Children are our future...and this week's Feel Good Friday round-up is all the proof you need.
In our Acts of Kindness series, which highlights people around the world doing their part to help others, two 6-year-olds will leave you in awe after you read about how they are stepping up at such a young age, including one brother who risked his life to save his little sister. It was an act so courageous that some of Hollywood's leading superheroes are now reaching out to commend him for his heroic act.
Plus, another young man has been honoring the doctors and nurses working on the frontline in his city every night of quarantine in a very unique way, while a group of celebrities have come together to film an important PSA to raise awareness for the millions of homeless youth during COVID-19. (You can watch the message in the video above.)
Check out these six acts of kindness to start off your weekend on a positive note...
Lost in America documentary director Rotimi Rainwater, who was once a homeless youth, has assembled a roster of celebs, including Jewel, Snoop Dogg, Kate Bosworth, Dermot Mulroney and more to help young people in need in a powerful PSA.
In the video, the stars are raising awareness of the issue that 4.2 million youth and young adults experience homelessness every year in America, with the coronavirus pandemic only making the situation even more dire. The video, made in a partnership with National Safe Place and the National Runaway Safeline is also hoping to help fundraise in order to provide masks, medicine, and safe housing to youth living on the street.
"While many Americans are able to stay at home during the pandemic, homeless youth have nowhere to go, leaving this vulnerable population at a higher risk of contracting the virus due to lack of shelter" Jewel said in a press release. "As someone who has experienced homelessness myself, I believe it is imperative to provide resources to homeless youth and support the #LostinAmercia campaign, which lets them know that they are not forgotten."
When 6-year-old Bridger and his little sister were attacked by a dog, he stepped in to protect his 4-year-old sibling, later undergoing a two-hour surgery and needing 90 stitches after the animal latched onto his cheek.
"He, himself, took on the attack so that the dog wouldn't get his sister," his aunt Nikki Walker shared on Instagram, with her post asking the Avengers to reach out to the "latest addition to their ranks" going viral. "He later said, 'If someone was going to die, I thought it should be me.'"
And after the attack, Bridger made sure his sister was OK and was concerned about the dog, later asking an animal control officer, "I don't want anything bad to happen to the dog...is it going to be killed?"
Since the story was shared, both Chris Evans and Tom Holland personally called to have conversations with him, with his aunt posting videos from the sweet interactions. "You are so brave...and we are all so proud of you," Holland tells Bridger, who is wearing a Spider-Man suit.
Bridger has also received messages from Mark Ruffalo, Anne Hathaway, Hugh Jackman and other stars.
"After Bridger's actions, our family has settled on a simple request: may we each actively strive to bear one another's burdens, stand up for and protect those that are weak, oppressed, or those whom the world might forsake," his parents wrote in a letter posted to Nikki's Instagram. "
Nicholas Bubeck is doing what he can to make a difference in the world after his mom told him, "My mommy told me to start a business during the coronavirus."
The six-year-old from Arizona decided to start his own company, "Creations By Nicholas," launching an online store where he sells airplanes made out of popsicle sticks and kits for children to make their own.
As for why he chose to make airplanes, Nicholas explained to E!, "I made these planes to imagine that you're traveling to wherever you want!"
And Nicholas came up with the idea of the Kits for Kids to help put smiles on the faces of kids whose parents are frontline workers.
"The kits for kids program gives free kits to kids whose mom and dad who's treating the coronavirus," Nicholas told E! News, with his mom Nadine, who helped him build the website, adding, "We are getting orders saying I don't want a plane but I want you to donate to someone, a kid who needs it."
The family (Nicholas "paid" his brothers to be his models) has been donating some of the proceeds to the Triple Heart Foundation, which provides books to parents embarking on the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) journey, as Nadine explained, "Nicholas a couple weeks premature so he has a connection to the NICU."
In lockdown and away from their families for four months, one activities coordinator at the Sydmar Lodge Care Home in the U.K. decided to add some fun for his senior living residents by recreating classic album covers, including Adele, Taylor Swift, Bruce Springsteen and more.
"I made the suggestions of which albums and which resident best suited the look, or had a vague similarity to the artist," coordinator Robert Speker explained on Twitter. "Then I proposed the idea to each resident. Gladly all of them were enthused and perhaps a bit bemused by the idea, but happy to participate."
Speker, who did all of their hair and make-up and took and edited the photos, said, "I wanted the residents' personality to shine through."
For months, a 12-year-old boy in Atlanta has honored the frontline workers in his city through music.
Jason has played his trumpet outside of Emory Hospital in Decatur for months to honor the facility's healthcare workers, with the 7th grader telling 11 Alive in Atlanta, "I'll sometimes be playing Fortnite with my friends and I'll say it's time to go to the hospital, bye."
Jason shows up between 6:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. to make sure he is there for the shift change, with the young musician adding, "It's really fun... [it] makes people happy and if you like doing it, it makes you happy too."
After coming out as non-binary, trans-masculine, Grey's family decided to throw the 17-year-old the most incredible gender reveal party.
"We wanted to announce that we got it wrong 17 years ago when we told the world we were having a little girl, and named that child McKenzie," the family shared, per @upworthy, which first shared the story of Grey's party. "We'd like to introduce you to our SON: Grey. He's much like any other 17-year-old nerdy boy, stays up way too late gaming, hates showering, and eats too much junk food. We will be referring to Grey with he/him pronouns."