Latest news with #TheGivingTree
Associated Press
6 days ago
- General
- Associated Press
Delivering More Than Packages: FedEx Interns Give Back Through FedEx Cares
On July 24, more than 100 FedEx interns and team members gathered in Memphis to participate in a meaningful day of service—packing 10,000 snack packs for U.S. troops being deployed or stationed around the world. This hands-on event was part of the Intern FedEx Cares initiative and was hosted in collaboration with the United Service Organizations (USO), a nonprofit dedicated to strengthening America's military service members by keeping them connected to family, home, and country throughout their service. The snack packs—carefully filled with familiar comforts like M&Ms, granola bars, Prime hydration packs, and other treats—were designed to bring a small but powerful reminder of home to those currently or about to be deployed. FedEx interns worked alongside team members and FedEx Military Fellows to assemble each pack with care, knowing that their efforts would directly reach service members already deployed, or as they boarded buses and planes for deployment. The atmosphere was filled with both energy and purpose as interns lined tables, passed down items, and sealed each kit. Intern Yuyu Yang described the event as 'a fun and heartwarming experience,' sharing that 'it was incredible to see so many people come together with great energy, dancing, smiling, and assembling snack packs with care.' Meanwhile, in Pittsburgh, FedEx interns turned their focus to local children in need by volunteering at Light of Life Rescue Mission, a nonprofit that serves individuals and families experiencing homelessness. In collaboration with Feed the Children, interns packed 150 brand-new backpacks filled with school supplies, hygiene items, and nutritious snacks as part of a Backpack-N-Go event sponsored by FedEx. Each backpack was prepared with care to ensure children had the essentials they need to start the school year with confidence—everything from notebooks and pencils to toothbrushes, applesauce, and juice. The items were destined for children in Light of Life's programs, including their foster care outreach. Intern Jummie Agboola shared, 'It was a simple act, but one that carries deep impact by giving a child somewhere a reason to smile, even if we may never meet them or know their name.' Her words captured the spirit of the day—a small moment of service with lasting meaning. To expand the reach of this initiative even further, some interns participated virtually in volunteer events hosted over Zoom. One virtual session supported Ronald McDonald House Charities, where interns recorded audiobooks for hospitalized children. After a brief kickoff, participants broke into small groups to read and record a variety of classic children's stories. The goal was to bring a little joy and comfort to young patients through the power of storytelling. Interns selected familiar favorites like 'The Boy Who Cried Wolf' and 'The Giving Tree,' creating audio versions that could be played for children spending time in hospitals—some of whom may not have family nearby or may be facing long recovery journeys. Intern Ajay Adhithiya Ohm Nathan reflected on the experience, sharing, 'Service like this means a lot to me. Although I may never get to see the children that are going to listen to these audios, I still feel good knowing I had a positive impact for them.' The event demonstrated how small, thoughtful acts can connect us with others in deeply meaningful ways—no matter where we're located. Across every location—on the ground or online—FedEx interns embraced the opportunity to serve, reflect, and connect. These events were more than service projects; they were moments of unity, empathy, and purpose. Interns weren't just learning about corporate values—they were living them. And for this summer's intern cohort, that spirit of service will stick with them long after their internships end. Written by Casie Cottrell, FedEx Marketing & Communications Intern—Originally from Lebanon, TN, Casie is a senior at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and a summer intern on the FedEx Brand Experience team. Reflecting on her time at FedEx, she shared, 'I was really drawn to FedEx because of the strong sense of culture and how they truly prioritize people in the workplace and the community. Events like these really remind you how meaningful it is to come together and make a positive impact right where you are.' Casie Cottrell, a senior at UT Knoxville and FedEx intern, said, 'FedEx's commitment to its people really stood out to me. Experiences like this highlight how meaningful it is to give back as a team.' Click here to learn about FedEx Cares, our global community engagement program. Visit 3BL Media to see more multimedia and stories from FedEx
Forbes
27-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Today's ‘Wordle' #1470 Hints, Clues And Answer For Saturday, June 28th
How to solve today's Wordle. Looking for Friday's Wordle hints, clues and answer? You can find them here: Alright party people it's the weekend and it's time to solve a Wordle! June has flown by and July is in the headlights, but Wordle cares not for months, for weeks, for days. Set aside your busy lives for a moment, and let's solve this puzzle! How To Solve Today's Wordle The Hint: The Giving Tree's final form. The Clue: This Wordle has far more consonants than vowels. Okay, spoilers below! The answer is coming! FEATURED | Frase ByForbes™ Unscramble The Anagram To Reveal The Phrase Pinpoint By Linkedin Guess The Category Queens By Linkedin Crown Each Region Crossclimb By Linkedin Unlock A Trivia Ladder . . . Today's Wordle Every day I check Wordle Bot to help analyze my guessing game. You can check your Wordles with Wordle Bot right here. CLAIM was a decent opening guess, leaving me with 109 remaining solutions and one yellow 'M'. I tried moving that 'M' with SMORE (my older teens went camping and made 'savory s'mores' which helped me think of this second guess) and that cut my remaining options to just one: STUMPfor Today's Wordle Bot I guess the Wordle Bot was a little stumped today. Its four tries means it lost to me. I get 1 point for guessing in three, 1 for beating the Bot and the Bot gets 0 for four guesses and -1 for losing to me. Our June totals inch apart: Erik: 20 points Wordle Bot: 10 points In order for the Bot to come back it would have to win pretty much every single Wordle through the end of June and I'd have to lose points each time also. I'm feeling confident, dearest Wordlers. The word "stump" comes from Middle English stumpe, likely of Germanic origin. It is related to Middle Low German stump and Old Norse stumpi, meaning a blunt or shortened part. Originally, it referred to a part of something cut off or broken, like the base of a tree left after felling. The verb sense (to stump or baffle someone) developed later, likely from the idea of being stopped short or blocked. Let me know how you fared with your Wordle today on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook. Also be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel and follow me here on this blog where I write about games, TV shows and movies when I'm not writing puzzle guides. Sign up for my newsletter for more reviews and commentary on entertainment and culture.
