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Looking to make an impact in your community? These people have some ideas.

Making an impact is easier than you think.

Looking to make an impact in your community? These people have some ideas.
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Stand Together

We're always talking about giving back to our community. It's important. But sometimes it's hard to figure out where to start.

Volunteering and helping others isn't just good for the people around you, it's good for you, too. However, deciding what you want to do to help make an impact is often the trickiest part. Perhaps you're wondering whether or not the skills you already have can translate into actions that will elevate the lives of those in your neighborhood?

The answer is: Yes. There are endless ways to be an arbiter of change no matter where you live. Below you'll find some great ideas and places to start.

Photo by RawPixel and Unsplash

Build relationships with young people to help them gain the tools and skills they need to reach their full potential through programs like Thread.

The relationships a child develops early on play a crucial role in their educational and future life successes. Each of us can point to a critically important relationship in our life that helped us reach our goals.But few organizations emphasize the importance of building strong relationships more than Thread in Baltimore Maryland, which has seen first-hand how positive bonds with adults has turned under-resourced children's lives around.

Photo by Alexis Brown on Unsplash

The basis of their program is simple — they believe positive, intentional relationships is the best way to unleash a child's potential, setting them up for future success. This relationship gap is seen consistently in children struggling in the bottom 25% of their class. So, Thread set out to build an innovative model: creating a "family of mentors," 4-5 volunteers, to become the"Thread Family" of disconnected students. For a commitment of ten years, these volunteers check in with students, encourage them, help with homework and accountability, and connect them with resources. It's a mentorship in which the volunteer treats the student exactly as if he or she was a part of their own family.

Their methodology seems to be working. Historically, only 6% of Baltimore's 9th graders with GPAs less than 1.0 graduate from high school in four years. Thread students beat those odds by more than 10 times. 87% of Thread students graduate high school within six years.,and 83% have completed a two or four-year degree or certificate program. Thread currently works with 527 students, alumni and over 1,000 volunteers.

But it's about more than helping students. Thread fervently believes everyone who forms relationships through the program benefits, because we could all use more ties to a community.

Becoming a volunteer is easy — as long as you can connect with a student once a week, you're more than welcome. Learn more about how you can get involved here.

Leverage your unique knowledge and skills to help others learn, like Oliver Ballou.

Olivier wanted to find a way to give back, but was finding it difficult to make time for traditional volunteering. As a full-time graphics designer and father of two kids, he also felt like, even if he found an organization he was passionate about, he wouldn't be able to help much with the limited amount of time he could commit.

Then, while working on a project for Stand Together Foundation, he came across their Needs and Offers Marketplace, which helps people match their skills with needs of already-vetted organizations(meaning they have proven themselves to be effective, innovative and responsible nonprofits in the communities they serve). He quickly found one that interested him – the Nevada Youth Empowerment Project (NYEP), which provides services for homeless youth. The program helps youth finish high school, enter college, find jobs, obtain housing, and maintain employment all while building the interpersonal relationships they need to create a strong support network that can offer help if they need it.

Olivier volunteered his services, and Monica DuPea, Executive Director had a perfect job for him — design two infographics that could help newcomers quickly learn about what their organization has to offer.

DuPea hoped they would also "help increase donors and raise awareness about the organization."

Olivier was more than up to the task. "By applying my design skills – which I've been honing for years – I felt like I was providing real value for the time spent,"he said.

Each infographic is estimated to have saved MYEP $4,212 — so Ballou ended up saving them a combined total of over $8,400.

You too can leverage your unique gifts and talents to help organizations like NYEP for a variety of things like design, coding, sales force, legal etc. through the Stand Together Foundation platform.

Identify ways to reduce barriers in your community through creative means like Be My Eyes andThe Path Project.

Jennifer Bristol struggled for a long time about how to give back. Not only has she relocated many times in her life — attaching her to "many geographic communities" — but she's also an introvert. Being around others for too long drained her of energy. So while she's always been passionate about helping others, she sometimes found it hard to do.

"I give back to my global community through an app called Be My Eyes," Jennifer writes. "This app connects sighted people with blind people who need assistance with pretty much anything having to do with sight." She's helped people choose items of clothing, read the directions to a recipe, and select the movie they might want to see that night. While they might sound like small things, the help has made a make huge differences to blind people all over the world.

