How You’re Saving the World by Eating Ben & Jerry's (Really) In all likelihood, you’ve probably tasted Greyston Bakery brownies before. That is, if you’ve ever dug into Ben & Jerry’s flavors such as Chocolate Fudge Brownie, Half Baked, or the ice cream juggernaut’s latest limited-time offering, Peanut Butter Half Baked. Those fudge-y chunks of brownie that lurk inside all three, like buried treasure, are all made by a single bakery tucked away in a rough corner of Yonkers, New York. There, nearly all the workers are hard-to-employ adults—people who were previously incarcerated, addicted to drugs or alcohol, homeless, or faced other issues that made them seemingly unemployable. In other words, Greyston Bakery hires the people that no one else will. But not only that—it also offers subsidized housing and childcare to its employees, maintains community gardens and nutrition education classes, and offers free job training programs to the community’s needy. more . . .
A North Carolina teen, who made headlines after a picture of his being coached by Target employees for his first interview went viral, returned to the store this week to thank the helpful employees in person. Yasir Moore and his mother told ABC News station WTVD-TV in Durham, North Carolina, they credit exemplary Target employees Cathy Scott and Dennis Roberts with helping Moore pass the first round for his job interview at Chick-fil-A. "They could have just sold my son a tie," Moore's mother, Najirah Parrish, told WTVD. "But they took the time, helped him tie the tie and talked to him. They treated my son with dignity, respect." Moore was prepping for his first ever job interview when he stopped a Target employee to ask for a clip-on tie, according to WTVD. But Target employees Scott and Roberts didn't just point the teen toward the tie section. Instead, they helped him learn to tie a real tie and then gave him advice on how to properly introduce himself in an interview, the station reported. "We said, 'Make sure you look him in the eye.' I'm saying make sure you give him a firm handshake, and she showed him. ... He tucked his shirt in," Roberts told WTVD. "When he told me all this advice, I got my confidence back," Moore told WTVD. "And so when I went there, I was calm, cool, and collected." He told WTVD-TV he was surprised to hear he was at the center of a viral photo, but that he understands why his story is popular. "It's a good story," Moore said. "Usually in the world today you don't see a lot of good things that happen."
Here's What 5 Years Of Community Restoration Looks Like In Detroit In the last five years, a quirky idea for helping others has transformed into an event that has spurred thousands of people to donate more than $85,000 to nearly 100 groups that are improving Detroit with passionate and inventive projects. And it all started with soup. Detroit SOUP, an organization that hosts recurring community dinners to give out microgrants, is celebrating its five-year anniversary Sunday with a fundraising party. Though this weekend’s event will be a bit of a blowout, held at the city's football stadium, Detroit SOUP has built its success on giving Detroiters an easy, affordable and personal way to do good. For the monthly dinners, attendees pay a $5 suggested donation to eat a meal of soup and salad and hear four presentations, each under four minutes long, from people seeking funds, whether for a community radio station, literacy program, kids’ four-square tournament or anything else that benefits the community. Then, the audience votes for their favorite, and the winner takes all the donations home. The total award varies by event, ranging from a couple hundred dollars to over $4,000 (that one went to a woman starting a flower farm). more . . .
