【推荐1】I have no memory of December 27. 2015; but I can tell you this much ̶̶̶̶̶̶̶̶ ̶ it was the day my five-year-old son, Dane, saved my life. All the practicing Dane and I had done came together that day. Teaching him to learn our home address, how to use the phone, how to dial 911, and how to answer the questions a 911 operator might ask him if he did have to call ̶̶ ̶ paid off.

At about 3:30 that afternoon, I wasn’t feeling well and had been lying on the sofa. At some point, I went to the bathroom and it was there that I fell down and went unconsciousness. When I fell, my face hit the floor, causing two of my teeth to break off. And my body blocked the door.

Dane must have heard me fall, because he came to the bathroom and called out to me. When I did not answer him, he looked in through a gap in the door and saw the blood from my injured mouth. That’s when his “training” kicked in. First, Dane phoned my mother ̶ ̶ his grandma ̶ ̶ and when Grandma didn’t answer the phone, he called 911. Dane remained calm, stayed on the line and told the operator what had happened and where we lived. He turned on the outside light and opened the door for police and paramedics (医务人员), and then led them to me.

Recently, emergency responders in Taber, the town where we live, honored Dane at his school during an assembly (集会) of his kindergarten classmates and other students. The Taber Police Service praised my son and give him a certificate (证书) in recognition of his “knowing exactly what to do in an emergency situation.”

Dane saved my life, and he is my angel! If I had not taught my son how to react if there was ever an emergency in our home, I am quite certain that I would not be alive now. I strongly suggest other parents understand the life-and -death importance of taking the time to teach their kids these skills, too. Children can learn these things at a very young age. I know this first-hand, as Dane was three years old when I started teaching him.

【推荐2】Laura

Laura Stanley is only 15 and has already produced an impressive collection of poems and short stories. But she also used to enjoy singing and was a great artist and dancer. For a long time she thought she might follow one of those paths as a career, as at the time she didn't really know whether she was good enough at writing. But in the end she has decided that writing is what she loves.

Haruki

Haruki Kato is a highly enthusiastic young sculptor (刻师).At the age of 16, he has already had his work shown in galleries and won several competitions. He says he is encouraged not by successful artists, but by anyone who is driven and determined to get where they want. I have a lot of people around me who have helped me and made sure I improve and grow as an artist. In the future, I’d like to do the same for children like me who have a talent but need.

Elena

Elena Mancini is 17-year-old make-up artist with plans for the future. She’s already working in local theatres and has even helped on a film set. "People in our village have always put on plays and my mom does all the make-up. I used to ask her to let me help her. If she had stopped me from helping, I wouldn’t have found out how much I enjoy doing make-up. "

Joel

Joel Bailey, who is 15, wants to be a music journalist and he has already had some interviews published in music magazines. "I’m a big fan of rock music. I enjoy writing as well, and one day I just came up with the idea that I could be a journalist and specialise in music. So I started writing articles and sending them off to magazines. Some I didn't even get paid for, but I didn't mind, because if you want to succeed in any business, you have to get recognized and learn your skills. "

【推荐3】I didn’t quite know what I was looking for when I flew to Mongolia for a term abroad. I just needed something different, far from the late-night libraries of my college town. Most different, I hoped, would be my rural homestay: two weeks in central Mongolia with a family of nomadic(游牧的) herders.

I was studying Mongolian at the time, but still, there was so much I couldn’t say or understand. As we walked in the snow behind the goats, my host mom would ask me if I was cold, then giggle (咯咯地笑) and copy a big shiver to make sure I understood. In the evenings, she showed me how to make dumplings with her fingers. My host siblings would talk with me, speaking too fast for me to understand, as we explored the rocks around our tent; I’d listen and nod.

This verbal(言语的) barrier was strangely freeing. In the crowded dining hall at home, meeting new people made me anxious. I’d stay quiet, measuring out my words, struggling for something to say that wouldn’t expose me as unfunny or boring. In Mongolia, I couldn’t perfect my words. I could only smile, and try out one of the phrases I’d mastered: “May I help?” “Where is the dog?” “Are you tired?” My host family laughed at my pronunciation, at the way I threw up my hands and eyebrows in a frequent gesture of confusion. But in their laughter, I felt safe, unembarrassed.

With my Mongolian family on the grassland, I found a feeling of ease I’d never felt before. We were so different, they and I, and not just in language. Their skin was hardened and darkened by sun; I’d been hidden under hats and sunscreen since birth. My host siblings(兄弟姐妹) grew up drawing water from frozen streams and jogging behind herds of sheep; I spent summers at tennis camp.

For me, these gaps made all the difference. Without shared social measures, I wasted no time wondering how I was measuring up. Only real things—kindness, helpfulness—mattered.

【推荐1】One April evening, when Marilla came home late after visiting her friends, she found that the kitchen was empty and no supper was on the table.

“Where’s Anne?” she thought. “I told her to get the supper ready before I returned. Where is she?” She hurried upstairs to Anne’s room, and found the girl crying loudly on her bed. “Don’t look at me, Marilla!” Anne cried. “What’s the matter?” asked Marilla. “Are you ill now? Or have you met another problem?”

“Oh, Marilla, I just want to die! Just look at my hair!” Marilla saw that Anne’s long thick red hair was just a horrible dark green. “Oh, Anne!” she said. “What have you done?” “I… I bought a bottle of something special from a man who came to the door. He said it would change my hair from red to black! Oh, I know it was stupid! But what shall I do? Marilla! Everybody in Avonlea will laugh at me for this!” Marilla smiled and touched Anne’s hair. “No, they won’t, Anne! We can wash it; maybe it will become red again.”

They washed Anne’s hair three times, but it was still green. Anne stayed at home for a week, saw nobody and washed her hair every day. But at the end of the week, Marilla said, “I’m sorry, Anne, we’ll have to cut it all off. You can’t go to school with green hair.”

Anne had to agree. “Perhaps this will teach me not to think about being beautiful,” she said sadly. Everybody was surprised to see Anne with very short hair, but no one knew the secret. Several weeks later, there were some new, dark red curls (卷发), which pleased Anne very much.

【推荐2】After spending his career as a chef and working as the Vice President of Food and Beverage at FireKeepers Casino Hotel in Battle Creek, Michigan, Michael McFarlen saw how much food would get thrown away from the Casino’s restaurant every day.

Unfortunately, throwing away perfectly good food is extremely common within the restaurant industry. Yet it was always something that bothered McFarlen about his work. Actions point, McFarlen decided to get involved with the South Central Food Bank of Michigan Inc. to help give back to those in need. He then became the president on the board and came up with a plan to open a restaurant in the community that would also help support a food bank on the property.

In April of 2016, the FireKeepers Casino Hotel and its owners, the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi, bought Fire Station No. 4, a historic firehouse near down town Battle Creek that had been closed for years and was set to be demolished. However, the group bought it before that happened and started to give the historic building a new life.

Renovations on the property lasted about a year. Then on April 19, 2017, the restaurant, which they named The Fire Hub, opened to the public for the first time. At the same time, the food bank, which they named the Kendall Street Food bank, opened its door in the back of the building.

“Anytime you open a new restaurant, you just have to figure a way through that first year,” George said. However, the first year of operation was beyond their expectations. Not only did the restaurant attract customers because of its popularity and sustainability, but the food bank helped more people in the first year than they ever imagined would need its services.

In total, about 375 to 400 households get help from the food bank every single month. “We’re able to cater to people who are working, but still need a little help during the month,” McFarlen told Second Wave media. To better fit the need of the majority of people using their services, the food bank was designed to look like a small market.