He Has 300 Hens, Donates Every Egg To Food Banks: 9 Good News Stories

ACROSS AMERICA — If you’re looking for inspiration to tackle food insecurity where you live — and it’s everywhere, with no ZIP code untouched — Anthony Solar in Healdsburg, California, is doing something worth taking a look at.

Solar’s hobby is fighting food insecurity. He doesn’t just write checks. He’s all in.

He maintains a flock of 300 chickens and donates their eggs to food banks. Last year alone, he gave away 26,000 eggs so the people around him would have a little more to eat. » Read the Community Leaders nomination on Healsburg Patch

‘Everything Is Everything’: It’s Everything

Grammy Award-winning musician Lauryn Hill hasn’t forgotten her Essex County, New Jersey, roots. And the high school kids where she grew up aren’t likely to forget Tuesday, Oct. 17, either. At a concert in Newark, Hill shared the stage with marching band students from Columbia High School, her alma mater, for the concert opener, a specially arranged rendition of “Everything Is Everything.” And that’s not the only memorable experience Hill created for area students as she remembered her own roots. “We have always known that Lauryn Hill has never forgotten where she came from, but we never could have expected her to provide such a wonderful opportunity for our students to be a part of her monumental tour,” Superintendent Ronald Taylor said. » A Patch Exclusive by Eric Kiefer for Newark Patch

‘You Don’t Think, You Just Do’

Across the country, communities are supporting the people most affected by the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. When nearly 300 Floridians were airlifted out of Israel and brought to Tampa, they were hungry. Relief groups accounted for other immediate needs, but that slipped through. Jo-El’s Kosher Deli in St. Petersburg was quick to respond. “The call came from a gentleman who works with the Emergency Relief Catering Company, and he said, ‘We need to feed 300 people,’” Sharon Goetz, who owns the deli with her parents, told Patch. “He called at 11 a.m. That is not a joke. I didn’t know if it was real, but they needed kosher food, so I said, ‘Yes.’ ” Oh, and by the way, the relief organization said later, those 300 people would need dinner, too. “When the call comes, and you’re asked to do something, you don’t think, you just do,” she said. » A Patch Exclusive by Tiffany Razzano for St. Pete Patch

WWII Hero Comes Home

The return of First Lieutenant Edward Timothy McGuire’s remains to the South Side for burial is a chance for Rolling Thunder Illinois Chapter 2 to fill in some of the blanks about the World War II fighter pilot’s valor. MIA since a massive bombing mission over Romania 80 years ago, his remains were positively identified in June. McGuire’s biography on the Defense POW/PIA Accounting Agency website says when and how McGuire died, and even that the mission was a strategic disaster. Among what’s missing from his bio, says Wayne Kirkpatrick, a retired U.S. Army colonel who leads the local Rolling Thunder chapter, is the story of how the 22-year-old pilot exposed himself to more anti-aircraft fire by climbing to a higher altitude so his crew could parachute to safety. Those and other stories will be shared at a hero’s welcome home, including full military rights and a funeral procession arranged by the Rolling Thunder group, which exists for that express purpose. » By Lorraine Swanson for Oak Lawn Patch

‘I Wouldn’t Be A Follower’

Ibrahim Cisse, a high school football player in Newark, New Jersey, is up for USA Football’s “Heart of a Giant” Award, presented by the Hospital for Special Surgery and the New York Giants. The award goes to an athlete who inspires greatness on and off the field. Cisse shared some of his story: At 8, when his French-speaking homeland in West Africa was recovering from civil war, he came to the United States, unfamiliar with English and the culture. When he struggled with language, he was bullied, by his classmates but also by teachers who joined in with their own snide jokes. “I wouldn’t be a follower,” he said. The mantra has served him well. » By Eric Kiefer for Newark Patch

The Cost Of Love

The sale price for what’s arguably the country’s most historically significant log cabin — the 385-year-old C.J. Nothnagle Log House in Gibbstown, New Jersey, the only one in the Western Hemisphere still standing where it was built — was $262,000, about $2.6 million less than its original listing price. It’s not everything owner Doris Rink had hoped for, but it’s enough. That’s the cost of love. More robust offers would have come at too high a price — the bulldozer. » A Patch Exclusive by Beth Dalbey for Across New Jersey Patch

Did Somebody Say Dairy Queen?

Local landmarks give communities a sense of place and historic connections. A long-lost treasure in Joliet, Illinois, acquired by a local historical museum is significant — a humble building that housed the world’s first Dairy Queen store, starting in 1940, and is fortuitously located along the famous Route 66. The first phase of the Joliet Area Historical Museum project, a walk-up experience of some sort, will be unveiled next year. “We want to restore the exterior signage, and we’re looking to put up a wall and use the front area of the building for a display with interpretive signs,” said museum executive director Greg Peerbolte. “We would like to restore some of the vintage neons, some of the lights.” » A Patch Exclusive by John Ferak for Joliet Patch

Speaking Of Great Eats …

A new episode of Guy Fieri’s “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” on the Food Network could make Greenwich, Connecticut’s Grigg Street Pizza more of a sensation than it already is. Hometown guys Jon Corbo and Matt Wilson opened the pizzeria in 2020. They’d both left to explore and find adventure, but returned home to start their families. Besides making the pizzeria a place where people want to hang out, they developed a simple, consistent menu that “isn’t trying to be everything to everyone, but does hopefully have something for everyone,” the business partners say on the pizzeria’s website. “Once we found it we decided to share it. And once you get here, it’s only gonna get better.” And now that Guy Fieri has been there, who knows what’s next. » By Richard Kauffman for Greenwich Patch

Make This Dog’s Day

This dog in a San Diego Humane Society shelter is still waiting for good news — and has been waiting for something like 640 days and counting. Make a Dog’s Day is Sunday, and if anyone needs a reason to adopt Luna Mae — other than, well, look at her — she has become a favorite since arriving at the shelter at 8 months. She has a special way with other dogs and has become an ambassador for shy dogs, as she once was, who just need a boost in their confidence around people, said Emily Beltran, an animal trainer with Humane Society. “We just need to find someone who will give her the patience to fall in love with her as much as we do,” she said. » By Kristina Houck for San Diego Patch

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