Bethany Chambers' mother, Melissa called her school one morning with a request - she was hoping they could give Bethany's diploma to her three months in advance. If the request was unusual, the reason behind it was heartbreaking.

Bethany's father, Bob Chambers' had received a bone marrow transplant for leukemia earlier but had now found that the transplant was rejected by his body. With no more medical options left, Bob took the hard decision of choosing quality over quantity and leaving the hospital to stay at home with his family for what little time he had. Bob had always been involved with his daughter's education and it was crushing her heart to think he would not live to see her hold her diploma.

"When I found out that he wasn't going to make it to my graduation, it was kind of crushing because him and I are best friends, so it was like I'm going miss out on all of this stuff that we're not going to be able to do together anymore," Bethany, 18, said.

On understanding the reason why, the authorities at Rockford Public School held a quick meeting and decided they would do one better. A few hours later, the superintendent called Melissa with a counter offer. "We are going to do a full graduation at your house. How does 7 pm tonight sound?"




Within hours, the school board arranged everything, getting Bethany a cap and gown and setting up a table with her diploma and academic award plaque in front of her dad's bed so that he could see it. Everyone who mattered from the school attended the graduation - the Principal, superintendent, members of the school board, tennis coaches, counselors. They even had the iPad set up to allow Bob's 95 year old grandmother to watch the ceremony since she lived elsewhere.

Thanks to the extraordinary measures taken by the Rockford Public School for their student, Bob Chambers and his daughter got to share one last memorable event together before he passed away.


(Fair warning: Keep a kerchief nearby)

Quentin Love has not had an easy life. Coming from a broken home on the mean streets of South Shore, Austin, he had been on the wrong side of the law influenced by gangs and drugs. He has risen and fallen numerous times. Which is why his turnaround is all the more inspiring.

Having gotten out of the gangs and later honorably discharged from the Marines, Quentin struggled with various ventures including running barber shops and dry cleaners. It was when he finally decided to give back to his community that his life began to turn around. Wanting to offer a healthier option, he started his first eatery in 2001, alongside his charity, The Love Foundation. Again, success was fleeting for over a decade. Determined to make a change and focus on giving rather than succeeding, Quentin changed things up again.



From 2013, his restaurant, The Turkey Chop Grill, would close for the paying public every Monday and only offer free food to those in need. He served elaborate meals - baked chicken, mac and cheese, spaghetti, red beans, rice and greens - to over 1000 poor people every day from his own pockets, giving over 60,000 meals in two years.

Money, however remained an issue with such kindness and so, Quentin took a gamble and appeared on celebrity chef Guy Fieri's show 'Grocery Games'. The special edition show had veterans from four military branches in a cook-off. Quentin won. His concept of focusing on giving rather than winning had finally paid off.

True to nature, Quentin has invested his winnings back in feeding the poor. From 1000 a day, he successfully fed 2000 for Thanksgiving that year. Even today, in Chicago, Quentin Love keeps the Turkey Chop Grill running, feeding healthy tasty food to everyone 6 days of the week and exclusively to the poor and homeless on Mondays.

Parkash Chhibber was off to a good start in life, newly wed and riding a wave of success in his career when he was hit by a car in 1992 while sitting at a bus stop in New Delhi, resulting in nine fractures and leaving him bedridden and without work for two years. Financially, things got so bad that there were days when he and his wife had no food to eat and had to travel on crutches to friends' houses, hoping to be invited for a meal.

"I went from king to beggar in one night," he recalled. During this period, it was friends and family who brought food for him and offered his family support and aid.

Having traveled to Canada in 2005 to restart his life, Parkash Chhibber remembered those hard days years later when he saw homeless people rifling through the dumpsters behind his restaurant.  And he chose to pay to forward the kindness given to him in a truly heartwarming way.

Even today, if you sit at Parkash's restaurant Indian Fusion in Edmonton, Alta in Canada and listen carefully, there is a good chance you will hear a knock at the back door while you devour your naan and chicken tikka. You see, there is a sign on the back door of Indian Fusion that invites anyone who is hungry and has no money to 'knock on the door for a free meal.'



