The week in good news: pies for the homeless, fighting food poverty, and the kindness of strangers

Getting caught up in our daily routines, we sometimes forget to take a moment to be grateful for what we have, instead focusing on what we want to achieve next.

By feeling grateful for what we have, we can become generous; and when people are generous, great things happen.

From feeding the homeless to the kindness of strangers, here’s our pick of last week’s good news.

Pies for the homeless

When Salford City FC’s match got postponed shortly before kick-off, they decided to donate all the food for the game to a charity for the homeless, the BBC reported.

https://twitter.com/SalfordCityFC/status/967439096061841410

They were left with 150 pies on their hands on Saturday when the referee called off their game with Tamworth because of a frozen pitch and so managers Anthony Johnson and Bernard Morley, who didn’t want the food to go to waste, delivered it to the charity.

Mr Johnson said: “It’s great to be able to help people. We wanted to share some of the good feeling that we have at the club.”

Although Salford City has a list of homeless charities to contact in case it has leftover food, this was the first time they have actually supplied food to one of them.

Besides the 150 pies, the two managers also delivered four containers of leek and potato soup and 40 cheesecakes to Manchester-based charity Coffee4Craig.

Hendrix Lancaster, co-founder of Coffee4Craig, said that he was very grateful for the windfall, adding; “People are very, very generous.”

The club posted on their twitter page: “Salford City apologise for all the inconvenience caused. Unfortunately the match referee has taken the decision that the pitch could be dangerous and it is not the club’s decision.

“Due to our game against @tamworthfc being called off so late, we had a ton of food leftover! @BernMorley84 and @amjonno decided to deliver it to a homeless shelter!”

Their initiative touched fans, who praised their generosity on social media.

Eat a meal, give a meal

With ten times more homeless people in Manchester now than there were in 2010, 1761 & Lily’s Bar are the latest to team up with local non-profit enterprise Foodinate to fight food poverty and help Mancunians in need.

Foodinate is a socially conscious not-for-profit organisation founded in 2016 by Mancunian entrepreneur Caroline Stevenson. It helps tackle food poverty by working with local restaurateurs to provide meals for people who need them most.

The concept is simple. When you choose selected dishes from the menu at a participating restaurant, they will donate a meal to a local person in need at no extra cost to you. The scheme, which is now operating in six UK cities, expects to hit 20,000 donated meals this month.

At most participating restaurants, a few items on the menu are designated as Foodinate dishes.

Starting next week, 1761 & Lily’s Bar will be taking things a step further. They are making every dish on their menu a Foodinate dish on Mondays and Tuesdays. That includes dessert, too.

That means for every dish sold, a meal will be donated to partner charity Mustard Tree.

The team behind 1761 have always been community focused; valuing fresh, locally sourced British produce just as much as they value supporting the local economy.

So next time you head down to enjoy something from the best-of-British menu at 1761 & Lily’s Bar, make your reservation for a Monday or Tuesday and leave knowing that your meal has also fed someone who needed it more.

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People’s generosity make it possible for two daughters to visit their sick mum overseas

Two little girls can visit their mum receiving cancer treatment in the USA thanks to the generosity of friends and strangers, the MEN writes.

In only 24 hours, family, friends, and strangers raised over £5,000 so the two little girls can visit their mum in America where she will be receiving life-saving treatment.

Lindsey Morton, 33, has been told the NHS will fund specialist proton beam therapy in Jacksonville, Florida, where she will fly later this year.

A crowfunding appeal launched by her friend Danielle Brockley – who wanted to make sure she won’t be away from her daughters, Harper, aged one, and Lexie, five, for nine weeks – raised £5,700 in just one day, meaning the children, and her partner, Ben Jackson, will be able to go and see her during her treatment.

Lindsey, from Denton, was diagnosed with a malignant tumour on her spine last August – just eight months after giving birth to Harper, and while she was still on maternity leave.

She also had cancer as a child and lost a kidney and part of her bowels due to a malignant Wilms Tumour. After having 12 months of chemotherapy and radiotherapy she was informed she would never be able to have children – but she proved the experts wrong.

Her husband Ben, 33, said: “The generosity of people has blown me away. I have cried more over this than the whole situation with Lindsey. We didn’t want to set up a funding page – it was our problem and we had to try and deal with it. Reluctantly we let Danielle set one up.”

Lindsey said: “I’m so overwhelmed by it all. When I have had surgery recently I spent a week away from the girls and then 48 hours – that was bad enough.

“I am never away from them, so the prospect of nine weeks was hard. It is a bitter-sweet thing. I am very grateful to be having the treatment – but will be so far away from home. Having my daughters, Ben, and dad come out will be such a boost.”

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