"I find it really satisfying to do something for someone else that I do on a daily basis and take for granted," Jennifer adds. "It's grounding and a great reminder to be grateful for all I have. I also love that it gives the recipients a sense of independence. Instead of one pair of eyes, they have tens of thousands at their disposal."

While the barriers Jennifer helps blind people navigate are often physical, there are other barriers, like a lack of access to education, that are similarly limiting for individuals in neighborhoods across the country.That's where organizations like The Path Project come in.

Before they started The Path Project, Jim and Melinda Hollandsworth had signed up through their church to deliverChristmas gifts to a local family that lived in a mobile home park. By spending time with this family and building relationships, they realized there was a much bigger need they could help fill.

The Hollandsworths, saw that a significant gap existed between the older and younger kids in the neighborhood — the younger kids had big aspirations for their futures whereas many of the older kids had dropped out of school, had children already, some were even in jail. Their parents also had trouble helping their kids with their homework, becauseEnglish wasn't their first language.

SinceMelinda was a teacher, she decided that she wanted to at least help a couple of the kids with their homework after school. That went over so well that it quickly turned into a volunteer homework-helping program for the entire mobile park community. When the opportunity to dedicate an entire mobile home to the tutoring program presented itself, the Hollandsworths decided to turn their simple idea into a full-blown nonprofit.

Path Project's success speaks for itself. 95% of its students attend school regularly, 87% have passing grades in reading and math, and 92% have good behavior reports in school compared to 33% of the kids living in the same neighborhood.

And it all started because Jim and Melinda just wanted to be good neighbors. "At the very least, you have the opportunity to be a good neighbor," says Jim, "I think that's what we're all supposed to be."

Jennifer,Jim and Melinda are all examples of social entrepreneurs — people stepping up and addressing the unique needs of their communities in innovative ways. This is how positive change happens. And organizations like Stand Together Foundation look for these social entrepreneurs who enact change in communities that truly need it by hearing people's concerns and finding solutions that work for everyone.

Whether you mentor kids, use your professional skills to support causes that mean the most to you or start something new in your community to help kids finish their homework, you're helping others get where they want to go. That's making the world a better place.

While it can be intimidating to figure out how to get involved, as you can see, there are many different ways and so many different organizations that you can support to make a big difference.

Check out Stand Together Foundation to get connected to over 140 innovative social entrepreneurs making a difference and find your way to get involved!

Learn More About Stand Together Foundation

To find out which of these organizations supports your values, take this quiz here and let Stand Together Foundation do the searching for you.

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Women's Peace & Humanitarian Fund
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How one woman is breaking barriers to amplify women's voices in peace building across Southern Africa

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Vimbai Kapurura is the Executive Director of Women Unlimited, a grassroots women’s rights organization working to promote the rights and leadership of women, girls, and marginalized groups in Eswatini and southern Africa. With support from the Rapid Response Window of the United Nations Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund (WPHF), she’s advocating to have more female voices in national peace building spaces to ensure women’s rights and demands are included.

“Women are peacebuilders. We are peacemakers. We have a critical role to play in crisis situations and we are very much better placed to play a peacebuilding role in any country.”

In the face of the growing political turmoil in Eswatini, where calls for the establishment of a national dialogue remain seemingly unanswered, Vimbai and her organization are stepping up, raising their voice and bringing forward innovative solutions to promote peace and stability across the country. WPHF is supporting them to amplify women’s voices and mainstream gender perspectives into relevant decision-making mechanisms.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

“We are the cradle of life. We are changemakers, movers, shakers of any area of development. We want to be engaged and involved in any area of the value chain, the complete value chain. We want to be there.”

As part of its project with WPHF, Women Unlimited – with technical support from Cordaid, one of the INGO partners of the RRW – has trained several local women-led civil society organizations in conflict resolution, conflict prevention and mediation processes, as well as carried out educational and awareness raising campaigns on the value of women’s participation in peace processes, targeting both women and men across the country.

“WPHF has really helped us a lot. Not only has the funding allowed us to engage more women in peacebuilding processes, but it’s also supported us to underscore the need for female leadership in these spaces, where we’re often left aside.”

