The Goodnewspaper The 2025 Helpers Edition

2025: It's been a year so full of upheaval and uncertainty that many of us didn't even realize we were heeding Fred Rogers’ words of advice: “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’” This quote is a foundational tenet of Good Good Good and The Goodnewspaper, but it also shows up far beyond the ink on these pages. It's a way of looking at the world, and knowing, with brave and unyielding certainty, that you are not alone amid all the “scary things.” And it's something we all naturally find ourselves doing when the world is especially fraught: Looking to people who are not necessarily…

In September, comedian Drew Lynch was in the middle of a stand-up routine in Spokane, Washington when an audience member suddenly collapsed from a heart attack. Within seconds, Lynch called for a medic from the stage, as a woman shouted that she was already dialing 911. Lynch said what happened next “was one of the most powerful examples of community and human connection I've ever seen.” Mr. Wende, the audience member who collapsed, went without a pulse for over five minutes. But the strangers around him didn't give up. “Without hesitation, people in the audience began taking turns performing CPR, clearing space for paramedics, and monitoring his vitals,” Lynch wrote on social media. The American Heart Association estimates that 436,000 Americans die from cardiac arrest each year. However, immediate CPR…

Rob Scheer was 12 years old when a case worker told him to pack everything he owned into a trash bag to escape an abusive household. As he moved from foster home to foster home, the trash bag routine continued, until he turned 18. When he was old enough to adopt his own children with his husband Reece, Scheer was shocked when they arrived on his doorstep with trash bags in tow. “When my children arrived and each one of them had a trash bag, I knew we as a society failed,” Scheer told CBS News. That's when Scheer started Comfort Cases. Since 2013, the Scheer family has helped distribute more than 250,000 backpacks and duffel bags to children in foster care across the United States, Puerto Rico, and the…

Catherine Szabad knows how hard holidays can be for those who have lost a loved one. “After losing my child, I experienced a silence I never expected — the world didn't seem to notice that everything had changed,” Szabad wrote. “That grief made me very aware of how isolating loss can be, especially when there's little space for others to recognize it.” That became the mission behind Szabad's company. Hearts in Bloom, in Buffalo, New York, which delivers free bouquets and gifts to widows and widowers on Valentine's Day. In its second year, Hearts in Bloom had over 300 volunteers — enough to triple the number of people who received gifts. This year, volunteer Morgan Cabana dropped off flowers for Rita Costantino, who lost her husband of 51 years in…

GOOD Have a first aid kit on hand in the event of an emergency. It's always helpful to be prepared. You can create one yourself or purchase one from the American Red Cross at redcross.org/store/first-aid-supplies/first-aid-kits. BETTER Know what to do in the event of an emergency. Stay calm, protect yourself, and know when to call 911. The Mayo Clinic offers step-by-step first aid guides for a variety of emergencies. mayoclinic.org/first-aid BEST Get certified in Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). The American Heart Association offers CPR and First Aid training across the country. To find a class near you, visit atlas.heart.org.…

Within the gray walls and barbed wire surrounding Richland Correctional Institution in Mansfield, Ohio, there's a room roped off for all but a small group of incarcerated men, who tend to the orphaned opossums and injured squirrels inside. The Richland Correctional Institution is one of five across the state that have been participating in the wildlife rehabilitation program since 2019. Every year, hundreds of animals pass from the Ohio Wildlife Center's hospital to more than 60 incarcerated volunteers. Brittany Jordan, the center's wildlife rehabilitation operational director, said that prison facilities are uniquely positioned to house orphaned and injured animals as they recover from abandonment, car accidents, and window strikes. Free from domesticated animals and young children, the ducklings, songbirds, rabbits, and more have the safety of recovering in a quiet…