Student gives away a scholarship to friends, and more

Student gives away a scholarship to friends

Allan Guei’s good grades at Compton High School in Los Angeles earned him the right to compete in a free-throw contest for a $40,000 college scholarship. He won, but later was granted a basketball scholarship to California State University–Northridge. Guei, the son of immigrants from Ivory Coast, could have kept the money, but instead he donated it to the seven runners-up in the free-throw contest. “I’ve already been blessed so much and I know we’re living with a bad economy,” Guei said. “This money can really help my classmates.”

Grandfather bikes across Canada for charity

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Arvid Loewen, a 54-year-old grandfather from Winnipeg, Manitoba, beat the world record for the fastest bike ride across Canada by more than three hours, completing the 3,762-mile journey from Vancouver to Halifax in just 13 days, six hours, and 13 minutes. “It feels very nice to sit in a nicely heated motor home with a blanket wrapped around me,” Loewen said. “I’m doing just great—it’s not tough at all.” Loewen spent up to 20 hours a day in the saddle and often battled fierce headwinds. His effort raised $50,000 for a charity dedicated to helping orphans in Kenya.

Chubbiness saves a fat cat

Chubbiness turned out to be a lifesaver for Eddie, a 15-pound cat from Manhattan. He was lying on a terrace when a red-tailed hawk swooped down and carried him off. His owner figured her cat was a goner. “I walked for hours all over the neighborhood and up Riverside Drive, sobbing, looking for his body,” she said. But it turned out that the hawk couldn’t fly very far with a big cat in its talons, and dropped him in a garden behind a nearby building. Eddie fell five stories, but only suffered minor scrapes and bruises. “The moral of the story,” said his owner, is that “your flaws can be an asset.”