In Eswatini, where women and girls face deep-rooted patriarchy from a very young age, undermining their confidence, autonomy and leadership, Vimbai has become an outspoken advocate for women’s equal representation in decision-making roles at all levels, from community-level and regional committees to national and global peace building spaces.

“If you gather many women toward on common goal, you are guaranteed that that goal is going to be achieved. Let us come together and be the change we want to see. No one will do it for us. But together, we can.”

A tireless leader and activist who’s influenced the lives of many women and girls in Eswatini, Vimbai is a firm believer in women’s capacity, tenacity, and adaptability to lead and drive transformative change in their communities. When she thinks about peace, she dreams about women coming together, taking up space, and walking side by side for a more peaceful and gender-equal world in which harmful stereotypes and cultural practices are left behind.

Follow, engage, and amplify the work of Vimbai's organization!

Joy

Man uses the shoe aisle to explain a troubling economic trend in middle-class American life

"The thing is, most people don’t want longevity anymore. They want new."

via Canva/Photos

Remember things being built to last?

It’s been proven that over the past few years, Americans have been dealing with shrinkflation, where food companies reduce the sizes of their products while the price remains the same at the grocery store. You see this in fast food restaurants when you pick up a burger and feel like your hand has grown a few inches, and at the supermarket when you buy a box of cookies, it weighs less than it did a few weeks ago. Companies use this strategy when they think you’ll be less likely to notice a dip in quantity than a hike in the price.

Another big trend in retail is fast fashion. People are buying cheaper garments made from low-quality materials. These products last about as long as the trend, so people throw them away and buy the next hot thing. This can be a real problem because fast fashion harms the environment and leads to exploitative labor practices.

A TikToker named Tom (@SideMoneyTom), popular for making videos about consumer products, recently went viral for a video where he called out shoe manufacturers for dropping their quality while keeping prices high. “So many of you guys want to shoot the messenger, but look, it's not my fault shoes are made out of Styrofoam and oil now,” Tom says in a TikTok with over 528,000 views. “It's literally every shoe you look at now. It's not even just the cheap ones. I can find hundred dollar plus pairs of shoes all day long with glue squeezing out of their Styrofoam cracks.”

@sidemoneytom

Replying to @Oscar Magaña shoes are done #fyp #shoes #foryou

Tom notes that recently, shoes have been made with foam soles instead of rubber. Both have pros and cons. Foam is a little more comfortable, but rubber lasts a lot longer. Rubber shoes keep shape and support over time and are much more durable. Conversely, foam shoes compress over time, losing their support and comfort. When companies sell cheaper shoes that wear out more quickly, they make much more money because you must keep replacing them.

In the video, Tom adds that many companies that used to have shoes made with rubber heels, such as Carhartt and Timberland, have switched to foam. This is an interesting choice for brands that pride themselves on selling durable products.

Cora Harrington, a writer and lingerie expert, says that companies aren't entirely to blame. Americans don’t want to pay higher prices. “People don’t exactly want to pay more for all that stuff,” Harrington told Vox. "So what has to happen if everything is more expensive and the customers still want to pay the same price, something has to be cut and that’s often going to be the quality of the garment.”

“There is an entire generation of consumers at this point that doesn’t actually know what high-quality clothing feels like and looks like,” Harrington continues. “It gets easier, I think, for consumers to just not know any better.”

@sidemoneytom

Replying to @donkles #shoes #fyp #sketchers #nike

Many commenters have noticed the decline in shoe quality and praised Tom for pointing it out. "I am so happy I’m not the only one who is baffled by shoes being made of styrofoam and then being upcharged for them," one commenter wrote. "When shoes started being named some version of 'Air Light Cloud float,' my thought was it was because they went from quality rubber to cheap foam and less materials,” another commenter added.

Tom believes the decline in shoe quality is an example of a more significant trend affecting American consumers' products: quality is decreasing while prices remain the same. “The quality of everything is going to hell, and the prices are going up," Tom concludes his video. "The problem is, so many of us have just become used to it that we keep buying it, and we basically allow them to dumb down the quality of everything. Everything in our lives. These shoes are just the tip of the iceberg. Start thinking about it in your life. What are you gonna allow to be garbage quality?