Every morning, the restaurant start by cooking "God's food" - the food for those knock which is the same dishes served to his customers to ensure high quality food for all.

Today, Chhibber serves as many as 1600 hot meals out of the back of his small restaurant every month since the last four years with people often lining up during the lunch rush hour. If the food gets over, they simple cook more. There is no question of sending anyone back hungry. In addition to this, for the last year, he has started serving a buffet dinner to feed 150 more at the Hope Mission once a week.

Author's note:

In more than 200 restaurants in Kozhikode, a city in Kerala, India you can see a box filled with notes and coins next to the cashier. And on that box is labeled two words - Operation Sulaimani.

An initiative started by District Collector N Prashant who believed in the compassion of his fellow Keralities, Operation Sulaimani began in 2015 and remains a huge success even today.

Under Operation Sulaimani, donations from the public go into boxes  strategically placed throughout the city. The money from these boxes fund coupons which are made available at government offices and many hotels. Those who are hungry and do not have money can then take these coupons for free and have a hearty lunch of their choice in any of the designated restaurants, no questions asked.

In June 2015, Operation Sulaimani was launched in 40 restaurants and eateries in Kozhikode. In that first year, over 10,000 meals were served across Kozhikode via Operation Sulaimani and the number of restaurants had increased to 200 across the district, a massive increase of 500 % in participation.



Prashant Nair modeled Operation Sulaimani on systems existing in western countries - 'Coffee on the wall' and 'Food on the Wall' - where the community reaches out to care for one another. The name is derived from the flavorful spiced tea 'Sulaimaini' available in the Malabar area. The thought behind this first came to the District Collector while watching the hit Malayalam film 'Ustad Hotel' which dealt with the topic of attaining personal peace by serving the poor and hungry. So it was a wonderful blend of reel-life meets real-life when director Anjali Menon, who wrote the script of Ustad Hotel, inaugurated Operation Sulaimani in 2015.

One of the best things I read from one of Prashant's interviews was this anecdote. He was asked whether he had factored in that many people may misuse this venture. His reply?



Operation Sulaimani does not receive any funding from the government. All the money for this noble cause is purely contributed by the public of the city of Kozhikode, who do not ask the identity of the recipient of their generosity. It is enough that they get fed.





Final thoughts:
For those who want it, you can also take my recipe of Sulaimani tea from here!

Author's note:

For more than 35 years, 9 women from Tennessee have been part of a secret group that would stealthily seek out houses in low-income neighbourhoods, looking for specific features. Having chosen their targets, they would return before the sun came up. The women called themselves The 9 Nanas.

The idea began 30 years ago when the 9 women were sitting around playing cards and thinking of MaMaw and PaPaw (grandparents to 4 of the 9 women) and how MaMaw would always keep track of who died in the area and send them one of her special pound cakes. The idea was simple: to console them and bring a smile on their faces. The 9 women wanted to emulate that but knew it would not be easy.

They began by setting aside around $400 a month by doing their own laundry. They then used their ears, eavesdropping on others conversations in supermarkets and beauty parlors. When they heard about people who had suffered a loss or needed help with bills, the 9 Nanas would spring into action.

Even as their husbands snored in bed, the women would assemble at 4 in the morning and bake pound cakes and ensure they get delivered before heading back to their normal lives, leaving behind only the suspicious scent of vanilla, lemon and lime. The packages they gave had cakes, money and a personalized note that said "Somebody loves you." As they helped more people, they grew bolder driving right up to the doors in the dark and delivering the packages stealthily like burglars before rushing back home and into bed before their husbands woke up.


Amazingly, they did this for 30 years before they finally got caught when one of their husbands demanded answers for the extra car mileage and the large bank withdrawals. Panicked, his wife called the others and a huge conference of families was held. And that is when the fun really began. The husbands - and later their kids too - joined in, setting up an online store and baking 100s of cakes a day.

The Nine Nanas even held a Happiness Happens Month Celebration annually wherein they would send cakes secretly to one person in every state in America who they felt had made a positive impact in their community.

