A Dog Brings Out Our Best
Aaron Collins Last Wish – Kindness
Aaron Collins is described as the type of person that took great joy in unexpected kindness. Once after receiving exceptionally bad service at dinner, from a rude waitress, he left her a $50 tip. Things like this, given or received, were what he thought left a mark on a person’s life,” on the website.
A man with so much good in his heart was taken from this earth too soon. Aaron died July 7, 2012…just three weeks after his 30th birthday. But before his life ended, he made a last wish…to brighten someone else’s day and pay kindness forward.
What was his wish? Giving a random waitress a $500 tip after ordering pizza. After raising money through a website they built, his family carried out that wish at Puccini’s restaurant in Lexington, Kentucky on July 10.
Aaron’s brother Seth wrote, “We think he just wanted to provide a random act of kindness and generosity for someone he thought was under appreciated; the kind of thing that would make a lasting impact they would never forget.”
Mission very accomplished.
I found this note on the website:
“I just wanted to take a moment to thank all of you for the overwhelming amount of support you have given my family. Since last night we have received over $10,000 in donations. When I started this site I only expected to receive donations from friends and family. I was hopeful that we would get enough to make my brother’s wish come true. Even in my wildest dreams, I imagined we would receive enough money to do this for 2 waiters or waitresses. What has happened is absolutely incredible.
Right now we have enough money to change the lives of 23 more people, $500 at a time. That is nothing short of amazing. Please know that absolutely every penny we receive will go toward nothing but this. We will pay to host the website. We will pay for the food. Absolutely 100% of the donations we receive will be given to random waiters or waitresses. Our goal is to do this once a week, for as long as you give us the opportunity.”
Pet First Aid Classes Offer Important Information
NOTE: I have a new pet behavior blog located at http://www.SoMuchPETential.com/blog. Thanks!
Our pets are like our children. And, like kids pets can have accidents, ingest things they shouldn’t or have wellness issues.
As a successful pet sitter, Darlene Ehlers has seen all kinds of situations and she has watched over sick animals or animals with disabilities. She knows how important first aid knowledge is to our furred friends, which is why she trained and became a certified Pet Tech First Aid instructor.
Through her business Tri State Pet First Aid, she educates others too. Darlene has a four-hour basic class and an eight-hour Pet Saver class for both pet owners, caretakers and trainers. Note that these classes are geared to health and wellness of cats and dogs.
In Pet Saver, participants learn about restraining and muzzling, rescue breathing, canine and feline CPR, chocking management, bleeding and shock management, snout-to-tail assessement, assessing a pet’s vitals, treating for insect bites and stings, heat and cold injuries, what to do if your pet has a seizure, caring for a senior pet, and dental care.
Her next Pet Saver class is this coming Saturday, July 14. Registration is $119 and you must register no later than Friday, July 13. For future classes, please visit her site…http://www.tristatepetfirstaid.com/
Cincinnati Nonprofits Vying For A Toyota
It is easy to take for granted our ability to hop in our car to travel where ever we want to go. For nonprofits who are working day in and day out to make meaningful impact, that transportation isn’t always easy. Having an organization vehicle can be costly.
Cincinnati is fortunate that we have so many outstanding nonprofits who have stood out above the crowd in vying to win a 
FREE Toyota in the national Toyota 100 Cars for Good project. Already our Cincinnati Zoo and Recycled Doggies have won.
Some others who are finalists still need your votes. Each day only 5 finalists are featured and the one that gets the most Facebook votes wins a vehicle of their choice. Peggy Kreimer of Stepping Stones had this to say about what their win would mean to them…
If we win a wheelchair accessible van, it will transform our adult services program for people who use wheelchairs. Our last accessible van was 17 years old and is no lon
ger road-worthy. When the adult participants go out to restaurants, to the Butterfly show, to sports events and picnics, the people who use wheelchairs just wave good-by. And when the group returns, they listen to the excited tales of adventures and fun that they, once again, missed. Your vote can get them into the community again.
Here is a list of Cincinnati area organizations who are finalists, and dates that you can vote for them.
Easter Seals WRC, July 12
Stepping Stones, July 14
Creek Road Baptist Church in Sharonville, Aug. 7
4C for Children, Aug. 9
Cincysmiles Foundation, Aug. 21
To vote, go to www.100carsforgood.com. You must have a Facebook account to vote and can only vote once per day.
Let’s support our local charities and spread the word!
Liberty Mutual Volunteers Lend A Hand At Cancer Support Community
I just wrapped a contest for World Choir Games tickets where people wrote to me about what in Cincinnati makes their hearts ‘sing’. There are so many good things in our region and it was really fun hearing what people had to say. I may have to ask that question more often.
I wanted to share what Amanda Baker of the Cancer Support Community of Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky shared in her submission…
Liberty Mutual celebrated their 100 Year Anniversary with “Serve With Liberty” – a 2-day global service project that took place on June 21 and 22. Cancer Support Community was grateful to be one of the local sites selected by the Fairfield Liberty Mutual office for volunteer projects at CSC’s Lynn Stern Center in Blue Ash. Congratulations on 100 years and thank you, Liberty Mutual!
Despite the heat, a group of 20 Liberty Mutual associates worked outside for nearly 5 hours on June 21 and made an AMAZING impact on the landscaping and grounds at The Lynn Stern Center. Flowers were planted, shrubs trimmed, beds weeded and cleaned out, windows washed, the hillside by the dumpster cleared and seeded, and more.
Then on June 22 another 15 member Liberty Mutual volunteer group came to clean the inside of our facility. They cleaned the office spaces as well as the participant areas, dusted every surface, organized our books and kitchen, washed all of the inside windows and cleaned the blinds.
We couldn’t be happier with all the help we received from the Liberty Mutual volunteers over the 2-day service project. The Lynn Stern Center looks wonderful and we hope their volunteers will come back next year to celebrate 101 years!
Now that’s a great reason to sing!
