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PURSUING THE BETTER ANGELS—AND ANGLES—OF HUMAN NATURE

Welcome to ATX Good News! We launched this storytelling platform in January 2022 to share uplifting, positive stories about Central Texas, for Central Texas. Our page spotlights people, places and events that inspire and help bring our community closer together. Our goal is to make you smile, touch your heart or perhaps even encourage you to find ways to give back to this wonderful place we call home.

Sharing the Latest Good News

CLICK ON IMAGES FOR DETAILS

As the nation pays tribute to President Jimmy Carter, Austin is honoring his vision for affordable housing.
Austin Habitat for Humanity & the Housing Authority of the City of Austin raised the wall Wednesday on 12 new affordable town homes in Prospect Heights in East Austin. On hand was HUD Acting Secretary Adrianne Todman, along with Mayor Kirk Watson and other local leaders. They all took part in a memorial signing of the wall as a testament to Carter's legacy. The late President donated countless hours volunteering to build homes for Habitat for Humanity. #AffordableHousing #EastAustin

( photos courtesy of Austin Habitat for Humanity & Housing Authority of the City of Austin)

Good news for our neighbors in need. The Austin Empty Bowl Project announced today more than $120,000 was raised for the Central Texas Food Bank & Meals on Wheels Central Texas during its annual event. That translates to more than 170,000 meals for people in our community facing food insecurity.
Kudos to the potters who donated their work, the restaurants that donated soup, the volunteers and the more than 1,300 Central Texans who showed up to buy the beautiful bowls filled with delicious soup.

( Photos and info from the Austin Empty Bowl Project)

Here's some good news from Buda...a celebration honoring the new year and the final night of Hanukkah. The Buda Downtown Greenbelt was the site of the 4th annual Buda Menorah Lighting. Rabbi Marie Betcher helped light the large menorah at this beautiful volunteer-driven event that brings people from all faiths together to celebrate the season and new beginnings.

However you choose to jump into 2025, we wish you and yours a new year filled with good news and happiness. @bartonspringspool #polarplunge

Let's all celebrate the "giving spirit" of these preschoolers this holiday season!

These three and four year olds from @primroseschools across Austin completed household chores and used their earned money to buy canned goods for neighbors in need. They donated 3,922 canned goods as part of the annual, nationwide Caring and Giving Food Drive. The donated food benefitted the Central Texas Food Bank, Oak Hill Community Center, Operation Liberty Hill, and Round Rock Area Serving Center.
#ATXGoodNews #givingback

Making tamales is a centuries-old holiday tradition with roots in Mexico. Multiple generations gather at Tamaladas each December to catch up and cook together. Here’s a look at the annual tamale-making marathon for the Godinez and Barron families. As always, laughter and lots of masa was on tap. Leading the festivities was 86 year old Aunt Eva whose mother started this Tamalada 41 years ago. Dozens of family members descended on Austin from all over the state bringing pots of pork, beef, chicken and venison to assemble the tasty tamales. After 8-9 hours, more than 1500 tamales were ready to go …. each one seasoned with love and wrapped in tradition.

Giving back to those in need is a wonderful way to honor the holiday season! Kudos to the team at Rifeline who made volunteering a priority this December by offering up time and talent to several local nonprofits. One of the places they volunteered was the Salvation Army warehouse where they gathered presents for families, confirmed every child received their gifts, and ensured families were able to get the presents home. Rifeline paired with the @salarmyaustin through their partnership with @ilivehereigivehere.
#givingback #volunteer #seasonofgiving #presents

A nursing career is all in the family for 23-year-old Katelyn Nutt! She always wanted to follow in her mother’s footsteps as a nurse, but becoming a mom herself at age 18 postponed those plans. Now, thanks to a partnership between Concordia University Texas & Capital IDEA, Katelyn just graduated with her bachelors degree and will soon start a full-time job at St. David’s Round Rock Medical Center, alongside her mom.
Capital IDEA gives financial help to non-traditional students. The nonprofit covered Katelyn's fees, nursing equipment, books and even child care. Katelyn was also born at the hospital where she will work, so this is a full circle moment! Congratulations!

Photo Credit: Concordia University Texas

There is no greater gift than the gift of love. The holidays are hard for people grieving the loss of a dear family member or friend. But honoring them and keeping them close to your heart can help. This past Sunday, The Christi Center @christicenter hosted its 37th Annual Remembrance Service. People paid tribute to their lost loved ones by writing their names on a purple heart and hanging it on the Christmas tree. Knowing you are not alone in your grief can give you hope.
Susan and Don Cox founded the Christi Center after losing their daughter, Christi Lanahan, to a drunk driver in 1985. The nonprofit offers its grief support services for free.