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O Organics
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Dad's heartfelt lunch message shows how simple, everyday acts can change lives

You can make a huge difference by using O Organics.

via Meg Sullivan (used with permission) and Canva/Photos

A volunteer hands out food in a food bank and Meg Sullivan shares her dad's kind gesture.

When we consider people who have had a positive impact on the world, we often think of those who have made grand gestures to improve the lives of others, such as Martin Luther King, Jr., Greta Thunberg, or Mahatma Gandhi. Unfortunately, that type of effort is out of reach for the average person.

However, O Organics would like to remind everyone that they can positively impact the world through small, consistent acts of kindness that add up over time. Much like how a small creek can create a valley over the years, we can change lives through small, consistent acts of kindness.

O Organics is dedicated to the well-being of all by nourishing people everywhere with delicious organic foods grown by producers who meet USDA-certified organic farming standards.

Upworthy's Instagram page recently posted a touching example of everyday kindness. Meg Sullivan shared how her father, Tom, peeled oranges for her lunch just about every day from kindergarten through high school. But on the final day of her senior year of high school, he sent his 17-year-old daughter unpeeled oranges with a touching note about how she’d have to start peeling them for herself.



“It’s Time Baby Girl,” he wrote on a wikiHow printout on how to peel an orange with a drawing of himself crying. For the father, this daily ritual was about more than just making lunch; it was about showing that he cared by going the extra mile. “I could have put money on her lunch account,” Tom told Today.com. “But it’s one of those little things I thought was important, that she knows somebody’s taking the time to take care of her.”

The small, daily gesture taught Megan an essential lesson in kindness.

The post reminded people how their fathers’ small acts of kindness meant so much to them. “My dad peeled my oranges until I graduated high school, too. Now, I peel my daughter’s oranges and will for the next 7 plus years,” Katie wrote in the comments. “Love this. My dad peeled mine, too. When I moved out, he gave me an orange peeler gadget,” Mary added.

o organics, albertson's giving backO Organics has a wide array of foods and flavors covering almost everything on your shopping list.via Albertson's

Did you know that every time you go to the supermarket, you can also change the world through small gestures? O Organics not only allows you to feed your family delicious and nutritious organic food, but each purchase also gives back to help people and communities facing food insecurity.

Through contributions from customers like you, O Organics donates up to 28 million meals annually. The company’s contribution is essential when, according to the USDA, 47.4 million Americans live in food-insecure households.

O Organics has a wide array of foods and flavors covering almost everything on your shopping list. “Over the years, we have made organic foods more accessible by expanding O Organics to every aisle across our stores, making it possible for health and budget-conscious families to incorporate organic food into every meal,” Jennifer Saenz, EVP and Chief Merchandising Officer at Albertsons, one of many stores where you can find O Organics products, said in a statement.

O Organics now offers over 1500 items, from dairy products such as eggs and milk to packaged meats and breakfast staples such as cereal bars, granola and oatmeal. You can also enjoy affordable organic produce with O Organics’ fresh salads and fruit.

Everybody wants to make the world a better place. With O Organics, you can feed your family healthy, organic food every time you go to the market while paying it forward by contributing to the company’s efforts to end food insecurity nationwide. That’s a small, daily gesture that can amount to incredible change.

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Celebrity

Steve Carell calls into high school assembly and announces he's buying 800 students' prom tickets

Carrell did a great thing, but that didn't stop him from going full Michael Scott.

alicewillhelp/Instagram

Steve Carell announces free prom tickets for seniors affected by southern California wildfires.

Actor Steve Carell showed up in a big way for high school students affected by the recent wildfires in Altadena and the Pacific Palisades in Los Angeles. The Office actor, 62, partnered with charity Alice's Kids (@alicewillhelp), to pay for all seniors to attend prom at six different high schools in Altadena, California.

According to Alice's Kids founder and executive director Ronald "Ron" Fitzsimmons, Carell will be sending about 800 seniors to prom for free. Fitzsimmons told USA Today that Alice's Kids will donate about $175,000 in total.

