I got that call. Except it was a FaceTime call from my 8 year old. I was at work around 3:30 on Friday when I saw the FaceTime call from his iPad come in. When I picked up, he was silent on the other end and walking through our living room. He goes over to my wife’s home office and flips the camera around. She is half fallen out of her work chair with her head balanced on the desk in front of her keyboard. She wasn’t responding and looked blue. I yelled her name and started to run out from work. Our plan with my boys has always been to go to our neighbors in an emergency, so I said to run next door and I’d call right back. I called 911 and gave them the location and situation. I work about 25 minutes from home, which felt like it took forever and strangely felt like it only took seconds if that makes any sense. I called the boys back on FaceTime and they picked up while knocking on the neighbors door. Nobody came. The second emergency location is our neighbor across the street. My boys were soooo brave. They ran over and knocked on the door and the son answered. Somehow, the iPad stayed connected to the WiFi at my house and I could see them take off running back towards my house. My son told me the police were there. I still had about 10 minutes to drive to get home. I pulled in and noticed my sons in the yard playing with a few officers. There were 2 ambulances and what felt like 20 police cars. I ask the first paramedic if she was ok and he directed me to talk to the paramedic by the door. Something felt bad. And it was. They apologized and said she was too far gone and there was nothing they could do. She was just inside the door, now on the floor. My world has closed in on me. And the worst part is my poor little boys found her. I last texted with her around 1:30 after her phone interview for a job she was thrilled about. The in person interview was supposed to be yesterday. I got the call from my son around 3:45. Something happened, that we still won’t know until toxicology is complete in 4-6 weeks. My boys told me they saw what they thought was her sleeping on her desk and went outside to play. They came back in and she still hadn’t moved and they couldn’t wake her up. My poor little guys had to walk around her body for an hour or longer. That part is bothering me more than anything else. They are much more resilient than I am. I’m a wreck and am attempting to say the right things. I coach both my boys basketball teams and I decided to give it a go last night. I dreaded it to an extent because we are small town USA, and I felt like all eyes were on me. My 6 year old hit the first two shots of the game, his first points of the season. I briefly lost it but regained my composure pretty quickly. Tomorrow we will have the service for my wife and beautiful mother to my boys. Part of me is ready to get everything over and the other part wonders if he can make it. My boys give me the strength. My friends and family have been incredible. Laundry done, house and yard cleaned, refrigerator full. It’s been incredible to see how much she was loved and how much we are loved. It’s powerful to see that with your own eyes, but yet I feel so helpless and guilty when I see my friends cleaning up my house. The most random words or things I see have made me cry uncontrollably. I’m 6’6” and 280 lbs, and my 2 best friends were terrified that they might have to catch me from passing out. It’s surreal. The first night, I had to ask myself multiple times if it was a dream. Literally questioning my sanity, only to realize I felt the pinch. I just dropped the boys off at school for the first time after holding them out yesterday. I’m laying in our bed where the boys have slept each night since. I’m surrounded by her clothes, jewelry, and phone that continues to vibrate with spam messages and emails. I’m by myself. But I’m doing better today.

Her name was u/she_linden_tree, Amanda, and mommy.

Here is a Go Fund Me we set up for my boys.

My boys gofundme

18 hours ago I posted about being homeless and hungry in the rain. What began with a sandwich ended with food cards, cash cards, shoes, shirts, pants, sleeping bag, tent and other comfort items. This would have been enough to put me over the moon. However...

You didn’t stop there. You all funded the room I had an option to rent for two months!! Later this evening I will be picked up and will be moving into a tiny but perfect garage with a bathroom. There’s no kitchen but I’ll get a toaster oven and fridge when I can.

IN LESS THAN ONE DAY YOU TOOK ME OFF THE STREET AND GAVE ME THE THINGS I NEED TO START OVER!

I’m not much for miracles and the like, but this is nothing short of one. My entire life was changed by this subreddit. The generosity has been through the roof. PLEASE send anything else to the next person in need.

To those who sent things, I will write you each when I can gather my thoughts properly. I’ll post updates as I turn this room into a tiny home.

For those who sent messages of support, thank you. They mean as much to me as any items or help.

Thank you all so very much.

PS-The one thing I will not need is the tent. If anyone needs one, please tell me and I will forward it to you. Otherwise I will give it to someone in need.

UPDATE: I am trying to respond to every single message and DM. If I haven’t yet responded, it’s just taking a bit of time. It’s around 200 messages private and public, or at least that many different people. I’m getting to it. Meanwhile, just know this. You’ve renewed my faith in humanity, karma, kindness and Reddit frankly. Who would have thought a place for internet arguments and Minecraft memes is actually a modern Salvation Army. They say it takes a village... this has never been more true. I’ll be a staple here for a long time as my need turns to abundance and I can reciprocate what you all have done for me.

THANK YOU!

The Dulcet Tones of Kenneth Hill Youtube Channel

My father (78) has performed music for as long as I can remember, from bars and street corners to churches and tent revivals. He started singing in public when he was five, playing guitar at 9, and performing all over the southeast US beginning in 1960, at the age of 18. He served in the US Navy in Key West, FL during the Cuban Missile Crisis; to him, these were the best years of his life. He’s always known how to engage the audience with his musicianship but never seemed to get a big break, due to a variety of circumstances.

He’s now dying of cancer and has perhaps six months to live. He’s been hospitalized since October 2019 and finds solace in performing classic country and southern gospel (both original and covers).

