13 Good News Stories: ‘She Gave So Mommy Could Live’; Family Pies

ACROSS AMERICA — Superheroes don’t always wear capes.

As a kid growing up in Garwood, New Jersey, Kelly Bergin “believed heroes were big and strong with flashy costumes.”

But as it happens, Bergin had known her hero her entire life — and had fought with her over clothes, using the telephone and other things sisters spat about when they share a bedroom.

Tracy Bergin-Kessock, her oldest sister, earned her cape of honor when she donated a kidney to save their mother’s life. It was a rare match and “meant to be,” Bergin said. “She gave so Mommy could live.” By Alexis Tarrazi for Clark-Garwood Patch

In the stories below, you’ll find more that will touch your heart, lift your spirits and give you hope. These stories also show that as a people, we’re not only making a difference, we’re making progress.

The Shirt Off Her Back

The increase in food insecurity in the counties served by a Toms River food bank is startling — from 136,000 before the coronavirus pandemic to 215,000 people today, including 70,000 children. But the stories behind the soaring numbers are even more so. Volunteers staffing a food pickup drive-thru lane not only provide sustenance but also an empathetic ear. That’s what led volunteer Jeanette Schlapfer to take off her T-shirt (she wore a tank top under it) and hand it to a complete stranger who had admired it. Gestures like that aren’t uncommon. Volunteers told Patch that as much as the “pop the trunk” food distribution events mean to people struggling with hunger, the street runs both ways. “"Food is life," one of them said. "Food feeds the soul." By Karen Wall for Toms River Patch

Moms Meet Silence With Action

Carrie Long never dreamed standing up against systemic racism would put her at odds with an organization she and other Bowie, Maryland, at-home moms counted on to help make their kids’ lives richer and fuller with play dates and other activities. The international nonprofit behind local MOMS Clubs takes no stance on racial tensions igniting Long’s community and others across the country, and many chapters are disbanding over what they see as a lack of commitment to diversity and inclusion. “They didn't want to be part of an organization that couldn't stand up against racism,” Long said. By Jacob Baumgart for Bowie Patch

School Sends A Loud Message

The landmark 1954 Supreme Court decision that desegregated schools barely made a ripple in Loudoun County, Virginia. In fact, it wasn’t until the beginning of the 1968-69 school year that the county public school district finally did desegregate, and that was under a federal court order. Now the district is publicly apologizing “for the operation of segregated schools … and for the negative impact, damage and disadvantages to Black students and families” caused by its policies. By Mark Hand for Leesburg Patch

And So Does This City Council

After their mural supporting Black Lives Matter and calls for racial justice was vandalized, high school basketball players and their coach successfully petitioned city leaders in Evanston, Illinois, to rename that section of the street Black Lives Matter Way. “Recent incidents have shown that many have forgotten that Black lives matter,” the petition reads. “The Black Lives Matter Movement has challenged Evanstonians to explore and grapple not only with past and present injustices that have affected Black lives but also the future status of Black lives.” By Jonah Meadows for Evanston Patch

He’s Talking To You

No one ever expected 19-year-old Jibriel Tawalbeh, always a healthy kid, to get so sick from COVID-19. But he spent 47 days on a ventilator. He doesn’t remember most of it, but he wants you to know this: “COVID-19 is not a joke and is not a hoax; unfortunately, I had to face it firsthand, and I can safely say that it is a very deadly virus that is very real,” he says, urging people to wear masks when they’re outside in public “for the safety of others.” By Lorraine Swanson for Palos Patch

The Family Pie

California entrepreneur Kara Romanik has come a long way since she started baking for a school fundraiser. She started her business, Mamie’s Pies, six years ago, and now has a shot at getting her specialty — hand-held pocket pies surrounded by seven layers of flakiness and stuffed with four all-natural, fruit-forward ingredients — on the shelves of Walmart stores. That’s the gold standard for consumer packaged goods businesses like Romanik’s. "Walmart fosters wholesomeness and family, which is what our pies are all about,” she told Patch. The single-serving pies are based on her mother’s recipe, and the enterprise involves the whole family. By Kristina Houck for San Rafael Patch

A Lift, At A Critical Time

The coronavirus pandemic put Scott Wolf in a heartbreaking but all-too-familiar position as social distancing holds Americans and their loved ones at a distance. Wolf’s 94-year-old mother was dying at a New Jersey nursing home, and sitting at her bedside to say goodbye would’ve put another person he loves at risk — his wife, who is going through chemotherapy. “It must’ve been a hard decision to choose between your wife and mom,” says the care center employee who arranged for a firetruck to lift Wolf to his mother’s second-story window so he could see his mother one last time. By Alexis Tarrazi for Bridgewater Patch

Boston Marathon Starts In Illinois

Runners from all across America who trained for the Boston Marathon were left standing still when the event was canceled because of the pandemic. At first, the idea of a virtual event, the replacement for the storied race in Boston, was a turnoff for suburban Chicago runner Dan Ganzer. “I first balked at the notion,” he said, but then decided to approach it “not as a race but as a fun event.” Friends who wanted to celebrate his qualification for the race joined in, not only running portions of the course with him but also re-creating Boston landmarks and offering other fun surprises along the route. By Andrea Earnest for Lemont Patch

A Big Squeeze For Her Uncle

With her uncle battling testicular cancer, 6-year-old Cheyanne Alexander got busy making lemonade. She raised $541 the first weekend her stand was up and running in front of her suburban Chicago home, and she plans to repeat it this weekend. Her parents backed the endeavor but were surprised by how much money she raised. “We honestly had no idea that so many people would show up,” mom Briana Alexander told Patch. “We kind of figured, for a lemonade stand, we would maybe make $20.” By Amie Schaenzer for Crystal Lake-Cary Patch

Idle Hands, Hearts For Giving

Since the pandemic began, the number of children on a Big Brothers Big Sisters waiting list in Orange County, California, jumped by 30 percent. Chris and Fiona Ivey were approved as mentors for the program, but social distancing requirements put some of the activities they’d thought about out of reach. Only more encouraged, they figured out a way to make meaningful virtual connections to their “little brother,” Gabriel. “Anyone interested in volunteering should know it's completely do-able,” Fiona Ivey said. “It's been a wonderful way of getting to know Gabriel before we start our adventures together. We can't wait.” By Ashley Ludwig for Newport Beach-Corona Del Mar Patch

Pedaling For A Cause

Eighth grader Kayla Rompala biked more than 180 miles for the Great Cycle Challenge, which raises awareness and money for childhood cancer research. The 13-year-old from suburban Chicago not only beat her goal by 30 miles, she blew her fundraising goal, originally set at $250, into the stratosphere, raising more than $3,400. By Andrea Earnest for Mokena Patch

See Sea Turtles Survive Cold

They come to Sea Turtle Recovery freezing, traumatized and often at death's doorstep. But thanks to the efforts of a nonprofit rehabilitation center at the Essex County Turtle Back Zoo in West Orange, New Jersey, 50 threatened and endangered sea turtles have now returned to the ocean to roam free after being found "cold-stunned." The staff at the zoo hospital are bracing for what’s likely to happen in November — the arrival of more than 20 cold-stunned sea turtles barely clinging to life. It happens when they fail to migrate before the water and air temperatures drop dangerously low. By Eric Kiefer for West Orange Patch