so we all got together to surprise our professor who usually spends christmas alone. it really is the little things. pic.twitter.com/Iqouv8loc5

— nina (@belindaramirezz) December 13, 2018

“I was just completely overwhelmed by their compassion for me,” Wharton told BuzzFeed News in a phone interview Monday.

“Not as student-to-instructor, just as human beings,” she said, her voice cracking.

The surprise came after Wharton made what she called a “casual comment” to her class that the holidays are “difficult for her,” as all of her immediate family has died.

“Both of my parents have passed away. And my sister, my only sibling, passed away. I don’t have immediate family. I do have some cousins, but we aren’t real close.”

“Well, I hope I did not sound pitiful,” Wharton said, adding that she has “wonderful friends” and said she is “very thankful” for them.

One of her students took her comments to heart and decided to coordinate a surprise for their teacher last week. A video of Wharton’s reaction has gone mega-viral.Belinda Ramirez, 16, described Wharton as a “private person,” and said that the comment from her professor stuck out to her and her fellow students.

“We all felt really bad for her,” Ramirez, identified below, said.

On the last day of the semester — the day of their final exam — Wharton stepped out to speak to a counselor, not knowing that students had arranged for that counselor to pull her aside in order to prepare the surprise.

“They were sneaky!” Wharton said.

Her students even brought personal gifts for her. The professor loves horses, and many of the gifts were themed accordingly.

The students shouted “Merry Christmas!” in unison, when Wharton walked in the door to the surprise.

Ramirez said that the surprise made both Wharton and the students emotional. “We all just started crying,” she said.

Wharton hopes that people who shared and favorited the tweet might understand how kind teenagers are.

“Teenagers, many, many teenagers, are so much kinder and more compassionate than their public reputation,” Wharton said.

“These students did this out of their own generosity and the kindness of their hearts. They know me well enough to know it won’t influence their grades.” (Ramirez described Wharton as “pretty strict.”)

The professor said that people, in response to the viral footage, were asking to make a donation to her, but she wants to encourage those people to donate to the American Cancer Society instead, or to “reach out to others who are alone,” she said. “That can have an impact in our world.”

“Even if it’s just a ‘hello,’ or ‘Merry Christmas,’ that can mean so much,” the professor added.

Moments after the video stopped, Wharton said she told the class, “No matter where I was over the holidays, I would feel loved, because of them.”

This article originally appeared on BuzzFeed News.

The post Teens Surprised Their Professor After She Told Them The Holidays Are Difficult For Her appeared first on Positive Celebrity News, Good Celebrity Gossip, Positive Entertainment News | Good Celebrity.

We contacted the folks at SoCal Honda and asked if we could choose an event to attend and see the magic unfold behind-the-scenes.

They literally supplied us with more than 15 different events and places throughout SoCal where they were providing those in need with free gas, treats, and holiday cheer.

Honestly, we were surprised! It’s not like it’s cheap to pay for all those people to travel around and provide so many amazing gifts. We’re thrilled to see real, everyday people bringing happiness to our community.

We caught up with the Helpful Honda Guys as they hosted an awesome event in collaboration with the Boys & Girls Club Hollywood.

More than 150 kids showed up to take part in Holiday-themed activities, which involved decorating treat boxes and coffee cups, making darling little reindeer, and taking pictures with the Helpful Honda Guys’ mascots.

“The things that are cut first in the schools and the budget is art,” said Aide Aguirre, Program Director, Boys & Girls Club Hollywood.

“This is a really nice treat because they get to do something special and it’s for the holidays, and they can share it with their families.”

Belle Cordero, one of the Helpful Honda Guys (or ladies!), said that she loves the community events because she can actually see the benefits of giving back right in front of her.

“We get actually to interact with them, and it’s a lot of fun for us. My favorite part about is this is the kids,” Cordero said.

“How they respond and how they react. To see how excited they get when they see the mascot or even us just showing up, it’s really awesome.”

The SoCal Honda Dealers give back to the community throughout the entire year. Given the spirit of the holiday season, they really go all out to make sure families in need have a joyous time and a reason to celebrate.

During the season, SoCal Honda Dealers give back through the following programs:

Helpful Honda Holiday Treats Truck

The Helpful Honda Holiday Treats Truck brought treats to various events around the community. SoCal Honda Dealers invited their social media followers to submit a favorite holiday event like a family gathering, birthday party, or volunteer event and the Guys in Blue showed up to surprise different fans with tasty treats.