I’ve had the great fortune to record many of his songs over the last few months, sharing them on FaceBook for friends and family. I’m convinced that he should have a broader audience (he’s really good!!), so I have created a YouTube channel to showcase his talents. It really moves his heart to know that people enjoy his music and that he is touching their souls - every morning he asks me how many people have watched his videos so far and he tells others in disbelief how he has 500 views for one, 350 for another. He deserves so much more than that!

And did I already say that he is really good?

Please, help me make him smile during these final days - engage with his music. Listen to him perform, leave comments, and share as far and as wide as possible. I’d love for him to have a “hit” finally, especially with a song that he wrote for my mother back in 1962 - “Made in Kentucky”

Can Reddit help him feel like he finally made it? Thanks so much for helping him finally get the recognition he so deserves!

**EDIT:**My father LOVES fan mail! If you would like to send him a card, letter, or a tip you can contact him at the following address:

Kenneth Hill C/O Robertson Co Health Care Facility PO Box 170 Mt Olivet, KY 41064

He received over 100 cards at Christmas and he is still telling people - it just floors him that people like him so much :)

**EDIT 2:**Oh my stars, I can't believe how much love and support has been shown for my dad! He's beside himself with emotions to discover that there are people from all across the world that are hearing his music. I'm so happy that he is finally getting the well-deserved recognition :)

I'm trying to respond to all comments, but it will take me a while to get through to all. Thank you so much for the love, the support, for the ideas. And thanks for the silver!

I feel truly lucky to have this man as my father!

My last serious suicide attempt was about a year back. I had booked a hotel in a nearby city for 2 days for ''a conference'' and randomly packed up so it wouldn't be suspicious to my Parents. I didn't want to do it in my room because in a way I didn't want to defile it? I don't know how to explain it. My plan was to do it as soon as I got to the hotel because thinking about it and postponing makes it more difficult and I wanted to make sure nothing would stop me. I opened my suitcase to grab my toiletries bag that had my pills but when I opened the suitcase, something dropped on the floor. It was my favorite chocolate, 70% dark cocoa with candied orange bits. It had a little heart sticker stuck on the wrapper. My heart dropped and I couldn't stop crying. Eventually I think I fell asleep on the floor holding the chocolate and when I woke up, I felt something I hadn't felt in years. I felt loved. My mom put that chocolate there to surprise me because she knows how sometimes I'll forget to eat when I'm overworked. Just wanted to share that with you because I could really use that chocolate today. I really could.

A wee guide to help you keep yo’ $hit together and stay the f&ck home...

There's lots of things to do even when stuck at home... as a favor to my fellow humans, I created a go-to list of stuff to do. Be well! :-)

Update: I'll keep updating this with new stuff as long as this is upvoted. Thanks, folks!

Watch

• Netflix Codes for finding that perfect movie

• Watch every NFL game since 2009 at GamePass

• Kung Fury is a must for those who love 90s nostalgia and kung fu!

• Check out what’s shaking in Sri Lanka with earthcams.com or see what nature is up to with explore.org's live nature cams

• Watch Zoo and Aquarium Live Cams - Don't miss the 24-hour live view of giant pandas

• Follow flights around the world with Flightrader24

• My80sTV is just like watching tv in the 80s. Check out 90s and 70s too.

• You can definitely lose a few hours watching the content at Great Big Story

• Owned by Sony Pictures, Crackle actually has some decent free content available

• Korean Dramas on Viki (don’t knock it until you try it!) with ads

• Challenge your mind with Jason Silva’s Shots of Awe

• Watch fantastic shorts and even feature-length videos at Vimeo

• Rewatch your favorite clips and movie speeches with MovieClips’ channel on YouTube

• Find where your favorite movie is available with Yidio

Others:

• Popcornflix

• PlutoTV

• TubiTV

• SnagFilms

• Internet Archive Movies

• Kanopy

• Hoopla

Read

• Borrow eBooks from Your Public Library Through the OverDrive/Libby App or BorrowBox

• Read Classics and Obscure Titles in the Open Library

• Read Public Domain Books from the Smithsonian

• Some highlights: Popular tech magazines from 1913, scrapbooks of early aeronautica

• Project Gutenberg is a library of more than 60,000 free eBooks

• Get in touch with your humanity with Humans of New York

• Find your next favorite book at GoodReads

• Go ahead and judge a book by its cover at Cover Spy

• Wikipedia is a treasure trove of unusual articles

• Slaughterhouse 90210 offers mini-shots of pop culture and literature

Others:

• Smashwords

• 24symbols

• Z-library

• Sci-Hub

• LibraryGenesis

• Hoopla

• Freebooksy

Not books, but uplifting blogs/projects...“listening care packages for uncertain times”

• BrainPickings

• The On Being Project

• MyModernMet

• Electric Literature

• Austin Kleon

• The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Listen

Everyone already knows about Spotify, Pandora and Apple Music. The following services have some good tunes if you’re looking for a new way to listen to music:

• Jango

• iheartRadio

• SoundCloud

• AccuRadio

• Listen to radio stations from across the world with SHOUTcast

• Cut out the background noise with noisili

• Listen in to live police, fire, EMS, aviation and rail audio feeds with Broadcastify

• Free domain audiobooks can be found at Librivox

• Enjoy a free background noise radio with SoundDrown

• Go anywhere in the world, during any time period with Radiooooo

Recommended podcasts

• S. Town

• Stuff You Missed in History Class (really fascinating, quick hits of history)

• Shots of Awe (good fodder for deep, soulful conversations)

