Category: Florida

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A Man Paid off the Entire School Lunch Debt for 400 Kids in His Town

Children should never go hungry in the United States, but the sad fact is that it happens every day to thousands and thousands of kids. And sometimes we forget there are actually things we can do to help – but there are.

Andrew Levy, a real estate agent in Jupiter, Florida, decided to take things into his own hands after he saw a list detailing the outstanding lunch debt owed by 400 kids in 9 schools in his area.

The debt totaled $944.34, which is not so much, all things considered. Levy decided to pay the entire debt off for the kids and their families.

One man in Jupiter, Florida, decided that he could make a difference in his town by paying off the lunch debt for every child in the system.

Posted by 5NEWS on Monday, October 14, 2019

A woman in Jupiter named Angie Vyas-Knight got the ball rolling when she shared a post on Facebook talking about the school lunch issue and how kids were going hungry. She then got the local stats from the Palm Beach County school board and compiled a list outlining the debts. This list eventually reached Andrew Levy, who said, “I thought that’s crazy. Food is something you shouldn’t have to think about. Children shouldn’t learn hungry.”

After he paid off the debt, Levy started thinking about the issue in a bigger context. Levy realized that many more kids in his area, not just in Jupiter, need help paying for their school lunches. In fact, students in Palm Beach County, a district with more than 180,000 students, currently have an outstanding lunch debt of $50,000 .

Levy said, “I’m going to do either a GoFundMe page or a fundraising page that can raise money every quarter, so lunch debt never accumulates so that children never have to worry about a hot meal and parents never have to worry about paying the bill.”

If you want to help out, visit the district’s website to get more information.

Unfortunately, this is a major issue that many school districts have to address. We can only hope that more people like Andrew Levy will step up to the plate to help out the kids in need.

It’s called thinking BIG!

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A Person Using Google Earth Spotted a Car in a Florida Pond and Solved a Dark 22-Year-Old Mystery

This is a tragic story with an sad ending, but at least the family members involved can now have some closure after 22 whole years.

No one had heard from William Earl Moldt, a 40-year-old man from Lake Worth, Florida, since November 7, 1997, when he called his girlfriend to tell her he was leaving a nightclub and would be arriving home shortly.

North America: United States The mystery of a missing Florida man has been solved 22 years on, thanks to Google…

Posted by TSC International News Channel on Friday, September 13, 2019

Then, Moldt disappeared.

On August 28 of this year, a Lake Worth man was looking at Google Earth images of his neighborhood when he noticed something unusual in a pond. Upon closer inspection, the man noticed that the object was a sunken vehicle that was not visible from ground level.

Authorities were alerted and the car turned out to be a 1994 Saturn SL with skeletal remains inside and they were later identified as belonging to Moldt. In a statement, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s office said, “The vehicle’s exterior was heavily calcified and was obviously in the water for a significant amount of time.”

The pond where Moldt’s car ended up was under construction when he disappeared in 1997, and it’s unclear how his car ended up in the water.

Although the story sounds outrageous, it is a fairly common occurrence for cars to end up in waterways. In Florida alone, there were 168 water-related deaths from car accidents between 2011 and 2016. According to the missing-persons website NAMUS, Moldt “was not a frequent drinker but did have several drinks at the bar” the night he disappeared.

The post A Person Using Google Earth Spotted a Car in a Florida Pond and Solved a Dark 22-Year-Old Mystery appeared first on UberFacts.

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Lightning Caused a Freak Toilet Explosion, so Choose Wisely When You Go to the Bathroom

I’m glad no one was injured (or killed) during this incident because this would be a really terrible way to go.

And of course this happened in Florida. Was there ever any doubt?!?!

The scene was Port Charlotte, Florida. During a lightning storm, the homeowners heard a huge crash-bang. When they investigated their home, they found that a toilet in their bathroom has EXPLODED from lightning. Windows in the house had shattered as well.

Let’s chalk it up to good luck that no one was doing their business at the time…

Posted by A-1 Affordable Plumbing inc. on Sunday, August 4, 2019

Jordan Hagadorn, the owner of A-1 Affordable Plumbing, said, “This is probably the first time in history something like this has happened” and that the lightning strike resulted in “perfect ignition inside the sewer.”

To explicate slightly – the lightening ignited whatever was in the sewer (poop gases like methane and such).

Hagadorn also said that 30 percent of the pipes in the house need to be replaced due to damage.

While this story sounds like a one-in-a-million incident, it does happen from time to time. John Jensenius, a lightning expert from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), says, “There have been documented incidents of people injured on toilets. It [lightning] went through the pipes and through the water. If lightning strikes your home, it often finds its way into the plumbing.”

We’re just entering hurricane season, so please be careful and take note of impending storms.

A word to the wise: don’t do your business anymore if there’s a lightning storm outside…no one wants to have to explain that in a loved one’s obituary. Got it? Good!

The post Lightning Caused a Freak Toilet Explosion, so Choose Wisely When You Go to the Bathroom appeared first on UberFacts.