Squatter takes over, rents out unfinished apartment complex By Kate Briquelet Squatters have returned to New York City. One, Peter Zephyrin, considers himself a modern-day Robin Hood for taking over an unfinished and boarded-up complex on Jamaica Avenue in Queens. Zephyrin, 36, installed electricity and a water heater at the 10 adjoined three-story buildings and is collecting rent from two sets of tenants, who moved into the three-bedroom, two-bath pads in December. He charges $250 a week per resident. “Imagine you woke up one day and found out the US government gave you license to use your brain and do something unorthodox,” Zephyrin told The Post. “I’m taking what the lazy wealthy person left behind . . . I’m trying to help families out.” Zephyrin is trying to seize the buildings through “adverse possession” statutes, which permit an enterprising homesteader to acquire abandoned property after occupying it for 10 years, so long as the ownership is not contested. It’s unlikely Zephyrin would win an adverse possession claim unless he lived there, said attorney and New York Law School Professor Lucas A. Ferrara. Modal Trigger Zephyrin has rented out a number of apartments in this boarded-up complex in Queens.Photo: J.C.Rice Still, managers for the Jamaica Avenue properties — which have been in foreclosure proceedings since 2009 — haven’t had an easy time getting the squatters out. Zara Realty, tasked with securing the empty buildings for the court-appointed receiver, removed the front door of 176-16 Jamaica Ave., where squatters are living. One third-floor resident, Otalia Johns, filed a harassment lawsuit against Zara this month in Queens Housing Court. On Feb. 10, a judge ordered the company to replace the door. Johns, 24, lives in the apartment with her 1-year-old daughter and three other residents, who helped paint the furnished squat. They heat the apartment by boiling water on a hot plate. There is no gas, refrigerator or working stove. Tenants don’t pay for electricity or other utilities — and don’t know who does. A Zara manager, who visited the site Wednesday, told The Post that Zephyrin “jumped wires” to get electricity. “If I give up now, I’m going to be on the street,” Johns said. “We are not trespassing — we were invited by someone who said he adverse possessed the building.” Modal Trigger Otalia Johns with her daughter.Photo: J.C. Rice Another 40-year-old resident, who declined to give his name, said, “For years, no one was maintaining the building. Now we’re here. We’re helping people in need.” In the 1980s and ’90s, low-income artists and activists took over and rehabilitated dozens of unoccupied, rotting buildings in the East Village and Lower East Side. They sought legal ownership of their homes, but the city repeatedly tried to evict them — including one violent incident in 1995, when hundreds of cops in riot gear booted the squatters. The city finally granted ownership to 11 surviving squatter buildings in 2002. New York City has been plagued by foreclosures in recent years. New foreclosures rose 33 percent to 1,560 in 2014 from the previous year, according to data from PropertyShark. New York ranks third among states for the highest number of “zombie foreclosures,” or homes that are abandoned by owners and banks and stuck in foreclosure limbo. Zombie foreclosures jumped 54 percent — to 16,777 — from January 2014 to last month, according to a recent RealtyTrac report. Zephyrin was living at the Jamaica Avenue development himself until Jan. 23, when police arrested him and charged him with trespassing and scheming to defraud, court records show.
The right and wrong here is very clear. Zephyrin is nothing more than a thief and needs to be locked up for a lengthy prison sentence. Any squatter that refuses to leave should receive the same treatment. Anyone (meaning lefties) who supports this type of squatting abuse needs to get their head examined - because next they will show up on your property.
Funny how the moonbats support this kind of disgusting behaviour as long as its happening to someone else, i bet dbphoenix's opinion on this one would change awfully quick if a couple of these people hijacked his house, or his mothers basement i should say.
For every story like that.... there is 10 like this... Mob of Black Teens Brutally Beats Elderly Man http://www.breitbart.com/big-govern...er-attack-by-mob-of-black-teens-in-tennessee/ The question is .... is this merely a reflection of what black teens do... or is the media biased in their reporting.... focusing on the bad and not the good.
In the wake of a racist incident involving a campus fraternity, University of Oklahoma president David Boren issued a scathing response — describing members of Sigma Alpha Epsilon as "disgraceful" The controversy started Sunday, when a video surfaced showing members of the fraternity signing an incredibly racist song. This morning, Boren gave the fraternity until midnight to get off campus. He issued the declaration in an unusually forceful statement for a college administrator:" Updated statement attached - DBo pic.twitter.com/xxfiJwCh0P — David Boren (@President_Boren) March 9, 2015 It's very rare for a university president to criticize students so directly. But Boren arguably doubled down on his stance at aMonday press conference, Boren said he'd "be glad if they left" the university because "we don't provide student services for bigots." It's hardly controversial to condemn a song peppered with racial slurs that appears to condone lynching. Still, the forcefulness of Boren's statement stands out. For contrast, when a fraternity at Arizona State University threw a racist fraternity party, the university banned the fraternity but in a statement described the organizers as "a few misguided individuals" — not a disgrace to the entire university.