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Legacy of Cochrane's fallen Grandfather Tree will live on through new bench
The Town of Cochrane has found a way to pay tribute to its most treasured tree. The Grandfather Tree, an estimated 300-year-old white spruce in Cochrane Ranche, was toppled by high winds during a storm in January. Now through a proposal reminiscent of Shel Silverstein's book The Giving Tree, it will live on in the form of a commemorative bench made with its salvaged wood. WATCH | Grandfather Tree mourned by Cochranites: The bench was chosen over two other options presented to Cochrane town council on Monday: a children's book authored by a local author and the production of wooden key chains made from the tree. "In the weeks that followed [the tree's collapse], we saw an incredible outpouring of community sentiment," said Michelle Delorme, the town's director of parks and active living. "Residents left reflections, drawings and stories in a temporary mailbox and journal placed at the site, showing us how much this landmark meant to so many people." The tree is currently commemorated through two public art installations at The Station in downtown Cochrane. The bench will include infographic interpretive signage and a mailbox where visitors can share their Grandfather Tree stories and reflections. Calling the bench project "a meaningful, long-lasting tribute that can be delivered within our parks and active living budget," Delorme said it would cost from $7,000 to $10,000. Some council members balked at that estimate. Coun. Patrick Wilson said he was "amazed" and "kind of disgusted" by the proposed cost. When asked by Wilson, Delorme said the price is in line with that of other municipal benches in Cochrane's parks, with those costing anywhere from $5,000 to $7,000. "I can't believe that number. I'm absolutely aghast that we pay that," he said. Stacey Loe, community services executive director with the Town of Cochrane, said that while the cost would continue to be evaluated, this particular bench will likely be more expensive than others due to the labour involved with creating it from the Grandfather Tree. Delorme added that the entire bench won't be made from the Grandfather Tree's wood, but that the goal is for "at least half" of it to be. "We will have to piece everything back together," she said. Coun. Marni Fedeyko said that "unless it's made out of, like, African rainforest wood, it seems kind of on the high side." She supported the motion but emphasized that hiring local artists and contractors for the bench's construction should be prioritized. Coun. Morgan Nagel acknowledged that the project sounds "a little too expensive," but said it was a reasonable proposal, likening it to "an artisan project off of the woods." Councillors floated the idea of combining the bench proposal with the children's book idea, but ultimately approved the construction of the bench at the proposed price. Six of seven council members voted in favour of the motion, leaving Wilson as the sole dissenter.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
This author 'fixed' 'The Giving Tree' with a new ending. Some say it's long overdue.
