Uber kindness, white settlement police, Parkinson’s guitar therapy, and more good news today

Even when the broader news cycle feels heavy, these stories show people still making time to return what was lost, build what is needed, clean up what is left behind, and show up when someone else is in danger or pain.

From an Uber driver returning a treasured necklace to students cleaning Churchill Downs, an ATV group rallying around a sick child, and police using jumper cables to save a mother from floodwater, the details carry the heart of the news.

Ilona Bannister was six when her grandmother Marika taught her how to swim. As Bannister floated on her back, she stared at the enamel medallion around Marika’s neck, a tiny Ukrainian icon of Mary that her grandmother always wore.

When Bannister was 16, Marika died, and the necklace became hers. Years later, after Bannister had her first child, she put it on and rarely took it off. It felt like a way to keep Marika close.

Then, at 47, Bannister lost it in the back of an Uber.

She had been dropping off her son at a friend’s house when she realized the necklace was gone. At first, she checked her clothes, shoes, bag and pockets. She shook out her sweater and belt, then ran back to the drop-off point and searched the sidewalk, gutter and fallen leaves. Finally, she returned to the friend’s house where the car had picked them up and checked the hallway, kitchen and even the dog.

Nothing.

Bannister tried to report the lost item through the Uber app, but the form left no room to explain what the necklace meant. She could not write about Marika’s faith, the holy water from Lourdes in the fridge, the vial of Ukrainian soil her grandmother had carried after leaving during World War II, or the funeral outfit Marika had prepared years before her death.

All Bannister could do was share her phone number and mark the item as jewelry.

Later, on the train home, she feared the necklace was gone for good. Other passengers might have come and gone. The small pendant could be anywhere.

Then a text arrived from the driver: “I find it.”

Bannister and her son cheered in the quiet train car. She sent a grateful message explaining what the necklace meant and asked whether he could return it to her friend’s house. He replied, “Ok ok no problem.”

The driver brought it back, even though he was far from the house and even though the app limited what Bannister could give him as thanks.

The original story can be found on: People

Retired Army Staff Sgt. Brian Pierce received the keys to a new home Saturday morning in Hanover County, Virginia.

The house was not just new. It was mortgage-free, custom-built and specially adapted for Pierce, a Mechanicsville veteran who was injured during his second deployment to Iraq.

Pierce suffered a traumatic brain injury when an explosive device struck his vehicle. The injury left him blind and caused hearing loss.

The nonprofit Homes for Our Troops hosted the key ceremony and built the home with more than 40 adaptations designed around Pierce’s needs. Those features include automatic door openers and backup generators.

The organization has been building custom homes for injured veterans since 2004. According to WTVR, Homes for Our Troops has completed more than 400 homes nationwide.

For Pierce, the home provides a living space built with his injuries in mind from the start. Instead of forcing daily life to work around barriers, the house was designed to remove them.

The original story can be found on: WTVR CBS 6

The 152nd Kentucky Derby was over, but Churchill Downs still had work left to do.

By early Sunday morning, volunteers had begun the long cleanup after one of Louisville’s biggest events. Many arrived as early as 7:30 a.m., including students from Jefferson County Public Schools high schools.

The mess was not small.

“Nasty,” one student told WAVE.

“There was trash everywhere,” said Owen, a student at Atherton High School.

Volunteers found leftover Derby glasses, chairs and food containers scattered around the grounds. Brian, another volunteer, described finding a soggy burger, wet brown material on the floor and leftover Arby’s.

Some volunteers managed to find humor in the work. Gavin said he found an unopened Push Pop and a brush, joking that he might give both to his little sister.

But beneath the jokes, students said the cleanup gave them time with friends and a way to help the community.

“It’s not bad at all,” Owen said. “You just walk around with friends have some fun, talk pick up trash, it’s a good event.”

By the time they finished, the track looked restored.

“Looks amazing,” Owen said. “Everything’s gone, we did it all.”

Many of the same volunteers had also helped clean up after Thurby and the Kentucky Oaks. They told WAVE they would be ready to return after Kentucky Derby 153.

The original story can be found on: WAVE

In Hephzibah, Georgia, an ATV benefit ride brought people together for 7-year-old Haven Cunningham of Wrens, who is battling a rare form of brain cancer.

