Boy’s Dragon T-shirts Raise Money for Autism

Santino Stagliano from Philadelphia is only 10 years old and already owns a global non-profit business. So, what's his story? Santino has autism, diagnosed at the age of five, and for years he found socialising and loud environments difficult to deal with. He wasn't very verbal and he wasn't one for hugs. Back in April, Santino hadn't had a good day. To help cheer him up, his parents gave him a plain white T-shirt and some markers and told him to draw his favourite creature, a dragon. Santino found the most effective way of expressing his own emotions is to draw dragons with those feelings, so he draws a lot of the mythical beasts. After finishing his drawing, his mum Lisa took a photo of him wearing it and posted the picture on Facebook. Lots of people saw and liked the post, and started requesting T-shirts of their own. It started off as a small project, creating a few shirts here and there, but soon global interested picked up and 'Santino's Dragon Drawings' was born. When the little boy saw all of the requests for his dragon shirts, he felt the world finally understood him - and that's when his transformation began. "He has come alive and I no longer as a mother have to guess what he is feeling or thinking," said Lisa. "He is expressing it! For any autistic parents, that is a miracle." Santino's Dragon Drawings has orders numbering in the thousands, and with each T-shirt selling for $15 (£9), the project is seriously making an impact. Some of the proceeds go to Philadelphia's Center for Autism, where Santino spends one day a week, and his first donation to the centre was for a whopping $2,500 (£1,900)! "It is just tremendous to see him doing so well," said centre CEO David Maola. "It was his idea to donate the money, which is amazing." So, selling the shirts is not only helping Santino's outlook on life become more positive, but it is also helping other children with autism. Santino's dad Mario said that they would do anything they could to help other children with autism and their families and that the amount of support the project has received has been overwhelming. And Santino's work - though he doesn't see it as such - has been recognised by the Philadelphia city council which awarded him with an honour in May. "Through the whole thing, we see miracles," said Lisa. "In a little boy who did not like clouds, people, and empathy, something started to change." Why not visit the company's Facebook page to learn more about Santino and his dragon drawings. Alternatively, if you'd like to buy one of the T-shirts (hats are also available), you can do so online, here.

UPDATE: Devon Beavers are Breeding!

Back in February, we told you the great news of the Devon beavers being allowed to stay on the River Otter. It isn't known for sure how they came to be there, but being allowed to stay came with the condition that they would be tested for diseases and have an eye kept on them. And it’s a good thing, too, because one of the females has recently given birth to some of the first wild beaver kits in hundreds of years! Beavers are what is known as a keystone species. This means that they affect the environment in a way that is either unique or crucial to how the surrounding ecosystem functions. As you might know, beavers create huge and sophisticated dams, made from the trees they fell, which dramatically impacts the local environment. The dams they build hold huge amounts of water which they then use to get to their foraging areas. As we said, one of the conditions of the beavers being allowed to stay was that they were tested for diseases. When they were brought in, two of the females were found to be pregnant. The other female is not thought to have had her babies yet, but excitement levels are high! The first evidence of the beaver babies came from local filmmaker Tom Buckley, who happened to catch the kits having a swimming lesson from their mother. “When I saw these newborn beavers, I was totally overwhelmed and I thought it was a miracle,” Mr Buckley said. The DWT - Devon Wildlife Trust - is slowly expanding the beaver reintroduction programme in the hope that it provides more insight into the beavers’ effect on the River Otter and surrounding areas. DWT Publications Manager Steve Hussey explained that there are no plans as of yet to tag the beavers, so they don’t get disturbed. He added that if the beavers were to be tagged, it would only be for identification purposes, but they’re healthy, breeding beavers so there shouldn’t be anything to worry about. One thing the DWT is worried about, though, is the beavers being disturbed, so visitors are urged to keep their distance. “Like all new parents, the beavers will need a bit of space and peace at this time,” explained Mark Elliott, one of the project managers for DWT. All in all, though, everyone is thrilled at the breeding. “The baby kits appear fit and healthy and the adults seem as if they are taking their parenting responsibilities very seriously,” concluded Mr Elliott. “It tells us the beavers are very much at home in this corner of Devon.” If you want to see the little kits having their first swimming lesson, watch Tom Buckley's video below! [video width="600" height="275" id="qqbvI_3HXaQ" type="youtube"]