• NPR’s StoryCorps

Learn

• Learn how to code with Codecademy interactively for free

• Hear from some of the brightest, most innovative minds with TED

• Learn a new language

• Watch a time-lapse of the universe and be inspired

• Try out PhEt’s Interactive Simulations and learn about molarity, Ohm’s Law and much more

• This fabulous nerd created a comprehensive list of the internet’s simulations

• Plumb the depths of the Deep Sea or explore our universe with Celestia and Stars

• See, read and hear first-person accounts from different points throughout history with EyeWitness to History

• Fast forward to the future by learning about some of the projects coming out of the Moonshot Factory

• Become an Innovation Manager with the Board of Innovation’s Toolbox

• Learn how to paint digitally with Ctrl+Paint

• Learn how to fix your car with 1aauto.com

• Dive into Psychology topics with the NOBA Project

• Go after that certification you always wanted

• /r/IWantToLearn/

• /r/IAmA/

Free courses

• Khan Academy

• Ted Ed

• Coursera

• Open Culture Online Courses

• Udemy

• Academic Earth

• OpenLearn

• MIT Opencourseware

• More listed at Lifehack

Create

• HitRecord: Collaborate with writers, musicians, artists (whatever your thing is) from all over the world

• Create graphic designs with Canva, Stencil, and Design Bold

• Sumo's Creative Apps can really empower your inner creative (think: paint, tunes, and 3D modeling)

• Play an instrument or sing? Check out MusOpen’s free sheet music (also offers free audio)

• Explore color with Colordot, Material Design Palette, Coolors, Adobe’s Color Wheel, and Web Gradients

• Have a Cricut? Jennifer Maker has a delightful library of free projects

• Check out other great resources at TheMakers.io

• Send big files easily with https://justbeamit.com

• Use Focus Booster to help you break through distractions and stay on track

• Collaborate with your friends/teammates with Miro’s free white boarding platform

• Edit photos online with pixlr and fotor

• Gimp is always a good alternative to PhotoShop, also check out Krita and PhotoPea too

• Remove backgrounds from photos with removebg

• Grab free icons at the Noun Project

Free photos

• Pexels

• StockSnap

• Visual Hunt

• Unsplash

• Library of Congress (vintage prints)

• More listed at Logobly

Free audio

• Pond 5

• Free Music Archive

• Free Sound Effects

• More listed at Logobly

Free stock videos

• Pexels

• Pixabay

• Mixkit

• More listed at Logobly

Free graphics

• Freepik

• humaaans

• undraw

• Vexels

• Vectorportal

Free fonts

• daFont

• Google Fonts

• The League of Moveable Type (first, open-source font foundry)

• Font Squirrel

Others

• Preview fonts with specific words

• Choose font combos for your designs

• /r/ComicBookCollabs/

• /r/worldbuilding/

Write

• Bust Writer’s Block with Language is a Virus

• Try your hand at writing caption’s for the New Yorker’s cartoons

• Scroll through an endless supply of writing prompts

• Baby names are helpful when coming up with character names

• Distraction-free writing with Calmly Writer and ZenPen

• Emotion thesaurus

• Good descriptive words here and here

• /r/KeepWriting/

• /r/WritersGroup/

• /r/worststory/

Cook/Bake

• Find anything you could want to make at all recipes and Yummly

• Search for recipes by ingredient at myfridgefood.com and Supercook

• For food lust and inspo, check out Foodgawker

Exercise

• Stretch

• Free workout videos at Fitness Blender and efit30

• Tai Chi for Beginners

• Yoga for Beginners

• Krav Maga for Beginners

• 10 Minute Full Body Workout

• 20 Minute Full Body Workout

• 30 Minute Full Body Workout

• Burn 600 Calories in 60 Minutes Workout

Play

• Everyone loves playing with legos

• Enjoy a little nostalgia with a plethora of old-school games like the Organ Trail and Donkey Kong in the Internet Archive’s Software Library and at Retro Games

• Play all sorts of card games at CardGames.io or chess or Sudoku

• Travel virtually with AirPano, Fullscreen 360

• See what materials you can create with Little Alchemy 2

• Tour the Museum of Endangered Sounds

• GeoGuesser takes you random places in the world and asks you to guess where you are

• Go through The Secret Door

• virtual tours of some of America's best national parks

• Museum virtual tours, also here

• Explore Google’s Street View Collections. Make sure you are using Google Chrome browser and get on a journey!

Get Motivated

• The Story of the Chinese Farmer by Alan Watts, you can also read it here

• Challenge your mind with Jason Silva’s Shots of Awe

• Take a gander at ZenPencil’s comics

• Watch the ultimate motivational speech that every human should hear: "Good" by Jocko Willink

• Check out Patreon’s Creator Mindset Map that captures the core feelings every creator experiences

• /r/Motivatinggiraffe/

• /r/GetMotivated/

Laugh and Feel Good

• I can’t get enough of the hilarious comics and observations over at The Oatmeal and Hyperbole and a Half

• Time to Turn Up Mufasa!

• Key & Peele’s Substitute Teacher Skit

• One Man’s Tribute to a Timeless Love

• The Sound Project’s Faith in Humanity Restored Channel

• A Grandpa Sees Color for the First Time

• Pharrell Williams - Happy

• Re-visit the dance from Fresh Prince of Bel-Air with the Prince Himself

• Monty Python and the Holy Grail (full movie)

• /r/AbruptChaos/

• /r/ContagiousLaughter

• r/ScottishPeopleTwitter

• r/gwcommentsonearthporn (NSFW)

• r/wholesomememes

• /r/cute/

• /r/MotivateInspire/

Admire

• This bird successfully imitating chainsaws and car alarms

• The colors of the moon

• The unconditional love of this dog helping his human through a panic attack

• The relentless optimism of the Museum of Joy

• Admire artist Jeremy Miranda’s surreal oil landscapes

• Get a little moonstruck with this gallery of The Moon in Art

• Answer the age-old question, how does a pony put on a sweater?

