Good News of the Week
by Intelligent Change
WWII veteran makes hundreds of wooden toys to give away each year
Ed Higinbotham's workshop isn't in the North Pole, but it does create hundreds of handcrafted wooden toys every year for excited kids. Ed Higinbotham is 94 years old, from Fayette County, Pennsylvania, and he has been making toys to give away to local children since the 1980s.
The World War II veteran, who specializes in trucks and tractors, estimates he has finished at least 3,000 toys, each one marked with the day and year it was completed. "I love to make toys and give them away," Higinbotham told KDKA saying he gets joy from the idea that his wooden boats, wagons, and cars are making kids happy.
Last week, Pennsylvania State Trooper Robert Broadwater picked up 300 toys from Higinbotham's house, which he will distribute to preschools. Broadwater has called Higinbotham "Fayette Santa," and on Twitter, praised him for having "the drive and determination to see children smile this time of year."
7-years-old Chicago Girl Raises $22,000 for Children’s Hospital With Friendship Bracelets
Using her jewelry-making skills, Hayley Orlinsky has raised $22,000 for the Chicago hospital that took care of her when she was an infant.
Seven years ago, Hayley was a patient in the neonatal intensive care unit at the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago. She told The New York Times that when the coronavirus pandemic began in March, she heard on the news that the hospital was low on personal protective equipment, and decided to start selling rubber Friendship bracelets as a fundraiser. She started to make bracelets in a variety of colors, and, as word spread, she started getting orders from as far away as Italy.
At the moment, Hayley Orlinsky has sold more than 9,000 bracelets and raised $22,000 for the hospital's COVID-19 relief fund, and she told the Times she won't stop "until COVID is over."