That day, playing cards in their house decades ago, these women wished they had a million dollars to help those in need. Today, the 9 Nanas have contributed over $900,000 worth of happiness to their local community all by themselves.



Final thoughts:
The identities of the 9 Nanas are still unknown even today. But somewhere in a kitchen in Tennessee, there are a group of women - in their 60s and 70s now - baking pound cakes for the less fortunate even as you read this.

Author's note:

   

On July 8, 2017, at a busy Panama beach, two children of the Ursrey family got separated from the adults by a riptide 90 meters from the beach. Parents, relatives and even strangers tried to get inside to save the children but all 11 people ended up getting stuck themselves.

With time running out and help a long way away, the people (including a grandmother) needed both a superhero and a miracle. They got it in Jessica Mae Simmons and nearly 80 strangers on the beach that day.

Determined to save them, strangers in the beach - some of whom admitted later to not knowing swimming - formed a human chain. Holding hands, they extended themselves from the shore to try to reach the drowning victims. But even that was not enough as they needed someone with amazing swimming skills to swim past them to the riptide and help each of the victims back to shore.

Enter Jessica Mae Simmons.

The amazing human chain rescue at Panama beach, July 2017

• Armed with a mere boogie board, the young woman, confident in her swimming skills, swam past the human chain to the victims who told her they could barely hang on for minutes more. 
• Taking the first child in the board, she pulled him back to the human chain and after they took him, returned with the board. 
• Even though the grandmother of the children (who suffered a heart attack during this event) begged Jessica and her husband Derek to leave her be and take the others to safety, the couple refused and over a tense period of over 30 minutes, went back and forth from the riptide to the human chain, pulling everyone out, one after the other. 

By the time the EMTs arrived to help, Jessica Mae and the human chain had managed to bring all eleven victims back to the safety of the shore.

I got to chatting with AquaWoman Jessica Mae Simmons about that day and more. 

Jessica Mae Simmons and husband Derek

Most people refuse to come forward to help accident victims even when there is no risk to their lives simply because they do not wish to get involved. This story is amazing because you swam into a scenario where there was a genuine risk of you dying as well. Surely, the thought crossed your mind.

I guess I am not like "most people." I believe in God and isn't that one of the reasons we were created: to help each other? I mean Adam needed help with the Garden along with some other things, but God knew he couldn't do it alone. So he created "help". Someone who could be a equal. In my opinion, all people are my equal. I am on this Earth to help as many people as possible.

To answer your question, it was a risk. I've had people tell me that numerous times, but isn't that what heroes do everyday? Isn't that what military, police, and firefighters do everyday? Isn't that a risk they place on themselves as well to help strangers? They choose it because they have the same nature my husband and I do: to help people.

What advice would you give to the general public and readers regarding making the extra effort to save a life.

If you can make the extra effort to save a life, then why not? If you have some kind of "life saving skills" whether it be CPR,  nursing, doctors, veterinary, or even a good swimmer, use those skills.

When I scanned the water, I knew what I needed to do and that was to get the surf board and the boogie boards out to them so they could at least stay afloat. I didn't know if I was gonna save them that day, but I knew we could all use the boogie boards and the surf board to at least ride the waves out of the rip tide. If I was out there drowning, I would at least want someone to make a attempt to save me. Do unto others as you want done to you.

Have you been in touch with the Ursrey family after that?

Yes! Some of them moved back to Georgia, like the Grandmother and nephew, but the kids and the parents are still here! I talk to Roberta all the time! They are great people!  I always feel like that everything happens for a reason. There is a reason we were there that day (because we weren't planning on coming at all!)  There is a reason why they didn't drown that day. I hope they find that reason one day!

We've established that you're Aqua Woman. 

Ha Ha Ha! My boss calls me The Human Chain Wonder Woman. But I kinda like Aqua Woman better! Ha! Ha!