• Marvel at mini-food cheeseburgers

• omfg dogs

• /r/365PhotoProject

• /r/AmateurEarthPorn

• /r/AmateurPhotography

• /r/BackgroundArt

• /r/beerwithaview

• /r/Breathless

• /r/CaliforniaPics

• /r/CampingandHiking

• /r/Canyoneering

• /r/DiamondPorn

• /r/EarthPornGifs

• /r/EarthPornVids

• /r/EyeCandy

• /r/GfycatsDepot

• /r/holyfuck

• /r/ImaginaryWildlands

• /r/IncredibleIndia

• /r/ITookAPicture

• /r/JoshuaTree

• /r/JunglePorn

• /r/Nature

• /r/NatureGifs

• /r/NaturePics

• /r/natureporn/

• /r/nyctohylophobia

• /r/NZPhotos

• /r/remoteplaces

• /r/SpecArt

• /r/telephotolandscapes

• /r/travel

• /r/rwallpaperchanger

• /r/worldwonders

• /r/humanporn

Connect

• Need someone to talk to? There's a texting hotline where you don't have to speak; and you can talk about anything. Text hello to 741741.

Relax

• Guided Meditation for Centered Happiness

• Rain sounds for sleep and study

• Enjoy a free background noise radio with SoundDrown

• “Marconi Union” by Weightless is scientifically proven to help you relax

• Relax by drawing delicate digital mandalas

• Take virtual walks or virtual train rides

• Analyze your stress and find ways to alleviate it

• Take guided meditation courses at Vipassana Meditation

• /r/Relax/

• /r/asmr/

• /r/RelaxationLounge/

• /r/beddit/

Do Nothing for Two Minutes

Please feel free to share this widely and suggest additional links. If you find anything you really like, let me know!

In the last few weeks I’ve helped several people out. Some don’t even acknowledge that they have received anything. I just spent $70.00 on clothes for someone for a job and no response. Nothing. And yes, their stuff was delivered Saturday. I’d send my grandma a thank you card for a $5.00 birthday check for goodness sakes. I did have one woman be so lovely in her thanks it almost brought me to tears, but most people I’ve helped say nothing. I’m sorry. I think that is rude. And then people start to PM, oh can you help me too?! (I’ve reported them) So, I know you should give just for the sake of giving, but damn, I can’t handle people without gratitude or manners. Makes me a little bit grinchy and I don’t want to be that way....... Am I being ridiculous?

Scam Alert

This user has scammed THOUSANDS of dollars from reddit users within the last 5 months and continues to create a new account on a daily basis.

The good news 👍:

Reddit is aware of this user. The accounts are typically suspended within 24 hours of creation.

The bad news 👎:

The user still has enough time to scam people and the suspension doesn't prevent the user from creating new accounts.

If you happen to run across this user please report them to the moderation team immediately and feel free to share this post.

With that said, check out the info below and be safe!

About the Scammer:

• New account; usually only hours old. Copy & pasted sob story to multiple subreddits.

• Desperate struggling mother of [insert # of children], usually with a newborn out of the NICU. Seeking cash due to being out of brand specific formula and/or her kids have no food/diapers/wipes.

• Posts are detailed and typically have a dramatic title, such as, “Urgent”, or “Strong trigger warning”.

• Displays herself as a martyr; “I’m a bad mom”, “I blame myself for this mess”, “I can starve”, “I’m giving up hope”, etc.

Targeted Subreddits

Any sub to do with the following: family, kids, toddler, pregnancy, parenting, health, domestic abuse, meal prep, military, religious, and even pets.

Basically, any subreddit with a sympathetic audience.

If you participate or subscribe to a subreddit that fits within the scammers target(s) please feel free to crosspost this there.

Below you will find a list of the scammers most frequented subreddits:

^{Note: User has posted to 300+ subreddits. The subs above are the top 33.}

Known Usernames:

^{*Updated 10/06/20}

Money Platforms:

What to do if you've been scammed?

1. Report the users to the moderators of the subreddit you were scammed in.

2. Report the user to the FBI: https://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx

3. Report the user to their local police department: https://cityoflorissc.com/police-department

In March 2020, during a rainstorm and the beginning of Covid, soaking wet, I reached out for help. I was hungry and cold. What happened next was nothing short of a miracle. It started with a sandwich, and turned into all sorts of help. Within 2 days I was renting someone’s converted garage, from your donations. Clothes, appliances, food and more was all on the way. I wanted to update you all a bit.

I now live in an apartment, am in the film business and in the correlating Union. I have health insurance. I make good money and I have a new career.

I don’t know why you all picked me, since direct money isn’t usually common here, but you gave me enough for first month and deposit for that garage. All the items to get me on my feet and find a job. It was a miracle. I have quietly been paying it forward here. I doubt I’ll ever stop.

You all changed my life. In two days!! So much love and kindness and prayers changed this man’s life in a way I can never truly properly thank you. The best way is to keep paying it forward the way you did, to always try to be kind the way you guys were and to be loving the way you all do.

So Thank You. From the bottom of my heart. The last 16 months have been exciting and new and wonderful and I’m not sure it would have ever happened without the sub.

Love,

Me

It's my Reddit cake day and to celebrate I'm going to give 5 x $100.