Chlamydia Vaccine in Sight

Chlamydia is one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in the world. While treatable with antibiotics once diagnosed, a person with Chlamydia might not experience symptoms for months or years - if ever. Of course, if it isn’t treated, Chlamydia can cause a huge range of problems: infertility, ectopic pregnancy (pregnancy outside the womb), and even blindness. But most people don’t even know they have contracted Chlamydia until they are tested for it. Because of the lack of symptoms and therefore often late diagnoses, scientists have spent the last 50 or so years working on making a vaccine for Chlamydia. However, experiments had yet to yield the results they’d been hoping for. But a team from Harvard Medical School have been working on those original experiments, developed a vaccine and carried out studies, and now they believe they have the solution! The team found that mice injected with Chlamydia killed with UV light (ultra-violet) were more likely to contract the infection than those injected with the live bacteria. What this experiment showed was that a specific type of white blood cell called T lymphocytes were responsive to the Chlamydia bacteria. Professor Ulrich von Andrian, an immunologist from Harvard who led the study, explained that when these T-cells are stimulated by the Chlamydia, they make what he calls “different career decisions”. The team thought that by mixing the killed Chlamydia with adjuvants - substances that boost the immune response - it would encourage the T-cells to fight the infection. But there was no change in how the T-cells reacted. That’s when the scientists decided to incorporate nanoparticles into the experiment. They found that with the nanoparticles attached, the adjuvants stuck to the vaccine better and ultimately protected the mice from infection. The vaccine only worked when the UV light was combined with nanoparticles, though. Otherwise, the mice were still susceptible to infection. “We thought, perhaps we can exploit the fact that this killed Chlamydia is actually seen by the immune system," explained Professor Andrian. "Attach a message to this killed Chlamydia, such that the response becomes the desired one.” Professor von Andrian said that mice who were given this new and improved vaccine were able to eliminate Chlamydia even faster than those who were given the live STD and developed a natural immunity to it. The latest studies have been published in Science and are proof of just how close we are to a vaccine that could save the world from its most common STD.

Brave Boys Rescue Babies from Burning Building

Imagine you are casually sat on your sofa, playing computer games or watching videos on YouTube when you smell smoke. Glancing out of your window, you see your neighbour's house is on fire. What do you do? Two boys from Oakland in Florida were chilling out at the start of their summer holidays when they smelled something odd. Jeremiah Grimes, 11, and 10-year-old Isiah Francis rushed to the window to try and find the source of the smell. Smoke was streaming out of a nearby house! Without thinking twice about it, the boys put on their shoes and ran outside. There they encountered the neighbour who lives in the house - a man they called "the step-dad" - who was trying to find water to put out the flames. The frantic neighbour told the boys that there were two very young children stuck in the kitchen. This is where the boys' stories vary slightly, though the result is the same. According to Jeremiah, he followed Isiah into the kitchen. "It was really dark and smoky," he described. "All you could see was orange and black." He said they each picked up one of the children - a one-year-old and a baby of only eight months - and retreated out of the house as quickly as they could. Isiah said that he went into the kitchen while Jeremiah stood in the doorway guiding him as he couldn't see through the thick smoke. He scooped up both of the children, gave the youngest to his friend, and together they brought the children out of danger. "It was really smoky," Isiah remembers. "I could kind of see, but I had to use my sense of touch." The boys took the younger children back to Isiah's house, just a short walk away. They called the emergency services, like they had been trained to do at school, and gave water to the rescued kids while they waited for help to arrive. Shortly after the firefighters arrived, two more children were pulled from the home. They went to hospital, and both were in a stable condition. Jeremiah's mum, Stef, said the boys had done something that an adult would have thought twice about doing. "They were very heroic," she said. But the boys deny there was any heroism involved, and that they were only working on instinct. Their training at school had helped the boys know to call 911 in the event of a fire and what information to give the firefighters. Orange Country Fire Rescue Department Fire Chief Otto Drozd III also praised the boys for their bravery. "Although we never advise entering a building on fire," he said, "we must recognise the courage it took for those kids to risk their own lives to save the lives of others."