What if the Giving Tree said "no" to the boy? Thousands of adults online are resonating with alternate endings to classic children's books that may not have aged well in light of modern-day gentle parenting. In his series 'Topher Fixed It,' Atlanta-based playwright and screenwriter Topher Payne reimagines "The Pout-Pout Fish," "Love You Forever," "The Rainbow Fish" and "The Giving Tree." In the original 'Giving Tree,' the tree gives away her apples, branches and trunk for the boy who keeps returning and asking for more. It's been the subject of some criticism for portraying an unhealthy, one-sided relationship. But in Payne's reimagined 'The Tree Who Set Healthy Boundaries,' the Giving Tree stops at the apples. Instead, the tree shares how she feels about their friendship changing and explains why she doesn't want to give everything away. The boy practices empathy and the tree remains strong and tall for generations to come. The internet is divided: A Facebook user roasted the popular kids book 'Love You Forever' 'Setting healthy boundaries is a very important part of giving. It assures you'll always have something left to give,' the book ends. 'And so the tree was happy. Everyone was.' Many Instagram users applauded the alternate ending, which was shared recently by both Payne and podcaster Adam Grant. Grant's post about the ending on May 4 has racked up 129K likes on Instagram. 'Reading your ending to 'The Giving Tree' healed a little piece of me tonight!' commented one Instagram user. "Thank you for this − I always loathed the message in this book," another wrote. "The original is one of my favorite books," another person replied. "I've read it a hundred times and cry each and every time... I think reading both versions to our kids is key so they can see how the two options play out. Thank (you) for this." Payne says he's also received backlash since he began the series during lockdown in 2020. But he emphasizes the alternate endings are meant to inspire thought, not criticize the originals. He first started the 'Topher Fixed It' series in hopes of prompting nuanced conversations that he remembers having with his aunt when he first read the books as a child. 'What I found in a lot of people's relationship with the book is that maybe that conversation doesn't always happen and so the messaging in 'The Giving Tree' can go off in some pretty wild directions,' Payne said. He wrote the alternate endings to stand alongside the original text to compel conversation, whether that happens when reading to a child or returning to the text as an adult. Other classics: 'Love You Forever' is being called 'unsettling'. These books are just as questionable. 'The stories we're told as children are often one of the few things we all have in common,' Payne said. 'The originals are a classic for a reason. I celebrate them and the (reimagined) stories are meant to stand alongside them, not in place of them.' The 'Topher Fixed It' stories are available for free download from Payne's website. He does not receive monetary compensation for his alternate endings and is not seeking to publish them. Readers have suggested other titles for him to reimagine, but Payne doesn't have any immediate plans to recreate another story. Instead, he encourages others to give it a try. 'If there is a story that you've been told that you would love to consider another option, put that to paper and see what it looks like,' he said. 'It can be really cathartic for you to resolve that story for yourself in that way.' Adrianna Rodriguez can be reached at adrodriguez@ This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Author 'fixed' 'The Giving Tree.' Some say it's long overdue.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Do you have a 'living room kid' or a 'bedroom kid'? What it says about your family dynamic
Yvette Henry was in her kitchen fixing up dinner. So were all four of her kids. 'Ya'll, we have almost 4,000 square feet here and you're all right here. Right here,' she said on the "How Married Are You?!" podcast that she hosts with her husband, Glen Henry. But then she remembered a TikTok video about 'living room kids' and 'bedroom kids,' and realized she and her husband had built a home dynamic where their children felt emotionally safe in shared spaces. 'I don't think that I always appreciate what I have in this situation,' Henry said in the podcast clip that hit nearly 1 million views on TikTok and was posted elsewhere on social media. 'Like the gift of all this togetherness that we are going to look back on one day and say, 'oh my gosh, I miss that.'' 'Living room kids' and 'bedroom kids' are not terms established by behavioral science but have gained popularity online as parenting influencers talk about their household dynamics and their own past upbringings. A living room kid refers to a child who spends much of their home time in shared spaces such as the living room, kitchen or dining room. A bedroom kid refers to a child who spends most of their free time in the privacy of their bedroom. No matter what kind of person you are, if you're a parent, pay attention to your children's needs and what rooms they gravitate to. There's nothing inherently wrong with either. Although it might result in more messes, parents should feel proud knowing that living room kids feel comfortable and safe when congregating with family, said Whitney Raglin Bignall, associate clinical director of the Kid's Mental Health Foundation, a nonprofit promoting children's mental health. 'Safety could play a role,' she said. If there's a lot of family conflict, a child might spend more time in their room to avoid that stressor. 'The Giving Tree': This author 'fixed' it with a new ending. Some say it's long overdue. It's not just about safety, Raglin Bignall said. There are other factors at play, such as culture, age and personality. Some children are naturally more introverted than others, she said. Other children prefer quiet and solitary activities, like reading. Families may designate specific playrooms for children and adult spaces for parents to unwind. Children also tend to spend more time in their rooms as they enter their pre-teen and teenage years, said Dr. Thomas Priolo, a child psychiatrist at Hackensack Meridian Health. "A teenager will want to be more independent and feel responsible for themselves, and having a space for themselves in their room allows them to take control," he said. "As children get older, it becomes more important and more of a conscious decision." The time children spend in their room may also depend on the time of year, Priolo said. During the school year, kids are more socially stimulated by school and extracurricular activities, so they may want more time to unwind in their room alone. It's not necessarily a bad thing for children to spend more time in their bedroom, but he said parents should be wary if an ordinarily "living room" kid suddenly starts isolating in their room. This could be a sign that there's something wrong. "Rather than viewing it as 'living room' versus 'bedroom kids,' the best way to view it is as a house and making sure that kids feel safe no matter where they are," Priolo said. Riglin Bignall also reminds parents that having 'living room kids' can sometimes be overwhelming. It's OK to be a 'bedroom parent' every once in a while to recharge. 'Everyone needs breaks. You can't have people around you all the time,' Riglin Bignall said. 'It's great to have communal and family time and build family belonging but it's also important to think about when are you making sure you have time to fill your cup.' Adrianna Rodriguez can be reached at adrodriguez@ This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Living room, bedroom kids: TikTok parents reflect on family dynamics