I will pick 5 entries at random in 24hrs. All you need is the Karma minimums[1] and a Paypal account -- I'm not from the US and can't use some of the other apps.

I will send the winners USD$100 each via PayPal (or your local currency equivalent).

You don't have to justify why you want the money -- though you might as well write something in your comment since it'll get boring otherwise. Just specify that you're participating and not just commenting. The pick will be random.

[1] The standard r/Assistance requirements.

Note: Do NOT send me direct messages against the rules. I report every time.

Update: Okay, that’s a lot of entries. I am working on the picking process (random). No more entries, it won’t count.

Update 2: The 5 randomly selected winners are: RachelFoxCat, CarobRecent6622, TentacleTitties, rattingtons, Pun_in_10_dead (I'm in the process of reaching out to you over chat request now)

Update 3: The winners have been contacted and now I'm going to sleep because it's just past midnight. I'm sorry that I couldn't help everyone. You all deserved it (which is why I picked randomly).

Hi fellow Redditors,

I am 30 years old, with two children. In August 2017 I was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer. Exactly two years later to the day I was diagnosed stage 4, metastatic breast cancer to the bones. Given 2-5 years to live. It seems like a cruel joke, really. I always figured I would grow old, but that’s assumptions for you.

As you can imagine, a cancer diagnosis can cause quite the financial trouble, let alone two..back to back. I pay for two insurance policies just to get a good fraction of the cost covered. Any donations would go to medical expenses and any NEEDS for my two children and myself. The cancer center is about two hours away and it’s my second home. I’m currently on a fixed low income due to being unable to work. After chemo, surgery, and radiation with the first diagnosis I had back to back surgeries all the way up to my second diagnosis due to radiation complications. I’ve been practically bed bound the last 2 years and being young it’s been exceptionally hard. The spread is to my bones and I now take daily chemo as well as an aromatase inhibitor and an infusion/injection monthly. I received radiation to my hip, skull, and spine this last October. I’m now in extreme pain as the bone mets have eaten away at the bone. The biggest tumor was right in where the hip meets the femur, in the socket, and it makes walking excruciating. It’s been quite difficult for myself and my two kids to deal with. My son when he overheard my prognosis started developing physical symptoms from the anxiety of losing me,my daughter is just now starting to understand what’s going on. I desperately and genuinely need help to even keep afloat. The guilt of not only leaving my children without their mother but also leaving them with nothing let alone making ends meet is unbearable.

If you can’t donate due to these trying times, please please share the heck out of this. I do not ask for help easy, I try to not rely on anyone but I am putting my kids first and I don’t want them to suffer anymore than they’ve already had to deal with because of pride or anything else.

Alisha’s Battle with Terminal Breast Cancer

Hi folks.

It’s been one helluva year. So for a bit of background, I come from a very blessed and privileged background. Since I was young, I’ve been raised and told by my parents it’s my duty to set aside at least 10% of my own yearly funds for charity. I’ve already used most of my budget and donated to a wide variety of charitable causes, but this year, I want to do something extra and donate $1500 to help people directly in need and those who could use the assistance.

It’s been a tough year for many, and recent events and changes in my life have made me look back and see how incredibly lucky I am. I’ve decided it’s time I give more back.

Comment to enter, tell me what you’ll use the money for. I’ll pick the winners in the next 24 hours. Follow the rules of the subreddit. Please don’t private message me, I will not respond. I’ll only private message you if you’re a winner.

I can either send a gift card to Amazon or some shop of choice, or PayPal. I might have Venmo still open too. Happy holidays folks.

EDIT: Please follow the sub rules folks! If you qualify and meet certain requirements of activity and such, make sure you register so your comments don’t get filtered out or removed.

EDIT: Hey everyone. I've read through each and every comment left here. Including those left by folks who got filtered out or removed for not fulfilling the subreddit requirements. It's truly been a eye opening and honestly heart-wrenching experience. I'm a big old softy, and I couldn't help but bump this up to 20 winners for a total of 2000. The winners have all been chosen, some by myself, some by a friend of mine. I'm truly sorry to all of you who didn't win, and I wish you the best only. I really do wish I could do more to help everyone. To the folks who did, I'll be private messaging you now and throughout the day. I don't want to publicly announce the winners myself in order to protect their privacy, but winners can feel free to let people know if they won or not.

Edit: Holy crap y’all this really blew up. I’m gonna start looking through comments now!

I am just truly blown away.. this is kind of surreal to me.

4:11 p.m - i fell back asleep for a while, but am once again looking through the post. I just truly don’t know what to say. Y’all are amazing. This means so much to me. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I want to thank each of you individually, and I’m gonna try, but if I don’t yet just know I’m still reading all of them, and I’m pretty much in tears from some of you. I am quite emotional for a while rn as it is haha but again, thank you all so much. Truly.

A quick glance at my post history paints a pretty clear picture of who I am.

I am a 27 year old man who’s been struggling with a meth addiction for almost 9 years now, unsuccessfully.

I’m not proud of what I’ve become. In fact it haunts me daily. I’m starting to feel my identity slip away from me, and as time goes on, I am losing myself to this drug.

Because of it, I’ve lost everyone in my life close to me; I haven’t spoken to my family in years, my best friends I’ve had since childhood have had to leave me and move on, and my lover of four and a half years I could have only dreamed of having left me over a year ago due to an inability to shake the habit, and I’ve been high, escaping ever since.

But.

Last week, I remembered something important.

I still, no matter what, no matter what happens or how long I have to fight this fight, I have to never stop fighting it, and I always have to have hope.

