Good News of the Week: Tesla Fundraiser Goes Viral

As a local news organization, Patch covers stories of all kinds, from heartbreaking tragedies to nitty-gritty breakdowns of government and school district issues. But some stories are simply inspiring, often showing that at the heart of our communities is a desire to do good. Here are some of the touching headlines from the past seven days.

In an astonishing display of the power of the Internet - and the Internet's appreciation of Nikola Tesla - a viral campaign to aid a non-profit in purchasing Wardenclyffe, the scientist's final lab, raised over $575,000 in its first 72 hours of fundraising.

The effort was launched by the web comic and designer The Oatmeal (who created one comic on "Why Nikola Tesla was the greatest geek who ever lived"), with an end goal of $850,000.

Reads one line near the end of the comic: "On behalf of those who obsess, tinker, and fix things that aren's broken, consider it my way of saying thank you, Nikola Tesla."

The non-profit Tesla Science Center at Wardenclyffe reportedly has a matching New York State grant, and the $850,000 would give the organization enough to purchase the land in Shoreham.

Those interested in donating can click here.

Michael Novogratz, an Amagansett homeowner, recently returned from London with the members of U.S. Wrestling Team, a couple of whom took home gold in the 2012 Summer Olympic Games.

Novogratz, a former collegiate wrestler and a National Wrestling Hall of Fame inductee, was selected as the US Men's Freestyle wrestling team leader, a position he described as "part cheerleader, part mentor, part fundraiser and part strategist."

Wanting to do a community service project before he graduates , Aiden Kravitz thought about helping hungry kids overseas, but then his mom, Joanne, pointed out that there are hungry kids in his own community.

Aiden got to work and before long, his mom said he learned that there are numerous needy Westhampton Beach Elementary School students.

That's when he decided to start a Westhampton Beach chapter of the international Blessing in a Backpack program, which sends elementary school kids home, each Friday, with a backpack full of food.