The Adventures of Hobbes the Toy Tiger

You’re going on holiday and you have doubled checked you have everything - twice. You make it to the airport, and onto the plane, everything running smoothly. Then your child asks to hold their favourite toy and that’s when you realise: the toy is stranded at the airport! This is what happened to the Lake family in Florida. Owen, 6, had accidentally left behind his favourite toy, a tiger named Hobbes that had been hand-made by his aunt in Houston, Texas, who the family were going to visit. Amanda, Owen’s mum, frantically called the airport, Tampa International in Florida, to see if Hobbes has been handed in. He hadn’t, and although the staff don’t usually make a priority of finding lost items, they searched the airport because of how important the toy tiger was to the boy. They found Hobbes casually lying near one of the children’s play areas. The Lakes wouldn’t be back straight away and Operations Center Manager Tony D’Aiuto had an idea. Taking inspiration from a story he had heard about a stuffed lion having an adventure around a museum in England, Tony took Hobbes on a little adventure of his own. During his lunch hours, Tony took Hobbes around the airport and took pictures of the little tiger in various poses, checking out some of the jobs that are carried out at the airport. Tony explained that while it felt strange to be walking around with the toy, people would see him and excitedly offer their help. “They took ownership and got creative in ways I couldn’t have,” he said. After taking pictures, and posting them on the airport’s Facebook page, Tony had another idea. Using a promotional code for American pharmacy chain Walgreens, Tony created a book of the pictures, complete with a little story, about Hobbes’ adventures around the airport. The little tiger, along with his book, was then placed in the Lost and Found where he patiently awaited the return of his family. When Owen and his family came back to the airport, on their way back from Houston, he and Hobbes were reunited. So happy to have his favourite toy back, Owen grinned ear-to-ear and loved his little book. “We already told [Owen] over and over that Hobbes was on an adventure," said Amanda. "It was nice to get back and show him that Hobbes really had been on an adventure.”

Teenager Feeds the Hungry of America

All it takes is one little seedling to feed a whole lot of people, something that one green-thumbed teenager found out and built on to feed the hungry of America. Katie Stagliano, 16 from South Carolina, was nine when her teacher gave her a cabbage seedling as part of a school project. She didn’t really have a passion for gardening, but she planted her seedling in the back garden and watered it every day. Before she knew it, Katie had an 18kg (40 pounds) cabbage on her hands. She saw how special the huge cabbage was and decided to donate it to the local soup kitchen, where it was cooked up with rice and ham and served to hungry people. In the end, that one little seedling helped feed more than 275 people. That was when Katie fell in love with gardening and helping people. Her vegetable garden was growing, and soon it was no longer just a small plot in her back garden. Her school said she could create something bigger and better on the school grounds, and Katie leapt at the chance. Here she could grow even more food for the hungry people in her town, as well as encourage her friends and classmates to get more excited about gardening and the wonders that can come from it. Now, seven years after planting that first seedling, Katie’s community garden supplies 1,360kg (3,000 pounds) of fruit and veg that is donated to local charities, through her initiative Katie’s Krops. And where there was once one garden, there now stands 80 in 29 of the US states. But she doesn’t want to stop there; she wants to reach 500 vegetable gardens in all 50 of the states! Katie’s Krops also raises money for grants that enable other young people to follow in Katie’s footsteps and grow fruit and vegetables to feed the hungry in their own communities. Sometimes the programme donates to charities or events, too. “I know that hunger is way too big for one person to take on,” she explained, “but you never know what you can grow from just one thing.” This isn’t all she has been up to, however. That soup kitchen where she donated her first home-grown cabbage closed down, leaving those dependent on it with nowhere to go. In typical Katie fashion, she wanted to help out and she realised that she had these gardens still filled with loads of fresh fruit and vegetables. She now hosts a Katie’s Krops dinner event once a month, with up to 100 diners visiting for a hot and healthy meal. Her hard work over the years has not gone unnoticed. In 2012, she was awarded the Clinton Global Citizen Award, which honours “outstanding individuals” through their vision and leadership. Katie has even created a picture book which tells the tale of how she came to be the Teen Queen when it comes to growing crops and feeding the hungry. The book has now been published and she hopes it inspires others to do the same. So remember, you never know how much can come from the smallest seed, and there are no age restraints of when you can start helping others. Check out the Katie's Krops website and Facebook page to learn more about the teen's ventures, or find out about how you can volunteer your services!