Free Gas from the Helpful Honda Guys

This one is super awesome! Honda drivers were surprised at gas pumps around SoCal with free gas from the Helpful Guys. Seriously – they filled up people’s tanks for free!

Building Gingerbread Homes

SoCal Honda Dealers built gingerbread houses with special needs kids and adults of the AYSO Special Needs Soccer League in Lancaster, and Pomona Valley Workshop; kids in from Operation Jump Start in Long Beach, Heart of Los Angeles (HOLA), the D.A.D. Project in Los Angeles, and Walk With Sally in El Segundo, as well as youth of the LGBT Community Center in Pacoima.

They also celebrated the Holidays with seniors at the Santa Ana Senior Home, Glendale Adult Recreation Center and Our Peoples Care in Victorville.

Free Christmas Trees

For families in need, purchasing a Christmas tree may be a struggle. A tree adds so much joy to the home during the Holidays, which is why the Helpful Honda Guys provided families with free Christmas trees.

Providing Meals to Those In Need

Finally, the SoCal Honda Dealers continued their nine-year tradition of celebrating Happy Honda Days with local SoCal Organizations that help the less fortunate and families and kids in need. The Guys in Blue donates and served food to the Pasadena Union Station, Ocean Park Community Center (OPCC) in Santa Monica, and Anaheim Indepedencia.

In addition, the team built and gifted bikes for the kids of the Boys & Girls Club in San Bernardino, and brought arts & crafts, gifts, and goodies to the kids of the Boys & Girls Club of Hollywood, which is where we got to see the magic. It was such a great time!

Learn more about SoCal Honda’s Random Acts of Helpfulness and for helpful information regarding exact dates, times and holiday events by visiting the team’s Facebook page. To request a Random Act of Helpfulness visit from the Guys in Blue, visit http://www.socalhondadealers.com/help-me-honda.

Stay linked to Good Celebrity for all the latest celebrity news headlines and exclusive stories about People Doing Good!

The post You’ve Heard the Commercials – Now See Exactly What the Folks at Helpful Honda REALLY Do appeared first on Positive Celebrity News, Good Celebrity Gossip, Positive Entertainment News | Good Celebrity.

Author Rich Garon knows all about the hardships many face during the winter months as he devotes his life helping to end hunger and homelessness.

Garon spent 25 years on Capitol Hill and switched gears to volunteer and help homeless individuals who live in the woods. He currently chairs the Serve (Outreach and Mission) Committee at the Immanuel Anglican Church in Woodbridge, VA and coordinates the Homeless Ministry.

He wrote the piece about his experience and also took the time to speak with Good Celebrity about his why the winter months are so difficult for those homeless people living in the woods.

Read the interview with Garon and his article, Christmas at a Homeless Camp in the Woods, below.

Rich Garon on Giving Back & Finding a Solution to Homelessness

GC: You mention that the homeless community needs a lot, more than just a few small things. What is the most effective way, in your opinion, to give back?  

RG: The first thing, I believe, is recognizing that a person has become homeless after suffering a series of setbacks. Job loss, divorce, physical and mental illness, are some of the things that can lead to homelessness.

While there are temporary means of providing assistance, such as food, counseling, and helping them find jobs and shelters, the homeless need someone or some group to commit to helping them for as long as it takes to get them back on their feet.

The small things, giving food, blankets, occasional money, must be supplemented by a willingness of individuals and organizations to recognize that a homeless person is a person; they want to feel someone cares and will treat them with dignity and respect. This type of commitment isn’t easy because while there are successes, there are also failures along the way.

Those offering assistance can become discouraged. It takes determination and the recognition that one person or organization is not going to solve the entire homeless problem. Identify where you can help and stick with it.  

GC: Homelessness in our country is a big problem. Do you see any foreseeable solution or programs that can effectively help reduce this problem?

RG: As with so many problems facing us today, public awareness needs to be raised around the problem of homelessness. From that, willingness to do more than what we’re doing has to be generated.

Those woods behind the neighborhood mall could house a homeless camp. People on grates, sleeping in cars, making do with temporary housing from week to week, that is the face of homelessness.

All too often it is possible to think that someone else—the government, churches—are taking care of the homeless.

Truth is, much more needs to be done. Each one of us needs to take the time to ask themselves, their political representatives, their places of worship, their civic groups: what are we doing to address the homelessness problem? And get the children involved; let them see how the problem can impact people and help their generation develop a more determined will to help the homeless.

GC: In your own words and from your own observations, why are the winter months so hard for the homeless community?

