothers, Big Sisters,
Long Island. The organization says another 114 boys will
be placed on its waiting list soon. COVID.
We're seeing a lot more social and emotional challenges for
Children and we're getting a lot more families that are
coming and enrolling their boys into our program since the
pandemic applications from volunteers to be big sisters and brothers
have dropped about 40%. The group says the need
is especially great for male volunteers, mentoring as an
intervention is important. Now, more than ever,
our Long Island Children are struggling they're socially isolated.
They're having academic challenges, emotional difficulties, socially,
it exceeded my expectations. Quite frankly, Matt Hitler
took 11 year old Quentin Grant under his wing in
December, 2021 from apple picking to swimming and chowing
down at barbecues. This big brother little brother duo
has forged a special bond. It's fun, enjoyable
with him. I get to do new things.
There's material things in life, but this is really
what matters. Day, Sean and the other boys
on the waiting list are hoping they too can make
a special connection with a big brother. Soon.
I've always wanted like a big brother. Someone I
can take care of me. Ok. We have
got to help those kids find the mentors they're looking
for. You can head to our website to get
involved and remember you have the power to make real
change. Well, just before our first commercial break
, I want to bring you news of one good
thing that's happening in the world today. Here's one
good thing that's sure to resonate no matter your age
location or otherwise when it comes to raising a baby
, they say it takes a village and it's a
well known phrase for a reason. Little Riley's father
, officer Zach Cotton was a police officer who was
killed in the line of duty in 2021. And
as Riley was preparing for his first day of kindergarten
, his late father's precinct wanted to make sure he
knew he had support. So officers at the Louisville
Metro Police Department lined the entrance of his elementary school
. So he had a mini welcome committee to start
kindergarten. The amazing moment you can see there on
your screen was shared on social media with the precinct
writing quote, Riley has a great support system in
place and ain't that the truth? That's one that
just gets me every time and there you have it
, my friend. That's today's one good thing.
And on that note, thank you for embracing all
of this positivity with me. Remember, good news
does exist and you can always be sure to find
it right here on a positive note. I'm Jordan
and I'll see you next time.