Now show us the 'everyday human' alter ego of Jessica Simmons . What/who are your favourites when it comes to:

1. Hobbies -  Def Cars! I love muscle cars and hope to build one for myself. I'm very outdoorsy so anything from finding waterfalls to trying out something once is a hobby of mine. I love crafting and making things for people.
2. Movies - I love comedy and true story movies. So 'Thats 40s', "Bad Moms', 'Forgetting Sarah Marshell' and to name some good true story would be 'Deep Horizon', 'Man Down' and 'Mastermind'.
3. Books - I love a true story book. First one I ever read was "Amber Frey- Witness". Another good one would be "Crystal Lies".
4. Food - I am def a meat and potato kind of girl. I feel like I am going to starve if I don't eat some kind of meat! Ha! Ha! So my favorite food is a steak!
6. Real Life Personality - I would say Will Ferrell and Kevin Hart!
7. Celebrity - I am a huge fan of Dwayne Johnson! I love his movies! I also love Van Diesel. Melissa McCarty and any celebrity that is down to earth.

Author's note:

Firefighters Tim Young and Paul Hullings were exhausted when they stepped into the 130 Diner in Delran for breakfast at 6 am. They had been fighting a horrible fire for a mammoth 12 hours. When the time came to pay the bill though, they were in for a surprise.

The young waitress who had served them had overheard their conversations and chose to pay their bill for them, leaving a sweet message on their check instead - “Your breakfast is on me today – Thank you for all that you do; for serving others and running into the places everyone runs away from. No matter what your role, you are courageous, brave and strong. Thank you for being bold and badass everyday.”



Touched, the two firefighters shared her kind deed on social media where it quickly went viral. And that was when they found out the true story of the beautiful waitress who had paid for them.

24 year old Liz Woodward had been struggling to make ends meet for the last few years after her father suffered a brain aneurysm that left him paraplegic. Having struggled to make her house wheelchair-ready for her father, she was devastated when it was foreclosed and they had to move into a smaller accommodation, leaving her father unable to travel outside at all and unable to see beyond his bedroom window.

Determined to help the woman who had showed such kindness to them even though she was suffering, Tim and Paul set up a fundraising campaign to get $10,000 (Rs 6.5 lakhs) for a wheelchair accessible van for her father. The donations however did not stop pouring in and when the campaign finally ended, the firefighters had raised $86,500 (Rs 56 lakhs) for Liz and her father.

Firefighters Tim Young and Paul Hullings with Liz Woodward and her family

The best was yet to come. Having heard of her kind deed, Mobility Ventures - the company that made these specialized vans - refused to take the money and gave the Woodward family the van for free as a Christmas gift.

Liz's life was changed forever over the course of that year. And it all started with a single act of kindness towards two strangers who walked into  her diner early one morning.


Liz Woodward, Tim Young and Paul Hullings would also appear on Ellen where all 3 would get surprise gifts.

Author's note:

Trust me. This article is not as boring as that title. It is actually extremely relevant to you as a social media user.


In 2008, a computer programmer named Paul Graham made a disagreement hierarchy, placing the logical form of disagreement at the top and then tapering downwards to the most illogical and uncouth form of arguing. He could not have predicted how telling his chart would be as a mere decade later, social media is pretty much a war zone with friends, strangers and faceless trolls all looking to just debate, insult and target one another.


Online arguments - you have been a part of it and so have I. The key thing to ask yourself is - on which end of the spectrum do you lie when it comes to explaining your stand? Do you resort to a strong, irrefutable argument with evidence or in the end, are you just a hater out to troll?

The Hierarchy of Disagreement

Let us do this with examples.

We shall start with a false statement and see how the three positive forms of disagreement would go.
Original statement:
He cannot sexually assault that child because he is a religious man.

1. Explicitly refuting the Central Point:
"The DNA evidence and CCTV camera clearly identify him as the assaulter."
(Provide Video or text link of official evidence)

2. Refutation
"As you can see in this article, it is clear he did it."
(Provide link to news article stating the documented case facts.)

3. Counterargument
"A religious man is also capable of sexual assault."
(A logical statement but offering minimal or no evidence.)

Now, we move to the 4 negative forms of disagreement.
For this, we shall use a true statement as the original template:
The priest sexually assaulted that small girl.