RG: While summer in the woods brings stifling heat, the sub-freezing winds in winter are almost unbearable. People can go to horribly overcrowded hypothermia shelters that open at night, or they can stay in their tents or makeshift dwellings, fearful that the few things they own will be taken if they’re not there.

Winter brings with it a constant search for propane for portable heaters. Winters are never without tents catching fire and someone getting badly burned. Winters are not without those with substance-abuse problems passing out and dying in the frozen woods.

Heavy snows can break tent poles, bringing tents down on those within. Those escaping often have to abandon the damp and unusable items that well-meaning individuals and groups have given them.

In addition, winter is often when fewer volunteers venture out. I doubt I’d ever make it through a winter in the woods.

Christmas at a Homeless Camp in the Woods by Rich Garon

There were about fifty people in the woods, behind a strip mall that sits right across from one of the largest outlet malls on the east coast. There were clusters of tents and a shack or two. Looking carefully, I could see the winding paths that led me to another way of life. My first visit was a novelty. My grandson and I had arranged with one of the homeless men at the camp in the woods to bring the group produce from a nearby food pantry. I’ll call him Sam. He was tall and led us to his site, which seemed to be very well organized. We didn’t speak long and he thanked us for the meals our church had brought earlier in the week. The air-conditioning in our car revived us from the stifling heat that hung in the woods that early July day.

A group of us continued bringing produce from the farmer’s market, chickens from Costco, and some gas for the one or two generators that powered some small fans fighting the oppressive heat. We continued this routine for a while and spent time getting to know the men and several women who called these woods home. “I’ll be glad when the fall comes,” a guy named Billy said.

We were all new to helping the homeless, but it soon dawned on us that produce, chickens and gas weren’t really the answer. As we became familiar with the people in the woods, we learned about them and realized their lives were complicated; that divorces, job losses, arrests, addictions, or chronic health issues had led them into the woods. In some cases, events unfolded abruptly. In others, it took a string of setbacks before they claimed the spot on which they set-up their tents. We gave them money at times. It seemed they always needed little things; that is, until we had to shell out $200 to get Randy’s car out of the impoundment lot so he could travel a considerable distance to his job.

As we tried to help, we realized we really didn’t have a plan, so we decided to give money to groups we were told were more expert in helping the homeless. We still visited the homeless; many who by now had become our friends. We took them out to dinner occasionally, tried to interpret undecipherable forms and letters they received from county and state aid agencies and recognized each individual required more help and guidance than we could provide.

Remember how Billy was looking forward to the fall? Well, fall was short-lived that year and winter rolled-in with chilling winds and heavy snows. We brought shoeboxes full of toiletries and other notions. Billy even erected a beat-up Christmas tree. He situated it near a memorial of Christmas decorations dedicated to his twenty-five-year-old friend, Mantu, who froze to death one night outside his tent. Our friend, Sam, who had become increasingly ill, almost died one sub-freezing night when someone stole his propane heater. Such was Christmas that year in the homeless camp.

We were able to get Sam into transitional housing, but his medical condition was beyond what the home could accommodate. He was asked to leave. The snow had been replaced by the brutal heat of July, and his overall health declined rapidly. We tried to get him into a facility, but were told there was a two-year waiting list at most places. We spoke to another agency and they said they’d be pleased to help, but he’d need a fixed address. There was also little help available from non-profits.

We did eventually find a small studio apartment for Sam, and then one for Billy. We schooled ourselves in learning to navigate the bureaucratic tangle of regulations that tried to discourage us from finding out the types of assistance to which they were entitled.

You see, most homeless people don’t have cars to get to assistance offices, and they don’t have computers to complete forms online. They don’t understand the importance of seeking medical help for a problem before it worsens. Many individuals, church groups, and non-profits—while well-meaning—often support competing programs, and local governments provide inadequate funds to address the problem.

Sam and Billy have become family to us, and we’re going to continue taking care of them as family. Who would have thought that could have developed from our initial trip into the woods? There are plenty of other Sam’s and Billy’s who desperately need help, especially this winter. If you would like to help, check out non-profits and houses of worship in your area who work with the homeless. Any amount of time you have, can help those so in need.    

For more information, visit www.richgaron.com, and connect with Garon through Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads. Rich’s book, Felling Big Trees, is available for preorder on Amazon and for immediate purchase on BookBaby.

The post Author Rich Garon Reflects on Homelessness & the Holidays appeared first on Positive Celebrity News, Good Celebrity Gossip, Positive Entertainment News | Good Celebrity.