An Austin nonprofit is working to make the holiday season brighter for families of medically-fragile and terminally-ill children. The @abigailekellerfoundation helps these families struggling with financial hardships with Abbey’s Pink Santa program, working with Dell Children’s At Home hospice and the Comprehensive Care Clinic to identify families who need extra support. Each family receives a holiday gift card and stockings filled with goodies.

The Keller Foundation was founded by Travis and Melissa Keller after their only child, Abigail, passed away from numerous congenital medical conditions at the young age of 11. The Keller’s long term goal is to design and build the first pediatric respite hospice facility in Texas.
#atxgoodnews #PediatricHospice #pediatricrespite

The Love Notes Chorus is Austin's only singing group for people with memory loss and their caregivers. Lots of love on stage and in the audience at their bi-annual concert on Saturday.

Decorating gingerbread cookies is a treat and time-honored tradition. Celebrate the holidays and your favorite figure from Texas history with the Austin Parks and Recreation Department 5th annual Gingerbread History Heroes program. The city is giving out salt dough gingerbread cookie ornaments and a variety of decorating items at eight Austin museums and historical sites through the end of the year. See below for the list of places where you can pick up supplies. ( That's Elizbet Ney and Sam Houston featured in the pictured cookies 🙂 )
Brush Square Museums (O. Henry Museum and Susanna Dickinson Museum), 409 E 5th St.
Asian American Resource Center, 8401 Cameron Rd.
Elisabet Ney Museum, 304 E 44th St
French Legation State Historic Site, 802 San Marcos St
George Washington Carver Museum and Cultural Center, 1165 Angelina St.
Old Bakery and Emporium, 1006 Congress Ave.
Park Ranger Station at Zilker Caretaker's Cottage, 2105 Andrew Zilker Rd.

Tomorrow is GivingTuesday ... a global day of giving that's celebrated in more than 150 countries. Visit AmplifyATX.org to engage, volunteer, or donate to a local nonprofit that matters to you. Helping those in need is always good news! That's why we are proud storytelling partners with @ilivehereigivehere.

We are grateful for our wonderful friends and followers who help us share good news!
Happy Thanksgiving 🍁 🧡.

Meet Greta O, a Travis Heights Elementary student whose design will decorate 20,000 T-shirts at tomorrow's @thundercloudsubs Turkey Trot! The 5-mile Thanksgiving Day run partnered with @creativeaction this year to bring the Trot’s signature T-shirt art contest to four Austin schools. 100 students took part and created designs for the theme “helping neighbors.” Money raised at this year's race will go to @caritasofaustin, a nonprofit helping to end homelessness. Congratulations on your winning design, Greta!
#creativity #kindness #connection

Here's some good news, as the Longhorns take on Kentucky today, @utaustintx Athletic Director Chris Del Conte and UT Athletics have been name Austinites of the Year by the Austin Chamber of Commerce! Congratulations and Hook'em.

Area groups are collaborating to train the next generation of skilled trade workers who are critical to the state's infrastructure and economy.

Austin Trades Day was held recently, introducing high school youth to industry career opportunities in construction, design, sub-contracting, heavy equipment, engineering, and other skilled trades. The @cie_foundation hosted, in partnership with @wfscapitalarea, @accdistrict, and @webuildtxroads Nearly 1,000 Central Texas students got hands-on experiences.
#skilledtrades #Texaseconomy #atxgoodnews

@servicedogsinc hosted its annual Mighty Texas Dog Walk and fetched the nonprofit’s 13th World Record, this time for the Biggest Pajama Party With Dogs!!

Service Dogs, Inc. rescues unwanted dogs from shelters across Texas and trains them to become lifelines for people living with significant challenges. The once homeless animals become vital best friends as service dogs, hearing dogs, courthouse facility dogs, and first responder facility dogs.

A huge crowd of more than 1,500 people and pooches showed up at Camp Mabry in Austin for the walk, and they helped raise $150,000. #atxgoodnews #servicedog #servicedogsofinstagram

(My son and I had so much fun taking photos and videos at the walk. It’s always inspiring to see others working together to provide hope for people, especially in pajamas! — Leslie)

For nearly 50 years, A Christmas Affair has not only helped kick off the Austin holiday season, it has raised millions of dollars for local nonprofits. The Junior League of Austin's annual shopping extravaganza kicks off Thursday at Palmer Events Center. Here's more on the 4-day event as Judy & Leslie talk with this year's Chair of A Christmas Affair, Paige Morgan.
@jla_achristmasaffair
#shoppingforgood #tistheseason

We love shining the light on local businesses that give back to the community. Check out these smiles as close to 500 A+ Federal Credit Union employees recently fanned out across Central Texas volunteering more 1,610 hours with 43 nonprofits, parks and schools in Central Texas. They did everything from stocking food, to caring for animals to cleaning up parks. Even their mascot AJ joined the fun! @aplusfcu #volunteers #givingback

Thank you @austinlighthouse for 90 years of empowering the blind and visually impaired community in Central Texas! A big celebration at this nonprofit today featured a firsthand look at its wonderful mission providing jobs and life skills to people who are blind. The ribbon was also cut on a new Low Vision Clinic that will serve people on site. ATX Good News' Judy Maggio was honored to emcee the 90th anniversary celebration.