4. Contradiction
"You're wrong."
(A response relevant to the topic but offering no explanation.)

5. Respond to Tone
"I can't believe people can think such a thing about priests."
(The attack is on what was written rather than at the writer but offers no further explanation.)

6. Ad Hominem
"Someone like you who is an atheist will say such nonsense."
(Attacking the authority of the writer to speak on such a topic but does not correct the perceived mistake.)

While not a part of Graham's original hierarchy, I am adding these sub-divisions to help clarify this point because Ad Hominem, while annoying, is SADLY now the most common form of argument used in social media.

• 6a) Tu quoque/ Whataboutism - "Where were you when your religion's priest raped a child?" (A false argument because while the original speaker may indeed be a hypocrite for similar crimes committed elsewhere, it does not make the present statement false.)
• 6b) Circumstantial ad hominem - "You will say that because you have always been against my religion." (Accusing the speaker of bias because of past stances taken does not again negate the facts of the present case.) 
• 6c) Guilt by association - "You voted for Party A who is always against my religion. Naturally you will support this." (Here, the attack is directed towards the fact that the original speaker has, in the past, had similar views with a party whom I hate. Hence, I club the two together even if there is no connection in this particular case.)  

7. Name Calling
"You're an idiot!"

Don't forget to Save it / Pin it so that it can help you the next time you disagree

Advantages of knowing the Hierarchy of Disagreement

I hope the hierarchy of disagreement is clear. More importantly, I hope you will remember this hierarchy the next time you find yourself about to launch into an argument on social media.
Touchwood, I hope you stay on the right side of the disagreement. Remember, you don't need to insult someone when you can refute them with facts.

The article is written as part of the #SuperBloggerChallenge2018 by #Instacuppa conducted by HealthWealthBridge.com, FashionableFoodz.com and AllAboutTheWoman.com and should not be re purposed, republished or use otherwise. The content herein is owned by the blogger. SuperBloggerChallenge2018 is not responsible for any infringement caused.

This story begins on a dark night at Fort Kochi. A favourite tourist spot for foreigners and locals alike in Kerala (South India), a young Ukranian couple - Kristina Masalova and Eugene Petrus - are on holiday when they hear a pitiful yelp as they are walking back after dinner. On seeking out the cause of the cry, they come across a tiny puppy, dehydrated and starved, struggling on the beach.

They could have left the pup alone and walked away. Perhaps even fed it a few scraps and done their good deed for the day before moving on. They could have chosen a dozen paths that millions of us choose when we come across stray animals. The path they chose was one of a rare form of kindness; one filled with dogged determination (pun intended!) to take on all odds. It ended up making this beautiful unobtrusive family global icons and loved worldwide. Oh, and by family, I mean ALL THREE of them now, including the pup, Chapati (named because he was as thin as a chapati when they first found him!)

I will let Kristina Masalova take over from here.

Kristina, I love hearing the story of Chapati. I know the journey begins with two young hearts wanting a break from work in Ukraine and then buying the cheapest tickets to India. Could you tell everyone what happened next?

Our journey started from Fort Kochi. We planned to stay there for 2 days, but on our last night, the plan started to change. We had a dinner in one of the restaurants and had been walking towards the hotel. Suddenly, in a darkness, we heard a lonely puppy crying out for help. As we examined it we noticed a few major issues like dehydration and overheating, her condition was really bad. She was less than a month, alone, with no chances to survive on her own. So, actually, it wasn’t a “love at the first sight” – it was about saving her life, giving her a second chance.

That’s why we took her with us for emergency procedures. On the next day, when overheating and dehydration was already gone, we started to fight all other problems she had: tons of fleas and ticks, parasites, healing her arched leg and giving vitamins for her weak bones.

Only in five days, after all of her numerous problems were solved, we understood that all of us are attached to each other and that we are not ready to search for her new home. So we started to google the subject and believe that it will be possible to take her with us on all the future travels. Then we spent nearly two months in India in order to prepare all required documents for the export.

