After eight puppies（幼犬）were abandoned on the side of the road in Texas，an animal shelter came to the rescue and brought them all the way from Brownwood，Texas to Wintersville，Ohio. Their journey was，by no means，a simple one.

The puppies were first found fighting for their lives in a muddy channel. They were extremely weak and dehydrated（脱水）after being forced to protect themselves in the burning Texas sun. Once the puppies were discovered，their journey was far from over. They were immediately brought to what is known as a "high kill" shelter，and after only a few hours，were scheduled for euthanasia. Things weren't looking good for the pups. Luckily，they were rescued once more.

“There's a group that specifically goes around to these high kill shelters and rescues the animals that are scheduled for euthanasia，"said Brandi Damewood，the JCHS Community Outreach Manager. "These guys were rescued by the Corrine T. Smith Animal Center. "

The puppies would eventually end up under the care of the Jefferson County Humane Society. This is because no-kill shelters and rescue organizations often work together to aid in urgent cases. An incredible network of shelters helping other shelters enables these miracle workers to save so many pets in danger of being put down prematurely.

"We have had a lot of other rescue groups come in and they help us get some of our animals adopted out like when we' re too full or things of that nature, so we kind of help each other out, and so this was a favor to help this particular shelter, "said Damewood.

The JCHS has appropriately titled the puppies' journey "the freedom ride". The 20-leg trip required 16 different volunteers to drive a total of 1,300 miles. But it was all worth it to save these adorable pups!

"We have a board member, Michelle Zdybicki, who is very active and involved in these transport groups, "said Damewood. "They would meet at specified stops, then the puppies would be transferred to the next driver for the next leg of the journey. "

Since arriving in Ohio, the puppies have been vaccinated and are hoping to find forever homes in the near future.

My legs don’t do much because I have a serious disease. They just sit there and look pretty. When people look at me, they only see the chair — my wheelchair. I’ve been in one since I was 3 years old. And it doesn’t matter if I graduate at the top of my class and go to law school. To some people, I’ll always be the girl in the chair.

But I don’t think of myself as the kid who can’t walk. Most of my friends don’t even notice the chair anymore. I’m just the girl they’ve been friends with. My friends are good at lifting me in and out of my small car when we go to the movies. We even took the car to the dance. One of the boys helped me out of the car and all the girls helped me to fix my dress. Even in the crowded school elevator (电梯), there’s always someone around to carry me.

There are a lot of things I can’t do for myself, such as lifting my arms, dressing myself, and feeding myself. Even so, I do very well at school and I always tell myself that I’m just like any other kid in my school.

The truth is that my parents raised me to be proud of my disability (残疾). There are plenty of things I wish I could do differently. I wanted to be a doctor. But that’s not going to work out. So I’ll be a lawyer instead. I also wanted to dance and play soccer. My parents taught me that I’m like this for a reason — to educate people and show them that this disease affects my bones — not my brain. My friend Erica once said to me, “Kennedy, you’re not disabled. You just can’t walk.”

After realizing students at his elementary school were going hungry at home. PE teacher Jason Watson got a wave of inspiration and a cool set of wheels.

Jason and his wife, school librarian Anne, bought a used ice-cream truck, and for the past two summers, the couple, both 39, have delivered hot homecooked lunches and icy treats to kids in need in their 1, 300-person town of Frazeysburg, Ohio, with the help of their own kids.

It all started back in 2016 when the pair started AIM Outreach, an extracurricular pro- gram for kids that included free lunches. When the tough time came in 2020, their in-person outreach was paused indefinitely. So one day Jason asked a local ice cream truck owner if he’d drive the family around to hand out free treats. What he got was something more.

“He just fell so in love with our community and what we were doing that he offered one of his ice cream trucks to us, ”Jason says. The couple purchased the truck in October, 2020 and have been hard at work since.

The family cooks all the meals themselves from scratch, posting on social media the dates and times when they will be delivering. They serve about 70 meals a week in the summer time. To date, they estimate they’ve served about 1, 500 lunches from the truck.

The couple launched a GoFundMe in June, 2022 when the truck needed both a new trans- mission and a new engine. They raised more than $ 10. 000, They’ve been blown away by the outpouring of donations.

“And we’ve been inspired to do more, ”says Anne. “Our dream is to possibly open a free cafe where we invite people to sit and have a hot dinner. Then we can sit down and share life together. That’s kind of our vision going ahead. ”