The uplifting news was shared via Alice's Kids Instagram page, with a personal message from Carell that was played at each high school via video projection in auditoriums. "A special message from our friend Steve Carell. Right now, this is being viewed by every senior at the six high schools in Altadena, CA!! @stevecarellofficial," the video's caption reads.

“Attention. Attention all seniors. This is Steve Carell with a very special announcement. I work with a wonderful charity based out of Virginia called Alice’s Kids. And Alice’s Kids wanted me to let you know that they will be paying for all of your prom tickets,” he said in the video. “And if you have already paid for your prom tickets, they will reimburse you for your prom tickets. It’s a pretty good deal. Have fun. Enjoy the prom, and remember, this is Steve Carell.”

Fans of The Office will notice that the video is a subtle nod to the hit NBC show, where Carell played boss Michael Scott. During a 2009 episode from the sitcom titled "Scott's Tots," he promises to pay the college tuition for a group of third graders if they graduate. But when the time comes to cough up the cash, he doesn't have it. Thankfully, Carell's donation to Altadena students had a different outcome.

The video got an overwhelming response from viewers, many who caught on to The Office reference. "'Hey Mr. Scott! Whatcha gon’ do? Whatcha gon’ do? Make our dreams come true!' This is beautiful," one wrote. Another commented, "Love this! Scott’s Tots for the win!" And another added, "Scott’s tots is coming true!!"

Another wrote, "thank you so much for blessing our students at Pasadena HS with an unforgettable night of memories ✨️🌹🙏🏼." And another shared, "What a thoughtful way to celebrate kids who’ve lost so much!"

One viewer was also personally impacted: "THANK YOU FOR THIS!! MY SISTER IS ABLE TO GO TO PROM!!🫶🫶🫶," they wrote. still another added, "Thank you @alicewillhelp and @stevecarellofficial on behalf of my Muir Senior 💙💛🐴🙏🏽. You all are awesome!!!!! 👏🏽"

Fitzsimmons told USA Today that Carell and his wife, Nancy, have been involved with the organization for over seven years. The idea to donate tickets to prom came after making numerous calls to schools affected by the wildfires.

"That's when I thought, 'Well, let's do something later on. Later on, all the charities will be gone. The kids who are seniors will be going off somewhere,'" Fitzsimmons told the publication. "So that's when I thought, 'What can we do to lift them a little bit in a few months from now?' That's when the idea of prom tickets came up."

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Climate Change

Doctor warns that having this in your bathroom is a huge red flag for your health

People mistake it for mold.

via Canva/Photos

A woman feeling sick in her bathroom.

It’s easy to tell if mold is growing in your bathroom: you notice the black stuff growing on the caulk that lines your bathtub or near the bottom of the hot and cold water handles on your sink. But have you ever seen a ring of pink slime accumulating around your sink drain or on the bottom of your shower curtain? Most people think it’s mold, but it’s actually something worse.

U.K.-based surgeon Dr. Karan Rajan explained the pink slime phenomenon in a TikTok video that’s received over 640,000 views. “You've seen this pink slime lurking in your bathroom, it's not mold, it's bacteria,” Dr. Rajan says. “Specifically one called Serratia marcescens. And it vomits hot pink all over your bathroom.”

Yes, that’s not soap that has turned a bubble-gum color on the bottom of your shower curtain or Pepto Bismol that didn’t go down the drain. It’s bacteria vomit.

@dr.karanr

Pink slime

The interesting thing about this bacteria is that the products you use to clean your body in the shower or wash your hands in the sink are what it loves to eat. Pink slime feeds on fat and mineral deposits from soap scum and shampoo.

If you’ve found some pink slime in your home before, you know it’s much grosser than you originally thought. But is it dangerous? “[To] the average person, it's pretty harmless, even if you come into contact with it, but you still wanna avoid getting in your eyes or open wounds,” Dr. Raja warns. “However, it can cause gut, urine, or chest infections in those who are immunocompromised.”

"OMG this reappears in our tub every few weeks. I was wondering what it was!?" someone wrote in the comments on the TikTok post. "I always wondered. The pink slime and my bleach bottle are in a constant battle," another added.