Let’s be honest, all of that wasn’t our initial plan. And it wasn’t in our budget. Moreover, it was nearly impossible to find the information on traveling with pets in Asia. So we had hard times, but love, fidelity, and confidence helped us to overcome all problems.

I can't imagine it was easy traveling with a dog. For fellow dog-lovers here, could you give us a few tips on traveling with a pet in India?

Our main tip on traveling in India: hide your dog :)
Of course, it’s a joke, but many times when Chapati was a tiny pup this strategy saved our time and money. Yet, this is definitely not a good advice for dogs more than a palm-size. I’m not sure that now we could travel through India as easy as it was one year ago: Chapati now weighs 20 kg, she is tall and while barking she may sound really threatening. Still, I’m sure that it would be possible.



On our travels, the Internet was always our best helper: before going to any place we made a search. When we had more time, we preferred to communicate offline: many hotels, which were not officially tagged as “pet-friendly”, were opened for us after a brief chat with an owner and manager. Cause when people see that you come with respect and liability, they can always make some changes in their regular rules.

Are there any places which you would recommend based on Chapati's experiences?

Unfortunately, there is a huge difference between Asia and Europe, especially western Europe. Countries like Italy are so dog-friendly that it’s even impossible to put them in one comparison with cities and places in Asia. So, in Europe, it’s easier to recommend the whole country and it means that it is friendly to dogs in all aspects. In our case, Italy was the number one. But I am sure that Germany would be the same.
Our homeland, Ukraine, makes us quite sad now. Only its capital, Kyiv, has a bearable range of places, which allow dogs. Still, I can’t call my homeland dog-friendly, as well as can’t say that many of my countrymen are mindful and kind to animals.
In India, we found many people, who were ready to help and were open to a couple of tourists with a small puppy. But I pray each day for Indians to be so open to all local dogs and that all desi strays would have their loving families (or at least – better life conditions). I do believe that someday this could happen.
Speaking about our touristic experience, places, which were the friendliest to Chapati, are Varkala and Agonda Beach in Goa. We also had a great time in McLeod Ganj and Manali, yet it was more difficult to find a place to sleep there.
On the other hand, in Delhi and Mumbai, it was really difficult to find dog-friendly hotels, restaurants, and options for activities, but we found really qualified veterinarians and could do some good shopping for Chapati. So, probably every place has its own pros and cons. And the biggest advantage of Asia is that all beaches are open for dogs, which made Chapati so happy.

I am personally jealous because I know Chapati has seen more countries than me. 

For now, Chapati has already visited 14 countries in Asia and Europe. She has been to India, Nepal, Thailand, Myanmar, the Philippines, Ukraine, Hungary, Slovenia, Italy, Vatican, Austria, Czech Republic, Poland, and Belarus. During this time, we visited nearly 60 different cities and overall travelled more than 40,000 km by land, air, and water.

Chapati has been on every mode of transportation available - buses, trains, planes, cars, rickshaws, ferries, catamarans, even a motorbike.

Chapati is always happy with us, wherever we go. But we think that most of all she enjoys the time, we spend now in Kyiv, Ukraine. We are living in the apartment of my parents and Chapati has a company of their beagle, Misha. These girls love each other and play all the time. Unfortunately, now we are in a lack of money for a wide scale journey, but we will definitely travel through Ukraine and probably even visit few nearby European countries.

I have been having dogs at my house for over 30 years now and it has taken me most of those 3 decades to teach any of them to fetch or sit, with them always deciding they are the boss of me. How obedient/disobedient is Chapati in comparison?

My experience of living with dogs also counts nearly 30 years, in other words – my whole life. What I can say about Chapati in comparison to other dogs is that I’ve never seen such an intelligent one. In a wink, she learned all commands we tried to teach her. And I’m always asking myself how trained could she be if we exercised more. Yes, sometimes she is a bit willful. She is ravenous for her food and can roar if she doesn’t like something. Yet, it never made us love her less. She is an individual, a very smart one. We are sure that all her small flaws are caused by her difficult childhood and traumas she possibly had. So we never feel aggrieved and always find options to calm her down. She is bright-minded and she loves us, so there are no inextricable situations.

