Good News Monday: Week Four
Good News Monday is an online bulletin of Rotaract Club Madrid Capital whose purpose is sharing good news from Madrid and elsewhere in these challenging times. We have teamed up to share positivity all over our MDIO and beyond. Here are the highlights of the week between April 13 and 19.
Top 3 of the week
- Michigan man uses $900 savings to buy gas for nurses Source: CCN
A good Samaritan decided to use the $900 he had been saving to do something nice for Detroit nurses on the frontlines of the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. Allen Marshall spent Wednesday and Thursday at an Exxon station near the Detroit Medical Center with a sign that said Free gas for nurses. Imran Al Samet, who works at the station, told CNN that Marshall had bought gas for between 50 and 80 people on Wednesday and Thursday morning. “There’s a lot coming through,” he said at about 11 a.m. on Thursday. Most of the nurses are not coming inside the store, so he has not heard their reactions, but people were excited. “They’re happy with it,” he said. Marshall told The Detroit Free Press that he had been saving the money to buy a knife-sharpening tool. His wife is an essential worker at Blue Cross Blue Shield, the paper reported, so he executed the giveaway after having dropped her off at work.
- Firefighters and volunteers build an oxygen system
A group of volunteers, including a faction of the fire brigade, had been working the previous week to enable a subway gallery of over 300 meters to install an oxygen system to assist hospitals with patients infected with COVID-19. They carried it out in just four days, in which, with the help of more than three hundred people, they were able to enable and supply oxygen for the patients’ masks through ducts. It is an unprecedented task, which shows goodwill and unity of people to help in difficult times.
- Madrid’s top botanical garden donates its tulips to staff in seven hospitals to express gratitude for their work during the COVID-19 pandemic Source: The Olive Press
Due to state of emergency, Spain prohibited visits to the public gardens. However, instead of letting tulips that “no one is enjoying” go to waste, staff of the Royal Botanical Gardens cut hundreds of them to bring on the faces of medical workers of seven hospitals in Madrid. “In a record time, staff cut tulips and grouped them into bunches,” the gardens’ Instagram account announced before thanking the municipal police for distributing them. The tulips were distributed at hospitals Gregorio Marañon, Clinico San Carlos, Ramon y Cajal, La Paz, 12 de Octubre, La Princesa and the recently-built IFEMA field hospital.
Humans of New York
“One night I was talking with my wife about how perfect our life was. It was twenty-five years ago. We had four children. We had just saved enough money to buy a new house. We felt so lucky. I remember she said: ‘What if God takes something from us?’ The next day I came home from work and found my wife screaming. She was holding our oldest son. He had stuck his hand in the washing machine and electrocuted himself. We could not revive him. We rushed to the hospital but the doctors said there was nothing they could do. I begged them to try. My friends from the church came and we all started to pray. Doctors managed to bring him back to life. He became a case study. Today he is 29. He has learning problems. He cannot read or write. But does work as a security guard. He enjoys his life. And ever since, I believe in miracles.”
(Valparaíso, Chile)
Hero of the week
Gino Esteban Garcia, member of Rotaract Madrid Capital, has been managing a food bank for people with limited resources affected by COVID-19. He has been responsible for both coordination and logistics of delivery, making it possible for them to reach as many people as possible.
What makes you happy?
Equality, justice and respect towards humanity; flora and fauna.
What is your hobby?
Sport, I love running.
A curious fact about you?
I am writing a book.
If you had a microphone that could reach every single person on the planet, what message would you send them?
No matter how many problems life throws at you, there will always be a solution; you just have to have perseverance, the right attitude, perspective; and spread good vibes even when times are bad.
Photo credits to the rightful owners.