“Forrest Gump” Runs 42 Back-to-Back Marathons

Have you ever taken part in something sponsored for charity - something you have had to really push yourself for, to raise as much money as possible? Most of us have thought about it at least, but it's really heartening to see those people who put their bodies on the line and show us just how many good people there are still out there. Take Ewan Gordon from Bicester in England, for example. He has just completed 42 marathons in the name of raising money in memory of a little boy called Thomas Laurie, who we’ll tell you a little about now. Thomas had a rare condition called Cockayne Syndrome, also known as Neill-Dingwall Syndrome. It is a neurodegenerative disorder, meaning it affects the neurons that are key to the central nervous system. It is thought to affect only one in 500,000 children, but it’s difficult to diagnose. The condition is genetic and is diagnosed in childhood, sometimes from birth, and the prognosis is never good - most only live to between three and seven years old. Among other characteristics, patients will suffer from premature ageing, photosensitivity (sunburn really easily), and slow development. Thomas was nine when he passed away peacefully in Helen & Douglas House in Oxford, last year. Ewan wanted to raise some money and awareness for the charities that looked after Thomas in his short life and decided that running in the boy’s memory would be a great way of doing that. Ewan was to run the length of the UK, from John O’Groats in Scotland to Land’s End in Cornwall. The distance of this trek is about 1,050 miles (1,700km), and would be broken up into 42 marathons. Completing 42 marathons is quite something, but what's even more impressive is completing that many in the same number of days - 42 marathons in 42 days! A friend told Ewan that they would sponsor him more if he dressed up as Forrest Gump, so that became the new plan. If you haven’t seen the iconic movie, the title character, Forrest, runs across America and attracts a huge following of people. So Ewan grew out his hair and let his beard grow free, and soon he was ready. Running about 26 miles (42km) a day, Ewan managed to attract his own followers, with some people joining him for parts of his run. “People just think it is really funny,” he said, “and a lot of people just shout, ‘Run, Forrest, run!’.” On arriving at Land’s End, 42 days after starting and having run a marathon every single day, Ewan could finally relax. And on examining himself, he found he didn’t have a single blister! “Your body just gets used to running that far every day,” he explained. The money he raised - over £10,000 at the time of writing - is being split between four charities chosen by Thomas’ family. These are Amy and Friends Cockayne Syndrome Support, Helen & Douglas House, ROSY (Respite for Oxfordshire’s Sick Youngsters), and Lifelites. “He's supporting the charities that supported us and we're so happy that he is carrying on Thomas’ legacy in a positive way,” said Thomas’ mum, Catherine. “We are so very proud of Ewan and totally humbled by his fundraising in memory of Thomas.” To find out more about Ewan’s run and see more photos of his journey, check out the event’s Facebook page. If you wish to donate to any of the charities in Thomas’ memory, you can find details of that on the page as well. “Like Forrest Gump, I run because I feel the need to and I will stop when my work is done,” Ewan said. “I will stop when they find a cure to Cockayne Syndrome.” And all we can add to that is… “Run, Forrest, run!”