Category: Impact Heroes

  • Helping kids from behind bars

    When inmates at Norton Correctional Facility (KS) learned that nearby school kids couldn’t pay their school food tabs, they figured out a way to help. Many inmates recall how scarce food was when they were young and want these kids to have a different path. To get to their $4,000 goal and make a difference…

  • Jumping on the Bike Bus

    School is back in session and yellow school buses are everywhere. But every Wednesday in Portland, OR, P.E. teacher Sam Balto leads the Bike Bus instead – biking with about 100 students to Alameda Elementary School, blasting music and having fun along the way. In addition to helping the planet, “Bike Bus is a great…

  • Dancing for a discount

    With people feeling the pressure of higher grocery and gas prices, the Halfmoon Sunoco gas station outside of Albany, NY, decided to do something to help out. The offer? Dance for 15 seconds and get 20% off your gas bill. The station’s TikTok feed shows lots of people getting their groove on to save serious…

  • New tech identifies 9/11 victim

    Twenty-five years after the World Trade Center’s twin towers fell on September 11, 2001, the NYPD is still working to identify the remains of some 1,100 of the tragedy’s 3,000 victims. New breakthrough DNA technology recently identified one woman, with the hope of many more. Progress can be painstakingly slow, but Chief Medical Examiner Dr.…

  • Halloween in July

    Soren Farrow, who has autism, loves dressing up for Halloween. So when he turned 11 in July, he knew just how he wanted to celebrate – by trick-or-treating. When his mom sought help from neighbors to make Halloween happen in the blazing summer heat, the enthusiastic reponse was overwhelming. In the end, Soren donned a…

  • Making the outdoors more accessible

    Every year, millions hike the trails through our National Parks, but what about those who can’t? Ryan Grassley and his best friend Sam Durst – who has cerebral palsy – tested an all-terrain wheelchair dubbed “Extreme Motus” in four national parks in Utah for over 7 years before finally getting it into Zion National Park…

  • Firefighter uplifts with music

    After responding to a call at a Mesa, Arizona senior center, firefighter Derek Andresen surprised the residents by sitting down at a piano in the lobby. He played from memory a beautiful song that captivated the residents who were lucky enough to hear it. “No matter how you feel, music uplifts you,” says Andresen. And…

  • Catching Up

    The lazy days of summer will end soon, but for one father-son duo, playing catch isn’t just a warm weather sport. Last summer, Reed McCashland and his 10-year-old son Colby set a goal to play catch every day for a year – and they did it! Rain or shine, at home or away, they’ve tossed…

  • Reading to the dogs

    Eleven-year-old Nehemiah Turner recently reached a new milestone for Jacksonville Humane Society volunteers: 100 hours of reading to shelter pets. By participating in the Pawsitive Reading Program over the last two years, Nehemiah hopes to help calm the animals so they have a better chance of being adopted. Sharing his love of reading with the…

  • A Survivor’s Quiet Mission

    When Bob Lane learned he had Stage 4 prostate cancer, he was alone and blindsided. Years later, with his cancer stable, Bob volunteers at the same hospital where he received treatment to make sure other men don’t have to go through their cancer journey alone. He takes a hands-off approach, sitting by the clinic’s elevator…