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Lightning Caused a Freak Toilet Explosion, so Choose Wisely When You Go to the Bathroom

I’m glad no one was injured (or killed) during this incident because this would be a really terrible way to go.

And of course this happened in Florida. Was there ever any doubt?!?!

The scene was Port Charlotte, Florida. During a lightning storm, the homeowners heard a huge crash-bang. When they investigated their home, they found that a toilet in their bathroom has EXPLODED from lightning. Windows in the house had shattered as well.

Let’s chalk it up to good luck that no one was doing their business at the time…

Posted by A-1 Affordable Plumbing inc. on Sunday, August 4, 2019

Jordan Hagadorn, the owner of A-1 Affordable Plumbing, said, “This is probably the first time in history something like this has happened” and that the lightning strike resulted in “perfect ignition inside the sewer.”

To explicate slightly – the lightening ignited whatever was in the sewer (poop gases like methane and such).

Hagadorn also said that 30 percent of the pipes in the house need to be replaced due to damage.

While this story sounds like a one-in-a-million incident, it does happen from time to time. John Jensenius, a lightning expert from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), says, “There have been documented incidents of people injured on toilets. It [lightning] went through the pipes and through the water. If lightning strikes your home, it often finds its way into the plumbing.”

We’re just entering hurricane season, so please be careful and take note of impending storms.

A word to the wise: don’t do your business anymore if there’s a lightning storm outside…no one wants to have to explain that in a loved one’s obituary. Got it? Good!

The post Lightning Caused a Freak Toilet Explosion, so Choose Wisely When You Go to the Bathroom appeared first on UberFacts.

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This Teenager’s Lung Collapsed After He Vaped for 18 Months

You see all kinds of people vaping everywhere now, especially younger folks. But it seems like the jury is still out on how harmful e-cigarettes really are. An 18-year-old young man named Chance Ammirata learned this the hard way.

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Guess that word

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Ammirata started vaping when he was 16, and 18 months into his new habit, he started experiencing awful chest pains. He couldn’t even sleep on his left side because it was so painful. One day when he was bowling with friends, Ammirata’s friend made him laugh and his chest hurt so bad he felt like he was having a heart attack.

Ammirata was rushed to the hospital. He said, “Seven surgeons came in, and it’s scary when you see seven surgeons come in, you think they’re going to tell you you have like five days to live.”

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This whole experience is absolutely insane and life changing (disclaimer I don’t always look this bad just when I’m glued to the hospital bed for 8 days) I came into this experience completely negative mad at the world , and scared of how things were gonna turn out after my lung collapsed. But I decided to take this negative and completely find another meaning. I decided that spreading my story could help others not have to go through the same thing as me. One by one reading each message from every single one of you explaining how I was able to CHANGE YOUR MINDSET I was able to help you throw out your juul. Makes you realize enough is enough and that nicotine is rotting our brains and destroying our bodies. It overcame me with emotions. I’ve never been happier to make such a difference. My surgery to get my chest tube removed is scheduled in around 2/3 hours and I’m insanely nervous. But I want to make sure my story is always out there. And that the change doesn’t stop. Every day we need to fight to help not only ourselves but the ones we love put down the nicotine. This epidemic has taken enough. We don’t need more evidence telling us just how bad it is. How many more kids are going to have to get hospitalized for us to stop !? None should be the answer don’t take this with a grain of salt. And keep on pushing yourselves to take control of these cravings. I know it’s hard , and I know it will be a long one/2 weeks of getting over the addiction. But 1/2 weeks is so much more worth it than a lifetime of consequences. #lunglove #stopjuul #revolution #wewillmakeachange #wearenotcontrolled edit: hole* reference to third slide

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Ammirata was informed that doctors had found black spots and a hole in his lung. His collapsed lung was reinflated, and doctors told him that whatever he was smoking caused the black spots. Ammirata has never smoked cigarettes, so he knew that the Juul he had been smoking for a year-and-a-half was the culprit.

Ammirata admits that he never thought his e-cigarette could be so dangerous. He said, “Everyone was doing it,” Chance said, “and the problem was no one was saying they were addicted, just using it occasionally when they were stressed, so it was different from a cigarette.”

The young man wants to use his incident to highlight the dangers of vaping for other people who may be unaware that there are potentially serious side effects. Ammirata said,

“This whole experience is absolutely insane and life changing. I came into this experience completely negative, mad at the world, and scared of how things were gonna turn out after my lung collapsed. But I decided to take this negative and completely find another meaning. I decided that spreading my story could help others not have to go through the same thing as me.”

Ammirata added,

“Juul is really manipulating it like it’s OK, and it’s not and there’s not enough evidence, but I feel like it’s my responsibility as a victim to let people know it isn’t safe. Even if they said I could smoke again, I would never pick up a Juul or anything that has smoke, I’m never going to pick up again.”

The post This Teenager’s Lung Collapsed After He Vaped for 18 Months appeared first on UberFacts.