Dozens of volunteers filled the Texas State Cemetery over the weekend to place United States flags on the graves of each person buried there. The event, sponsored by the Patrick Henry chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution and the Daughters of the American Revolution, was meant to honor and remember the service of the veterans and other leaders on Veterans Day (11/11/24).

The same groups are gearing up for Wreaths Across America in December, where wreaths will be placed on each of the 3,200 graves. If you'd like to help sponsor wreaths, find out more at this link. https://wreathsacrossamerica.org/pages/159477/Overview/
#veterans #VeteransDay

Here’s a Saturday Smile. Meet Tasha Johnson. Born with an intellectual and developmental disability, Tasha has blazed a path to inclusion for the past 15 years through @bestbuddies. This nonprofit provides opportunities for one-to-one friendships, employment and leadership skills for people with disabilities. You’ll often find Tasha speaking to groups, volunteering for the UT chapter of Best Buddies and opening doors for others with IDD to secure jobs and live independently. Tasha says, “Everyone deserves friendship, opportunities and respect! I love Best Buddies because I don’t have to hide my disabilities…they are celebrated.”
Tasha will be one of the people celebrated at the Best Buddies Champion of the Year Gala, set for November 21 at Distribution Hall. https://www.bestbuddies.org/texas/champions
( Tasha's inspiring story came to us through our storytelling partnership with @ilivehereigivehere )

Hundreds of Central Texas students and teachers got free books recently, offering them windows into new worlds.
Book Drive for Kids Austin held a book fair at @cedarsjaguars International Academy, a Title 1 charter school in Austin. With the help of @regionsbank, the nonprofit gave away 409 books -- one to every one of the 409 students at the school. Even the teachers each got to pick out books for free! Book Drive for Kids Austin promotes literacy in Central Texas by holding free book fairs for youth in low-income communities.
#bookdrive #atxgoodnews

These potters are doing their part to fight hunger by transforming 190 pounds of clay into 100 beautiful bowls. The lovely bowls and hundreds more will be ready to fill with warm soup at the Austin Empty Bowl Project on the Sunday before Thanksgiving from 11am to 3 pm at the @ctxfoodbank. Since 1997, the annual @austin_empty_bowl event has raised more than $1 million for Central Texas Food Bank & Meals on Wheels Central Texas.

Hundreds of middle and high school students in Central Texas have become the first in their family to graduate from college with the help of the nonprofit @breakthroughctx. The organization supports the whole student, partnering with them to provide personalized and community services.

Dozens of new college graduates and supporters celebrated recently at the Breakthrough Central Texas Benefit Concert, as the group raised $500.000! The money will help chart new educational journeys for even more Central Texas teens who aspire to go to college or earn certificates. #atxgoodnews #breakthroughcentraltexas #collegegrads

He's 98 and she's 96, but they are newlyweds! Bernard Snyder and Jo Cartwright recently tied the knot surrounded by family and friends. The couple both lost their spouses after long marriages. Jo says, “The basic crux of the whole story is that you can love again."
The couple lives at Austin's Westminster retirement community.
Story and photos from @kut_austin

Check out these breast cancer survivors who have found their rhythm, power and a collective purpose on the water.
They are part of the nonprofit @paddleswithapurpose, a competitive dragon boat racing team with incredible strength and resilience, who celebrate the unbreakable bond of sisterhood. Judy Maggio had the chance to meet and train with these amazing women and loved seeing their determination and delight as they paddled together.

@margaretjustus is a recent breast cancer survivor who is proud to be part of Paddles with a Purpose, “Not only because I get to participate in a very cool, ancient water sport and practice along the banks of Lady Bird Lake, but most importantly, I am part of a team of tough, tenacious, beautiful women who encourage each other to never give up and live our best lives every day.”

North Austin high school students got some hands-on experience working in the healthcare field thanks to an after-school nonprofit and area doctors. The young people at @navarro_echs took part in a panel discussion about careers with the health experts, and then the students tested out a variety of healthcare tools.

The students are part of Camila and Matthew McConaughey’s @justkeeplivin foundation offering after-school wellness programs. The doctors volunteered their time as part of @morning_rounds_coffee, a company founded by healthcare workers giving back to other health experts through the sale of coffee. The goal was to inspire the teenagers to consider a healthcare career. Empowering young minds is always good news!
#futuredoctors #futurenurses #atxgoodnews #justkeeplivin #morningroundscoffee

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