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A second grader
pays off his school’s
lunch debt
BATTLE GROUND, WASH.
Last month 8-year-old Keoni
Ching decided he wanted
to pay down his classmates’
school lunch debt as part
of “Kindness Week” at his
Benjamin Franklin Elementary
School. Inspired by a friend,
he started selling customized,
beaded key chains for $5 each.
“I thought he’d sell enough
to give the school $20,”
says his mom, April Ching,
38, who posted her son’s
campaign to Facebook. But
on Jan. 31 Keoni presented
his principal with a check for
$4,015—which wiped out the
lunch debt at his school and
paid off debts at six nearby
elementary schools. Says
April: “We’re seriously so
proud of him.”
Four dogs and a moving van
add up to one special proposal
NEW YORK CITY
As a couple, Dan Heydebrand, 31, and
Diana Catherall, 29, have a lot in common:
They love dogs. Dan owns a moving business
like Diana’s dad, and they both grew up on
4th St. in New York City—Dan on the West
Side, Diana on the East. Which is why Dan’s
proposal on Feb. 2 included their canine brood
and a moving truck with the words “Diana,
Will You Marry Me?’’ painted on the side—in
the intersection at 4th St. and Broadway,
exactly halfway between their childhood
neighborhoods. “We had 20 to 30 seconds
[before the light changed],” says Dan.
“I said to her, ‘Look at the truck!’ ” Says Diana:
“I went blank. And then he got down on his
knee and, of course, I said yes!”
A beer can label leads to
a heartwarming reunion
ST. PAUL, MINN.
After Monica Mathis’s pitbull mix Hazel went missing
back in May 2017, the 34-year-old mother of eight
thought she’d never see the dog again—much less find her
face on a beer can label. But thanks to a Florida brewery’s
campaign for the Manatee County Animal Services
shelter in Palmetto, Fla.—featuring Hazel and three other
shelter dogs on four-packs of its ‘Adoptable Lager’—the
Minnesota-based Mathis and Hazel were reunited on
Feb. 7. “Everybody was crying,” says the shelter’s Hans
Wohlgefahrt, 44, who drove Hazel the 1,600 miles to
Mathis’s home in St. Paul. “She jumped right into her
owner’s arms.” Says Mathis: “I don’t know how she ended
up down there... but I’m just happy I have her back.”
Since
Motorworks
Brewing
launched its
campaign in
January, 40
dogs—and
Hazel—have
found forever
homes.
Dan (with support
from pups Fred,
Leo, Charlie and
Kalie) proposed to
Diana on Feb. 2.
Keoni plans to continue
selling key chains
(keychainsforkindness.com)
and donate the money to a
local children’s hospital.
32
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By SUE CARSWELL and WENDY GROSSMAN KANTOR Send suggestions to [email protected]
CLOCKW
ISE FROM TOP RIGHT: MICHAL BUJANOVICZ(2); ARTIST: @
HOACS; APRIL CHING;
MANATEE COUNTY ANIMAL SERVICES; (CAN) MOTORW
ORKS BREW
ING; (DAY DAY) GARY SW
EETEN