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A Group of Angry Ducks Interrupted a Golf Game to Chase off an Alligator

It was a lovely day at the second annual Christie’s Critters Invitational on PGA National’s Champion Course when golfers observed a gator lumbering right out onto the green.

Image Credit: YouTube

Now, to be fair, he might have assumed he was invited, given the title of the tournament, but alligators should know by now that they’re definitely not welcome at human things unless they’re inside a deep fryer.

Image Credit: YouTube

It turns out the ducks felt the same way.

They followed the gator, quacking angrily. For a while he pretended not to notice, but eventually he headed for the fastest escape route.

Because ducks, man. They’re loud, and they don’t know when to quit. And they’ll bite you and stuff.

People online had plenty to say about the event (Florida jokes incoming!), and plenty of people also chose to hold the ducks up as inspiration – maybe even a real-life metaphor.

Image Credit: Facebook

Said like people who have never had to scrub duck crap off a dock, methinks.

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This Couple Rode Every Ride at Disney World – Without a Fast Pass

You’re probably asking yourself, ‘How did these two pull off this amazing feat?’ Well, we’re going to explain that to you right now.

If you’ve ever set foot on Disney World’s property, you know that you have to navigate a sea of humanity. It’s PACKED with people pretty much all the time.

But Shane Lindsay and Kristina Hawkins somehow managed to pull off the incredible achievement of riding all 46 rides at Disney World during a recent visit. And they did it all in 18 hours without FastPasses.

The couple knew the odds were against them, but they couldn’t resist. Lindsay started the Parkeology Challenge, a competition that calls for participants to ride every ride at the four Orlando theme parks (The Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and Disney’s Animal Kingdom).

Lindsay and Hawkins documented their stop on every ride on Twitter. They began their quest in the Magic Kingdom at 7:51 a.m. on a Wednesday morning and completed their excellent adventure just before closing time at 2:00 a.m. on Thursday. They said their longest wait was an hour long for Animal Kingdom’s Flight of Passage.

The Parkeology Challenge was created in 2014 and since then only 6% of the 325 teams that have dared to try have completed the mission. Lindsay and Hawkins have completed the challenge before, but this was the first time they did it without a FastPass or a MagicBand, which allow you to skip over those neverending lines of people waiting to get onto rides.

Hawkins said of the experience and resulting viral attention, “It’s mostly just Disney street cred, I would say. It was almost like we broke the internet, the Disney internet, everyone was freaking out.”

Impressive! A job well done!

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Fireworks are totally illegal…

Fireworks are totally illegal in Florida, but are sold to ordinary people in huge quantities via hundreds of stores across the state to anyone who signs a waiver saying they’re for agricultural use to scare birds away from crops.

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Therapy Dogs for the Survivors of the Parkland School Shooting Get Their Own Yearbook Page

It’s graduation season all across the country, and students everywhere are saying their goodbyes for the summer (or longer, if they’re graduating seniors) and of course, getting their yearbooks signed.

Unfortunately for the students of  Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, the festivities are still clouded by the looming shadow of the tragic shooting that happened in February 2018, claiming the lives of 17 students and teachers. Staff and students are still dealing with the trauma of that day, a burden they will likely carry with them for years (if not the rest of their lives).

In an attempt to help its community cope with that trauma, Stoneman Douglas High School enlisted the help of 14 therapy dogs, and this year the helpful animals got their own yearbook page.

The yearbook’s editor-in-chief, Caitlynn Tibbetts, said:

“It’s a balancing act. After the shooting we wanted that yearbook to be perfect and had to cover as much as possible. This year, we wanted to give proper representation of our school and who we are now without giving so much focus to what happened to us in the past. The therapy dogs are the one thing from last year that is permanent and positive.”

The dogs attend classes with students and hang out in the courtyard outside the cafeteria as students go to and from lunch, so the students can stop for a quick pet.

Teacher and yearbook adviser Sarah Lerner was thrilled with the addition of therapy jobs to the Stoneman Douglas High School campus. Lerner said, “There’s nothing a dog can’t fix. I’ll be teaching and in comes a dog and these big 18-year-old adults all the sudden become mushy 5-year-old kids and it’s been such a comfort for us.”

Lerner had the idea to include the 14 therapy dogs in the school’s yearbook: “We sat them up on chairs, they were smiling for the camera. It was the greatest day of my life.”

A few of the pooches even ended up going to the prom.

A great, uplifting story that was born out of a tragic day that these students and staff will never forget.

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The “Florida Man” Challenge is Going Viral, and For Good Reason

By now I think we all know that Florida is WEIRD. As if the sunny weather, the beaches, and the oranges weren’t enough, it’s chock full of the weirdest people you’ve ever heard of.

So, some brilliant mind came up with this idea…

So go ahead and give it a shot. Here’s mine for February 27: “Slice of pizza convinced Gulf Breeze man to end police standoff.”

See what I’m talkin’ about?!?! That is pretty damn impressive. I guarantee you’ll have a good time.

Here are some wonderful examples of the different results people ended up with.

I can’t get enough of this…and I can’t wait for my next trip to the Sunshine State.

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