I have to fight this thing like I’m fighting for my life.

Currently, while I am on unemployment, I am without insurance, which makes it incredibly hard to get into a rehab, but I’m desperately trying to get into a state funded one here in Texas. I know I can’t do this alone, and have been reaching out to groups like AA and NA around me. Unfortunately though, I’m from a smaller town, and they are currently not meeting due to Covid-19. I would like to start seeing an addiction counselor, but financially that is impossible for me at the moment until I start work again and get on insurance, which will hopefully be within the next month. I am trying everything I can to seek out help though.

But, currently alone, I kind of broke down again tonight. The crippling depression that comes from the withdraw has been my riptide every time that always takes me back to using again. I can’t tell you how difficult it is being a part of this cycle of insanity. Feeling so horrible without it, knowing that one hit can make it all go away. But being completely determined that sobriety is best for me. It’s a war inside my head, and it’s taken everything within me to quit even for just a week. So sad.

But man could I just use some words of encouragement right now. Every second feels like a battle, and I just really need to here another human being say that I am worth all this trouble I’m going through to stay afloat right now.

If you have direct experience in recovery as an addict, I would love to talk to you as well though, if you’re up for it. I could use all the help I can get right now.

The other request I have isn’t near as important, but, I could definitely use a little help with food right now. After a move a couple weeks ago, between rent and the deposit, I found myself struggling the past couple of weeks with groceries. There’s a place nearby that does one meal a day right now, which is why it’s not super important because I am eating, but it wouldn’t hurt having a sandwich to be able to munch on right now.

Being an addict, I in no way expect anyone to directly send me money. But if you’re in the US, I know there are options to buy groceries online to pick up through Walmart. Again, this Friday I get paid, and will have money for groceries. So. No worries really.

But I hope you all have a wonderful day today though. I’m gonna try and close my eyes for a while myself now, but will definitely check Reddit first thing when I wake up. Thanks for the read, and best wishes.

My little sister's dad is going to court to fight for her to live with him. My older sister and I are testifying on the necessity of that decision on March 13th.

I had to live with my mom for the full 18 years even though my dad was a better fit, because that's how the courts were in the 90's - mom's rights. I moved out five years ago, on the day I turned 18, and my biggest regret was having to leave my little sister behind, alone with our mother. My little sister has recently been cutting herself and increasingly suicidal as my mom spirals and keeps losing jobs and has no stable housing - all the while blaming my little sister for all of it.

I created a GoFundMe to help with legal costs, as court is expensive. Please help me save my sister! She means the world to me and is one of the best people I know.

For Kayla's Better Home

Edit 1: thank you so much for everyone who liked, commented, shared or donated! Your support blew me away.

Edit 2: not long after I posted this, my mom blurted out some things she really shouldn't have during a court-ordered therapy session with my little sister, so within a day Kayla was removed from my mother's home and has been staying with her uncle. The trial is set for March 13th, but they're finalizing a settlement now, so she should be able to live with her dad as soon as that happens.

Kayla is free, happy and alive - all I could ask for. Again, thank you all so much for your support and your good vibes, I am sure that it helped! Thank you thank you thank you!!!!

u/NurseElf made a post last week, offering to assist those who really needed help. I was really sick at the time, on my monthly cycle, bleeding heavily and could barely moved. This amazing woman, assisted me with money for my co-pay to see my OBGYN. After hours of testing, I was diagnosed with PCOS and a bacterial infection. My Doctor said if I hadn't of came in, I would have gone septic and lost my life. I was put on antibiotics and pain medication and each day I have been improving. I wanted to publicly thank this subreddit and u/NurseElf for everything.

Please pray for my dad please. He’s in the ICU right now with COVID and pneumonia. He’s my best friend in the whole world and I need him home safe and healthy. :( that’s my dad. Please pray for his health and for his recovery. I’m begging anyone and everyone to please pray. I’m asking for this one request please. For prayers. All the prayers he can get.

Thanks to the lovely b_holden3085 I was able to purchase an outfit and get a haircut just an hour before my job interview! And I got it! No more living inside a van, I will be able to rent a place for the meantime! Miracles DO happen!

p.s: to all the men that offered to "donate" if I sent them nudes, fuck you. You don't play with someone's poverty. Also, if you're gonna scam girls on Reddit, at least use an acc that wasn't created 3 hours ago.

After months of waiting and various testing, we FINALLY have a date of March 20th for my kidney transplant! This is so exciting and I just want to thank my donor for sticking through everything, but mostly for doing this for me <3

EDIT:I suppose since this is blown up because of the bestof thread, I should edit it and say that the surgery has been rescheduled for March 26th. When I first made this update thread, I had just found out it was the 20th.

A lot of people have been emailing me asking what happened since the fundraiser. A lot. For the past 2 years i have been working on an alternative social network and portal called Miramir. A social network and portal built on privacy, freedom, and truth. Combining features of Facebook, Ebay, Reddit, Quora, Meetup, Craigslist, Plenty of fish, Kickstarter, and a lot of other networks into one. I hope to unite and connect the most amazing people in the world and bring humanity into a new age of love, unity, and abunance.

Kickstarter page: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/maxsidorov/1310337043?token=ed6c29bf

Miramir facebook: https://www.facebook.com/miramircom

My facebook: https://www.facebook.com/massimusm

My twitter: https://www.twitter.com/maxsidorov1

************* ALL THE MONEY IS WITH INDIEGOGO - EVERYTHING WILL GO DIRECTLY TO KAREN WITHOUT PASSING THOUGH MY HANDS AT ALL *******************

As soon as I heard of Karen Huff Klein and what some condom worthy offspring have done to her, i had to create a fundraiser here for this nice lady.

