7 Good News Stories: Bowls For Food; Black History Month Brews

ACROSS AMERICA — You may never have had to visit a food pantry to put dinner on the table. But millions of people did with in a collision of economic crises wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Making sure our neighbors have enough to eat is all our responsibility, according to Boston-area artist Michael Mittelman, who started turning wooden bowls with his son to ease their boredom during the pandemic.

A discussion about the advantages of their privilege, and what to do with it, led to the creation of Bowls For Food, a vessel to encourage donations to food assistance programs. It’s simple: Provide a receipt for a donation, and the Mittelmans send you a bowl — or did until Bowls For Food became so wildly popular that they need time to catch up on their inventory.

They’ve raised thousands of dollars for food banks across America, but are also demonstrating how everyday Americans can help solve food insecurity.

“Food insecurity is everywhere,” Mittelman told Patch. “It's not just a problem for someone who is homeless. It's in schools, it's in colleges, it's in neighborhoods.

“You don't have to be Bill Gates to fix the problem, and you don't have to fix the problem to help.” » By Beth Dalbey for Brookline, Massachusetts, Patch

‘That’s What I’m Doing, Giving It A Go’

On New York’s Upper West Side, former financier Adam Simon and his family started baking loaves of sourdough bread to stay busy during the first months of the pandemic. “We were driving ourselves crazy,” Simon told Patch. “The kids loved baking, too; they’re more into sweets and pastries, so we said, alright — let’s start a bakery.” They marketed their baked goods with fliers and samples while spending the summer on Long Island, and gave about $1,000 to local charities. Simon started volunteering at a bakery when the family returned to the city in the fall. It was hard work, but Simon was in his element. Was a bakery worth the risk, and should they give it a go, he and his wife asked themselves, “and that's what I'm doing, giving it a go,” he said. » By Gus Saltonstall for Upper West Side, New York, Patch

‘Someone Was Looking Over Me’

Melissa Miller, who is 35 and seven months pregnant, isn’t devoutly religious. “But,” she told Patch, “someone was looking over me that day.” That day was Feb. 11, and Misty May, the Fairfield, Connecticut, woman’s dog, had run onto a frozen pond during their daily walk and fallen through the ice. “I couldn’t just watch her drown,” Miller said. She ended up in the icy waters 30 feet from shore, too. Water filled her lungs and she feared for her baby. An improvised lifeline came just in time. A firefighter who saw her distress from his kitchen window tied a garden hose to a tree and pulled her to safety. Miller, her unborn child and Misty May are all doing fine. » By Anna Bybee-Schier for Fairfield, Connecticut, Patch

Brews Tell Black History

Leo Sawadogo (top photo), co-owner and head brewer at the Montclair Brewery, earned the coveted title of “master distiller” when he competed against two other world-class liquor makers on an episode of "Moonshiners: Master Distillers." He’s quenching residents’ thirsts for good ales and spirits, but also culture. Again this year, Sawadogo is creating specialty Black History Month brews that tell the stories of notable Black historical figures — you’ll for sure want to read about this year’s honorees — while using ingredients native to his home country, Burkina Faso, West Africa. » By Eric Kiefer for Montclair, New Jersey, Patch

Flag A ‘Comfortable Constant’

The American flag folded inside a wooden and glass keepsake case was one of the only sentimental pieces Colleen Lange had left of her father, a U.S. Army veteran who died of cancer in 1998. The ceremonial flag had been a “comfortable constant” for Lange’s mother, and Lange was aghast when she realized it had been accidentally sold at an estate sale. Everything worked out in the end, though. » By Alexis Tarrazi for Bridgewater, New Jersey, Patch

Wait, How Small Is That Park?

The 425-square-inch Mills End Park, proclaimed the smallest on the planet by Guinness World Records, is an embodiment of the “quirky, creative spirit” that drives Portland, Oregon, a city parks commissioner said at the reopening of the tiny park. The history of the small plot of land traces back to 1946, when Oregon Journal columnist Dick Fagan planted flowers and eventually a tree in a hole in a parkway median that once looked as if it was supposed to house a light pole but never did. Fagan wrote frequently about what went on in and around the little park he could see from his second-floor office window, planting the seed of a leprechaun legend along with the flora. » By Colin Miner for Portland, Oregon, Patch

Chimpanzee Adoption

Maisie, a baby chimpanzee neglected as an infant by her mother, was welcomed by a new chimp family at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore. She’s being raised in a community of adult chimps, and has become close friends with their offspring. Maisie has grown in confidence and in her relationships with her troopmates, the zoo said in a statement. Maisie’s mother, Nia, had no complications, and the baby appeared to be healthy when she was born in October 2020 at the Oklahoma City Zoo. It became quickly apparent that Nia wasn’t adapting to motherhood, “and we made the difficult decision to remove and hand-rear the baby while searching for a suitable home with a nurturing surrogate,” the Oklahoma zoo’s lead primate caretaker said in a statement. » By Nikki Gaskins for Baltimore Patch

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