We are big fans of positive training: we never shout, or beat, or punish. We try to train her and solve small problems only with love, treats and eye-to-eye contact. It works perfectly with Chapati. And we are sure that she is thankful for that. Overall I would say that 95% of the time she is absolutely obedient. Probably, if that was 100% it would be boring 😃

The kind gesture that you two showed to a tiny puppy that day in Kochi today inspires people from all across the world. Were the two of you surprised when your story started becoming famous on social media?

Somewhere deep in my heart, I dreamed that Chapati’s story could make some small difference in this world. And that was actually the reason why we started her Instagram account - Traveling Chapati. But, yes, we were absolutely surprised that it made such a huge resonance in a short period of time. Moreover, we were shocked that it brought some fame to us, Chapati’s parents. I know that HER story is unique, but when people call me and my husband heroes I feel shy.



I always think that we could do more. And I hope that we will. Saving Chapati’s life wasn’t hard for us. All we had to do is to have a faith, control our budget and spend few months surviving all paperwork. It’s not that much. Though, I believe that the prominence of this story raised only due to the charisma of Chapati. And as well it could arise with many other Indian pariahs, cause now I’m sure that this breed is one of the best in the world!

At the age of six, Jaden Hayes suffered a pain that no child should ever suffer. Having already lost his father at the age of four, his mother too passed away in her sleep two years later leaving him an orphan. The child was truly heartbroken. How he chose to channel his suffering was something nobody anticipated though.

His aunt first realized how special Jaden was when he came up to her and told her how sick he was of seeing everyone sad and how he had a plan to change it. With her help, the six year old boy bought a bunch of toys and ventured out into the streets of Savannah, Georgia where he lives.

The orphan would go up to everyone he felt could use a happy boost and hand them one of the toys, demanding nothing more than that they smile and be happy. And it worked. People of all ages and races broke out into smiles as the young boy came up to them and handed them unexpected gifts. And yes, there were a few tears too as they realized the back story of the child standing in front of them looking to make them happy.


Dubbed 'The Smile Experiment', Jaden made over 500 people smile in just a few months. His target though was much higher as is the norm with small children - 33,000. That was two years ago.

Did he attain that target?
I got to talking with his aunt and legal guardian, Diane Hollars.

I find it amazing that at age 4, Jaden was capable of such maturity to focus on other people's happiness. How do people react when he comes up to them and gives them gifts?

Jaden has always been taught to get things for himself, if he wanted something, he had to get it, he had to get things for his mom, he did a lot "adult" things, when he should of been being a kid. Please don't get me wrong, I loved his mom dearly, but she was trying to get him to grow up too soon. I guess that's where his maturity comes in. When we brought him "home", it took us a long time to get him out of the 'adulting' habit - he wanted to cook and do laundry while we just wanted him to be a kid.

He tries real hard to make sure people have things. If somebody doesn't have something, he will go get them something; either give them his or go buy it. He gets sad when he sees somebody go without something, he says everybody needs something, nobody should be lonely.

Who are his biggest role models?

He talks a lot about his dad teaching him things when he was little, he also looks up to his Uncle Bugg- that's what he started calling my husband Scott when he was little. He likes Roman Reigns, John Cena, Stephen Curry.
He usually doesn't ask for much. He's more of a giver but one thing he really wants more than anything is to go to Disneyworld.

Jaden aimed to make at least 33,000 people smile. That sounds like a ridiculously huge target. How close is he to that target?

We lost count but he passed 33,000 a long time ago.

I guess Jaden must be 8 years old now. Does he still continue bringing joy to strangers with his gifts?

Jaden will be 9 on April 28. He has not publicly done another Smile experiment since the one in Savannah but he does continue to pass out toys and gifts to people whenever he sees an individual sad or sick somewhere. We carry toys with us wherever we go. We are in the process of planning  a trip to downtown Athens by UGA which is only about 15 minutes from us in the next few weeks to do another Smile experiment.



You can find more amazing moments from Jaden's Journey by seeking out the hashtag #TheSmileExperiment on social media.