Lets give Karen a vacation of a lifetime, lets show her the power of the Internets and how kind and generous people can be.

I have just created a fundraiser page for Karen:

http://www.indiegogo.com/loveforkarenhklein?a=714358

I have contacted her through Facebook, but she might be at work so might not have gotten the message yet.

If someone can let her know or send me her email so I can forward all the logins and details to her that would be great!

Details:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l93wAqnPQwk&feature=player_embedded

The video above shows the 68 year old bus monitor named Karen Klein being verbally abused by a group of condom worthy middle schoolers from Athena Middle School in Greece, New York.

Through the video you can hear them verbally berating the woman, calling her a bitch, fatass, poor, ugly, and various other words of the like. At one point in the video, you can hear one of the kids yell, “You’re so fuckin poor you fat ass,” in which Karen responds, “I try to live by some of these words, I try and it’s really hard,” which were the words written on her purse. Now, i don't know about you but that was fucking heart breaking. I have no idea why these horrible teens would want to bully a SENIOR CITIZEN to fucking tears, but i feel we need to do something, something that will bring some joy to her life.

She doesn't earn nearly enough ($15,506) to deal with some of the trash she is surrounded by. Lets give her something she will never forget, a vacation of a lifetime!

Link to the school’s website: http://www.greece.k12.ny.us/athena-middle.cfm

Links to the videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oipwaZos58E&feature=plcp http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l93wAqnPQwk&feature=plcp http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBedTlo7BDs&feature=plcp

Karen’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kklein1944

*EDIT: I removed a previous post in /r/Askreddit due to people telling me its no place for fundraisers so I posted up here.

WORLDTRAVELERONEDAY told me he has her phone number so we will try and get a hold of her asap to let her know and transfer all the details to her.

*Update 1: Thanks WORLDTRAVELERONEDAY for the number. So i called and left a message, im going to guess she has a LOT of messages by now, but hopefully she calls back.

*Update 2: Thanks razorsheldon! Just called her neighbor, but she said she works for the district also and she is not allowed to say anything and just hung up, i don't want to harass anyone, what should do?

*Update 3: Just contacted WHAM13 news and they will pass on the details about this fundraiser to her and maybe get her in touch with me! Man, i wish i could see her reaction!

*Update 4: 1300$ in 3 hours!!! Thanks everyone you guys rock!

*Update 5: WOOHOO! Goal reached in under 5 hours, you guys are awesome!

*Update 6: 10,362$ .... holy shit, lets see if we can get her early retirement!

*Update 7: News picked it up, along with me:

http://www.metro.us/newyork/national/article/1146045--karen-klein-supporters-donate-thousands-for-school-bus-monitor-harassed-by-kids

*Update 8: Just spoke with Amanda, Karen's daughter, and vacation plans are a'brewin! Just so everyone knows, anything above and beyond the vacation cost will go directly to Karen, all of it!!

*Update 9: Transpired has just brought up a good point, will she be taxed on this amount? Can anyone shed some light on this topic?

StylesClashv3 gave a great explanation on taxes, so pretty much she wont pay anything because we have a 5,000,000 limit to the gifts we can give to others, i hope i understood that right.

*Update 10: Ok the people have spoken, all ideas will be with Karen's permission! No money will go anywhere other than her, she has full control of what to do with it.

*Update 11: Just got off the phone with Indiegogo, Im in the process of changing the payment info to Karen's details.

*Update 12: TO ALL THE PEOPLE WHO STILL THINK THIS IS NOT LEGIT!

I know, i would think the same, but i want nothing to do with the money and my identity has been verified by at least 5 news agencies who called me within these few hours, i have spoke to Karen and her sister numerous times, and with the IndieGoGo team letting them know to transfer the details to her asap.

Stop making stuff up, ALL THE MONEY WILL GO TO KAREN.

And by the way she will be on Goodmorning America, Anderson Cooper and others tomorrow so watch your local news!

*Update 13: http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-bullied-bus-monitor-gets-40k-vacation-20120620,0,4780100.story

http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/06/20/12323893-vacation-of-a-lifetime-pledged-for-bus-monitor-bullied-in-viral-video?lite

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20120620/NEWS01/306200023/Greece-bus-monitor-bullying-video

*Update 14: So i just woke up to 125k... holy shit And CNN picked it up too

http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/21/us/new-york-bullied-bus-monitor/index.html?hpt=hp_c1

"The organizer did not respond to CNN requests for comment on the website." -yea, if you don't try in anyway to contact me then of course i wont respond

Update 15: [removed]

*Update 15: Thanks everyone, looks like IndieGoGo has been crashed with the Ddos of kindness!!!!

*Update 16: To all the accusations of me having any monetary gain or anything from this: I did not know about that fundraiser by case and I never wanted anything in return, ive spent these past two days in phone calls and interviews to bring light to this issue and to help Karen.

On the other note thank you everyone for your amazing support and help and those who are with Karen!

*Update 17: Wow, its been an absolutely hectic 3 days, I have pretty much been answering calls, emails, and doing interviews all day long for 3 days. I never thought it would be this exhausting. I hope the media blitz will slow down so i can get back to my regular life...

Again, im absolutely stunned at the insane support this is getting. Thank you everyone who donated! There are a lot more great causes out there so if you have more to spare, give!

I’ve always loved feeding people and animals. I foster cats and kittens and watching them chow down is one of the most gratifying bits of my existence.