The bigger problem of pink slime is that it may be a symptom of a more significant issue. “If your home has enough damp for pink slime to consistently develop, you could actually be growing other things as well, like actual household molds, which could be causing respiratory issues or allergies,” Dr. Rajan says.

serratia marcescensSerratia marcescens up close.via Bjorn S./Wikimedia Commons

How to clean pink slime (Serratia marcescens)

Here is how to clean and sanitize your bathroom of pink slime, thanks to This Old House.

  1. Wear safety glasses, a mask, and gloves
  2. Combine 2 tablespoons of dish soap with one quarter cup of baking soda
  3. Apply the mixture to the bacteria and scrub thoroughly with a nylon brush
  4. Rinse away the loosened bacteria
  5. Spray the affected area with 1:1 warm water and bleach solution
  6. Let sit for ten minutes, then scrub again
  7. Dry with a microfiber towel

How to prevent pink slime from growing in your bathroom

How do you keep pink slime from growing in your home in the first place? The key is to keep your bathroom dry. “The first rule of Pink Slime Club is to keep the bacteria forming in the first place. By curbing its growth, you'll be preventing other dangerous molds from forming,” Dr. Rajan says. “Keep your shower dry and well-ventilated, put on an exhaust fan or open a window after showering to keep humidity levels low, and regularly clean and disinfect your bathroom. It's filthier than you think.”

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Pets

Woman went to the shelter and asked for the oldest dog there. She has no regrets.

"I can't believe this is my life now, I feel so loved."

The oldest dog turned out to have the most love.

Anyone who's ever been inside a dog shelter can relate: You're naturally drawn to the puppies—the cute, young, and playful dogs eager for your attention and love. But at the same time, your heart breaks for the other ones. You know who they are. The older dogs with the gray muzzles who have lived a lot of life and don't have the same energy anymore. The less attractive ones, too. Scruffy mutts with overgrown fur and stained faces. You feel horrible that so many of them probably won't be chosen and won't find a home.

Still, it's easy to see the appeal of a puppy or younger dog. You can train it the way you want, raise it in your own home, and form an incredible bond throughout their entire life. You also get a companion by your side for a long time to come, with your commitment to them paying off for years and years. Though taking an older dog home is a nice thing to do, it can be tough for potential dog owners to sacrifice all of those perks. But maybe it doesn't have to be viewed that way.

One woman recently shared her story of walking into a dog shelter and specifically asking to meet the oldest dog there.

In a viral video on TikTok, Kristen Brown says she went to the shelter and was introduced to 12-year-old Jackie. The sign on her pen noted that Jackie had been surrendered by a previous owner (ouch, my heart) and required "Geriatric bedding," also noting that she was a "Sweet girl."

After meeting Jackie, Brown agreed. She decided to take the old gal home. What follows is an incredible montage of Jackie's new life: Naps in her special bed, being groomed for the first time, playing with her dog siblings, and morning walks.

Brown captioned the video from Jackie's point of view, with the final caption reading: "I can't believe this is my life now, I feel so loved."

Jackie looks like a larger breed that, sadly, probably doesn't have too many years left. But now she's got her happy ending. Watch it here:

@kristentbrown

to my sweet 12 year old Jackie Lynn♥️ (I cried making this) #dogsoftiktok #doglover #adoptdontshop #shelterdog

Commenters shared their own stories of adopting senior dogs and they're just the sweetest thing you can imagine.

When you adopt an older dog, the time you get with them may be short. But dog owners who viewed Brown's video are adamant that it can be one of the most rewarding experiences of your life.

"Did this, he ended up having squamous cell carcinoma. I gave him the best last 4 months I could"

"I went to the shelter and asked for the dog that's been there the longest. My Lilo had been there for over 3 years due to dog and people aggression. she was just in a bad place and nervous. she loves people now and she's working towards trusting dogs again. She's the sweetest baby ever. I will always advocate for adoption"

"my family has a 13 year old dog, she was used for at least 2 litters & made to live outside 24/7 before we got her at 7 years old. now she sleeps in her own armchair by the fireplace"

"My Billie was 11 when I adopted her. She was dropped off by the same person who adopted her as a young dog because her health was getting bad and although the year and a half I got with her was. often times challenging because of all her health problems I truly believe she was my soul dog."

According to the ASPCA, older dogs have a 25% adoption rate. That's less than half of their younger peers.