Haven has undergone two surgeries and chemotherapy. On Saturday, the community gathered to support her and her family.

The benefit was hosted by the Dusty Dawgs Off-Road Riders and included more than the ATV ride. There was also a fishing contest, food and raffles.

Haven’s family said the turnout surprised them.

“Awesome, it’s amazing how much they’ve shown the support it really has it shocked me today really and we’ve got people from out of state that made it all the way from Tennessee, we’ve got a group of 40 from Screven County, we’ve got four or five riding groups it really is great building a sense of community with everybody getting together,” Tristen and Gabrielle Cunningham, Haven’s family members, told WRDW/WAGT.

The original story can be found on: WRDW/WAGT

Addist Bennett was nearly 60 when a hernia on the job left him unable to work.

Then everything began falling apart. He lost his apartment. Then, he lost his identification and finally, his confidence.

“I just never thought my life would be reduced to pushing a cart,” Bennett told KNXV.

The pain from the hernia could become debilitating. One day, it hit while Bennett was at the top of a stairwell.

“The next thing I know, I was at the bottom of the stairs and didn’t know how I got there,” he said. “Woke up, didn’t have no wallet, no laptop. Whoever came by saw me there and took what I had.”

Within about six months, Bennett had lost nearly everything. While pushing his cart through the streets, he said he prayed for strength to keep going.

His climb back took years. Bennett said things began to change when he started volunteering at the Salvation Army. That connection led him to Circle the City, an organization that helps people experiencing homelessness navigate the health care system.

“I just kept taking small steps,” Bennett said.

After his health stabilized, he enrolled at Gateway Community College. He began studying HVAC, controls and security. While still in school, he got a job as a surveillance technician through a partnership with Johnson Controls.

Bennett, who will soon turn 60, described himself as a resilient weed growing through pavement.

“I’m going to survive and grow, no matter what happens,” he said.

He expects to graduate with an associate’s degree by the fall. When he walks across the stage, he said, it will be the first time he has ever done so.

The original story can be found on: FOX10 / KNXV

Police in White Settlement, Texas, had to improvise when a woman and three children became trapped in rushing floodwaters.

Officers responded last Saturday night after getting reports of a car stuck in the water. When they arrived, they found the vehicle trapped in a canal that flows toward a creek.

Rescuers were able to get the three children to safety, but their mother remained stuck in the front of the vehicle. The car was teetering toward the water.

Body camera footage captured one officer saying, “I need something to get wrapped around her.”

Another officer grabbed jumper cables and turned them into a makeshift lifeline. The woman was told to anchor herself with the cables in case the water swept her away.

Fire officials soon arrived and pulled the car back onto the road.

None of the four family members were injured.

After the rescue, all city patrol vehicles were ordered to carry a water rescue throw bag.

The original story can be found on: WAFB

Michigan guitar teacher James Lenger has launched an occupational therapy program designed to help people with Parkinson’s disease play guitar.

The program, called Theraplaying, uses a 12-week curriculum to help people strum. Lenger told ABC News’ Danny New that the program grew out of Strum Perfect, his patented guitar attachment that helps stabilize a student’s strumming motion.

“This is, you know, something I never would have seen coming five years ago,” Lenger said.

Lenger said he has watched StrumPerfect help people with Parkinson’s, especially those learning guitar or living with early-stage symptoms.

“For people who are just picking up the guitar or [those with] early-stage Parkinson's disease, it just helps with muscle memory,” he said.

One student, Brian, told ABC News that playing guitar has helped with some of his symptoms.

“The diagnosis started out with my handwriting, and now I'm using my fine finger movement, the finesse in my fingers to get them active again,” Brian said.

Lenger has also begun working with doctors, including Dr. Naresh Punjabi at the University of Miami, to study how guitar playing may help people with movement disorders.

“We're not going to be able to reverse severe disease or at least impact severe disease, but in the mild to moderate zone, that's where we can potentially change things,” Punjabi told New.

Lenger said he hopes the work can grow beyond Parkinson’s and help people with other conditions, including multiple sclerosis and stroke.

“This has been the most fulfilling journey that I've been on,” he said.

The original story can be found on: Good Morning America / ABC News

The original story "Uber kindness, white settlement police, Parkinson’s guitar therapy, and more good news today" is published in The Brighter Side of News.

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