I auctioned off a smutty commission yesterday so I have plenty to work with here, and I’d like to feed as many as possible.

Half for people, and a half for pets- and no, you don’t have to choose between the two. I will happily feed your whole family.

Just a pic of your pet and your username, and we’ll get the little buggers fed.

Offering up to $50 in food per family + $30 in pet food for those who pay the pet tax. Buying directly from your linked amazon wishlist.

*Pet tax consists of a picture of your pet with your username in the picture

Registered only, I will not respond to any direct messages

You do not need pets or pictures to get just the people food.

Example of proper pet tax, curtesy of my pocket foster

Families fed so far: 20/20

u/doubletroublewtf

u/dogmom2020

u/GoneAndCrazy

u/redwidow1992

u/Beesechurger88

u/Furrypotatoes

u/oliveoil1804

u/camoskinso

u/TxRose2019

u/LaDivina77

u/KamateKaora

u/Eternity_Mask

u/momostewart

u/silverkeyes

u/kimstrongheart

u/dabbler_dame

u/christinamatteson

u/RebeccaNH

u/vvictoriaclare

u/Arisal1122

I promise I won’t do this every week haha but I just wanted to give an update for those maybe curious how things are going after all the amazing replies I got from y’all last week.

I had such an overwhelming support of people pouring out so much love, and I can’t tell you how amazing it’s been to be able to look back and see how many people really care about my wellbeing.

I AM 15 DAYS SOBER!!!

HOLY MOTHER OF PEARL I MADE IT 15 DAYS!!!

I can’t stop telling myself that. It makes me proud.

Honestly though, even though not much, those days mean more to me than I can explain. And I swear I wouldn’t have gotten here without y’all. Thank you thank you thank you so much everyone. From the ones who’ve shared their stories of overcoming addiction to those just helping a person out with loving words, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.

That also includes the help with groceries I got from several awesome people. I am in a much better position now than I was, and not being hungry significantly improved everything. Thank you again so much to those people who helped with that. I’m not sure if saying usernames is ok, so I won’t, but seriously, it meant the world to me.

I’m going for that first 30 days now, one day at a time. I am certain I will hit it. And then 60. 90. But for right now, like I said, just a day at a time. I will crush this nightmare and leave it behind me though. I know it. It’s my past now, not my future. The future is what I make it.

Another awesome thing that is a total game changer, is I have a sponsor now who answers every call, every craving, and is nothing but support for me. It’s insane having someone who has been through exactly what I’ve been through and knows how I feel. It gives me such hope. He’s amazing, and though he doesn’t use Reddit, just want to give him the biggest thanks possible as well. November 7th we’re gonna celebrate my sobriety with a huge steak haha I’m so excited. I love steak :)

So yeah, things are going well. I’m looking for work, I’ve been walking an hour every day outside, (totally changes my attitude every day for the better), and I literally just got off the phone with my dad for the first time in who knows how long, and it went well. There’s so much time that needs healing for so many wounds, but they will heal, and it’ll be nice to be able to speak with family again.

You all are amazing though. Thank you again. Have a wonderful day on this beautiful world :)) I’ll let you know when 30 days has come!!

A couple of months ago I reached out because my father was dying. I needed to go and I couldn’t afford a bus ticket. It didn’t even take twenty minutes before I had multiple offers and I was on the first bus out in the morning.

I couldn’t stop crying in the bus station and a lady came up to me and gave me a package of tissues and asked if I wanted a hug. She sat and waited for the bus with me and let me talk.

When I got to the hospital I was crying again and someone else stopped me and asked if I needed a hug and I really did.

I just cannot believe in the generosity and compassion of strangers. To all of you who are lurking on this subreddit to kind things. Thank you so freaking much.

And to all of you who need help, don’t be afraid to ask. Turns out there are a lot of just really kind people out there that genuinely want to help.

I'm a pediatric resident in Mexico. We have this amazing kid who was diagnosed with Leukemia. He is currently on chemo and bone marrow transplant.

His favorite superhero and role model is Ironman, he has been having depression and anxiety issues, he is 9yo but he'll turn 10 on February 2nd, we had this crazy idea of post a tweet to see if we can reach Robert Downey Jr. And ask him if he can send a Birthday message for Victor.

I know the possibility for this is les than 0.01% and probably 1 in 14,000,605 but it worths a try!

So if you could go to my account on Twitter @diego_monk and help me with a retweet or give me any other ideas so we can make this work!!

Thanks for reading and sorry for the bad English!

I took my birthday boy to olive garden thanks to this sub and I just want to say thank you so so much! We haven't been out to eat since before the pandemic started so this was so much fun! My son was so HYPED when we pulled in, like... He has been talking about olive garden and their alfredo commercial for literally weeks <3 He prob ate like 20 breadsticks and super loved the alfredo lol he said it was better than mine which he never says any food is better than mine bc he's sweet, so he must have rly loved it haha they even sang happy birthday and he got some kind of chocolate brownie lasagna thing for dessert lol we had hella leftover food and I had enough to get him a take home alfredofor later or tomorrow or something too and give the bad ass server a good tip since she was so sweet 🥺💖 I can't put into words how much seeing my baby boy happy means to me, y'all are THE BEST! This was such a rad birthday for him + he thought it was so cool that a bunch of strangers online wanted to help make his day special. I appreciate every single one of you so so much 💖

We have a home. I can barely believe it. I'm so grateful. Thank you u/corealityczech I can never repay you for what you have done for us. God is using you as a vessel because what you did for us is a miracle.

Thank you everyone who helped us. I can't thank you enough. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

We have a home.