@kristentbrown

Replying to @missjackielynn thank you everyone ♥️💕 #adoptdontshop #dogsoftiktok #dogs #rescue

When older dogs enter shelters, their odds of ever leaving are stacked against them. But contrary to the data, senior dogs often make incredible pets! While they might not have puppy-like energy and might be set in their ways to some degree, they still bring a lot to the table.

Older dogs often come with some training and are already house-broken, along with knowing basic commands like "sit." Their lower energy levels also mean they integrate into a home more quickly and usually love laying around and snuggling. They rarely have chewing, teeth, or other destructive behavior problems. And, finally, senior dogs have been known to "come alive" when they get adopted—showing tons of love and gratitude to their owners as their personality emerges far beyond what they show in the shelter.

Kristen Brown doesn't regret her decision to adopt an older dog. "They deserve a chance," she writes in a follow up video, as she's shown scratching a very happy and grateful Jackie's chin.

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Joy

Funny music video perfectly parodies aging millennial cringe, wide-brimmed hats and all

Sorry, millennials, you had your time. Here's what you did with it.

via KyleGordonIsGreat/YouTube

Kyle Gordon and friends singing "We Will Never Die."

Every generation has that moment when fashion, music, and attitudes suddenly go out of style and begin to look a bit embarrassing. Baby boomers (1946 to 1964) had to deal with the death of the disco scene and the subsequent years when polyester suits and the Bee Gees were the butt of a joke that neve felt like it would end. (That is, until the Gen X-led disco revival of the mid-’90s.)

Gen Xers (1965 to 1980) had to quietly pack up their flannel shirts and Doc Martens when the grunge era gave way to the nu-metal and the pop resurgence that took over in the late ‘90s. However, everything that was old is new once again, and Gen Z would come to embrace all things grunge. Now, you’ll see as many Nirvana shirts at a high school as you did in 1992.

Sorry, millennials (1981 to 1996), it’s your time in the barrel, and the signature styles and songs you embraced a decade ago are starting to look, as Gen Zers (1997 to 2002) would say, a bit cringey and cheugy. If you haven’t embraced the inevitable yet, this is a warning to please pack up your wide-brimmed hat, take all of the word art off of your walls, and remove “We are Young” by Fun from your Spotify playlist, at least for the next decade or so. Time waits for no one, and sorry, millennials, it’s time to leave your “whoop” in the past.


To put the final nail in the millennial coffin, comedian Kyle Gordon (with the help of Kody Redwing and the Broken Hearst) has taken dead aim at peak cheugy with his song “We Will Never Die” and filmed in Brooklyn in a neighborhood that looks straight out of “Girls.” All that is missing is Lena Dunham. The video takes dead aim at this 2012 Fun anthem “We are Young” and the millenial catchphrases, styles, and attitudes that defined the era.

Warning: You may find the amount of people wearing super skinny jeans with flannel tops or jean jackets disturbing,

- YouTubeyoutu.be

The video is also filled with a list of catchphrases that are beginning to sound a bit passe:

“Yup, we did a thing.”

“Adulting”

“Said no one, ever.”

“Not today, Satan.”

“Ur my spirit animal.”

“Spread kindness like confetti.”

“Free hugs.”


Gordon’s song has all the hallmarks of a 2012 anthem with a big group of people singing “Hoooo-oh-oh-oh-owe-owee-ooh,” in the hook, a mandolin that pops up for no reason, and a plodding rhythm track that sounds like it was lifted straight from Mumford and Sons. Sadly, whoever played that mandolin will probably be out of work for some time, unless he moves to Nashville, because, just like the banjo, the instrument is no longer needed in pop music.

It has to be sad for some millennials to see their glory days have now become the subject of satire. But, if his story has shown us anything, it’s that once generation trends go out of style and are mocked for about 15 years, some high schoolers will find them nostalgic and they will come back in style again. So, after Gen Z is done mocking millennials for being chuegy, a Generation Alpha (2010 to 2024) kid will eventually see a wide-brimmed hat and a piece of artwork with something cheeky written in chevron font at a thrift store and say, “Hey! That looks cool.” Then, they will throw some LMFAO on Spotify and feel pretty cool, just like their mom did in 2011.

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