Archive for the ‘Positive News’ Category

Dallas-based Mary Kay has launched a major recycling program by having their consultants collect thousands of old plastic makeup compacts from customers.

However, the compacts cannot be recycled until the glass mirrors are removed and this is where the Citizens Development Center steps in.

The center’s disabled employees have been hired to break apart the compacts in a large warehouse off Stemmons Freeway and dozens of workers in safety glasses and blue plastic gloves got to work as soon as the pink compacts arrived yesterday.

There are 35,000 Mary Kay sales force members attending the cosmetic company’s annual seminar at the Dallas Convention Center kept them coming.

As part of the “Pink Doing Green” program, Mary Kay has gathered 300,000 compacts since January 2008.

The workers range from recent high school graduates to people in their 70s.

Once the workers are finished, a supervisor counts the number of compacts each has disassembled. Most workers can receive up to $8.58 an hour.

The center plans to stop collecting the compacts after the seminar ends Saturday. Mary Kay now sells a new, refillable compact, officials said.

But that won’t end the center’s relationship with Mary Kay.

It’s been 6 days of non-stop work in blistering heat with unprecedented volunteer support to build a new home for former Dallas SWAT officer Lt. Carlton Marshall who was shot in the neck during a drug raid two years ago. Marshall was paralyzed due to his injury.

Marshall and his family have spent the past week at an all expenses paid trip to Disneyland. They got their first look at the new 4,300 square foot home today at 3p. The original unveil was to happen at 2p but the crews and volunteers asked for an extra hour to ensure everything was absolutely perfect.

The show’s producers said they have been stunned by the volunteer work from the area police and firefighters every day. As a result of this effort, the construction was completed more quickly than for any other home in the show’s history.

The home has been designed in a Texas Hill Country motif and is energy efficient with more than 30 percent of the electrical power being generated by wind. Every room is accessible via a wheelchair for Lt. Marshall.

The broadcast date for the episode of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” featuring the Marshalls has not yet been scheduled. The fall season premieres Sept. 27 on WFAA Channel 8.

Advance video of the home is available here at this link.

The fantastic crew from Extreme Makeover: Home Edition is in Dallas this week to build a new home with barrier free access for former Dallas SWAT officer, Carlton Marshal, who was shot during a raid a couple years ago.

If you are heading out to the construction site to gawk at Ty Pennington, be sure to be WELL PREPARED by taking lots of water, hats, sunscreen, etc. There are paramedics on the scene but they need to be available to take care of the building team.

With 100+ degree temps expected for most of the next week, there will be precious little relief for the builders.

IHOP will be giving away pancakes. The give-a-way is part of National Pancake Day, which is tomorrow.

Customers need only go into their local IHOP and ask for the short stack of cakes between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. Tuesday.

In return, IHOP only asks customers to consider making a donation to local children’s hospitals through the Children’s Miracle Network.

During the first of the year, many people have great intentions like the standard lose weight, quit a bad habit, etc. Some think of how they can get more involved as a volunteer or expanding their horizons by meeting like-minded people.

One of the best resources around is www.MeetUp.com.

Whether your interest is meeting motorcyclists in the downtown Dallas area, conversing in French, bicycling, etc., you are sure to find a group already established at MeetUp.

One of the best MeetUp groups for the Dallas area is Random Acts of Kindness. With 1,400+ “members”, RAK always fills the requests that come in for volunteers — and usually has a serious waiting list for those wanting to get a spot. RAK is made up of a phenomenal group of people and the organizer is Lance Price who owns CD Source at the corner of Greenville Avenue & Lovers Lane.

So put down that remote and get in gear! Volunteering your time is a great way to give some good back to the community, meet great people and broaden your horizons!

When Sandy Hampton won a shopping spree at J.C. Penny, she knew exactly how she was going to spend it. She decided to give most of it away to U.S. troops overseas and to needy families at home.

After receiving a $5,000 gift card from the department store chain Hampton said, “It’s such a blessing to be able to receive a gift like that and give it back.”

Hampton’s caring for the troops started in 2003, when her brother-in-law’s military unit was shipped to Iraq. She started sending care packages full of candy and snacks. Eventually the effort grew, with volunteers supporting five military units with regular shipments.

But in tough economic times, this year’s donations were running low, and Hampton turned to an essay contest sponsored by J.C. Penny’s, through NBC 5. She wrote about her efforts to help the troops and explained she wanted to spend some money on them.

She’s used $4,000 of the money to send them bigger and better care packages this winter, and then turned the rest of the money to helping some needy families in the DFW area, leaving just a few hundred dollars for her own family this Christmas.

“She’s not just doing one thing, Frisco J.C. Penny store manager Mario Sciarra said, she’s trying to divvy it up and give back in so many places, which is absolutely amazing.”

In a fantastic move by the Dallas City Council , a plan has been approved to toughen the city’s smoking ordinance.

We know some people are going to be all fired up about this - no pun intended - but a number of major cities have already enacted this type of legislation. It will be nice for non-smokers to be able to go out and not come home reeking of cigarette smoke.

It bans smoking at bars, taverns and pool halls. It also bars smokers from the vicinity of most business entrances.

Violators would face fines, and bar owners also could be fined for non-enforcement.

The vote was 10-5 in favor of the stronger regulations; Council members Vonciel Jones Hill, Steve Salazar, Tennell Atkins, Sheffie Kadane and Mitchell Rasansky opposed the measure.

The revised ordinance takes effect April 10.