The week's good news: September 3, 2020

1. High school runner helps injured competitor finish race

When high school runner Axel Aleman saw Levi LaGrange injure himself during a 5K race last weekend, he stopped to help, knowing that while it meant he wouldn't finish with one of his better times, it was the right thing to do. Aleman and LaGrange were running in the Southwestern Small School Invitational in Shelbyville, Indiana. A half mile from the finish line, LaGrange felt his ankle roll. Aleman was behind him, and saw he was in pain. Other runners were flying past, but Aleman stopped to offer assistance. "I knew I had to do something," Aleman told the Indianapolis Star. He put his hand on LaGrange's back for support, and helped him the rest of the way, following him across the finish line. "He has amazing character," LaGrange said. "He stopped and sacrificed his own time to help someone else. I really admire him and what he did."

Indianapolis Star

2. Entrepreneurial 11-year-old launches his own car detailing business

Jabre Dutton has only been in business for a month, but he is already planning big things for Jabre's Car Cleaning Service. The 11-year-old Philadelphia resident launched his car detailing business in August, after he told his mom, Sabrina Dutton, that he wanted money to make in-app purchases for his favorite game. She talked to him about credit, and Dutton told ABC 6 that's when he decided "to start taking my money very seriously." He works on Saturdays and Sundays, with customers making appointments online. Dutton goes to their homes, where he cleans their car interiors while taking strict safety precautions. Dutton told ABC 6 he is enjoying earning money and building his savings, with his mom by his side. "I look up to her a lot," he said. "She's been teaching me since I was a kid, since I was little, since I was born!"

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ABC 6

3. Artists swap out paint and clay for seeds and grains

For decades, creative Minnesotans have been using lentils, poppy seeds, flax, and rice to make portraits, cartoons, and sculptures to put on display at the State Fair. This year, the Minnesota State Fair was canceled because of the pandemic, so their crop art is going digital, and will be showcased online so their masterpieces can be seen around the world. Crop art was first introduced at the fair in 1965, as a way of teaching people where their food comes from. The competition has become increasingly popular, with 324 contest entries last year. The building where the art is displayed is routinely crowded with fair attendees who want to see creations like Jill Moe's self-explanatory portrait "Hall in Oats," depicting Daryl Hall of Hall and Oates fame with his hair made of oats. Crop art, Moe told the Star Tribune, is a "wonderfully democratic canvas."

Star Tribune

4. The world's biggest rooftop greenhouse opens in Montreal

At 163,800 square feet, Lufa Farms' new rooftop greenhouse in Montreal is the largest in the world, capable of harvesting 25,000 pounds of tomatoes and eggplants every week, year-round. "Our mission has always been to grow food where people live and to grow it more sustainably," Lufa Farms, a grocery delivery service in Montreal, said in an Instagram post. The rooftop garden was completed on Aug. 26, and is almost the size of three football fields. It is on the top of a warehouse in the Saint-Laurent borough, and provides the space to grow enough food to feed 10,000 families, Time Out reports. The vegetables are grown inside hydroponic containers lined with coconut coir, and there are no pesticides used — bees pollinate the plants and ladybugs provide pest control. Captured rainwater is used for irrigation, and there is also a composting system.

Time Out

5. New husband and wife donate and serve reception food at Ohio shelter

Tyler and Melanie Tapajna started married life off by sharing their joy with others through plates of fried chicken and macaroni and cheese. The Parma, Ohio, couple expected to celebrate their August wedding with 150 friends and relatives, but had to scrap their plans because of COVID-19. They decided not to cancel their catering order, though, choosing to serve it at Laura's Home, a shelter for women and children run by the City Mission in Cleveland. "You can definitely give back in times like this," Melanie told CNN. The couple tied the knot in front of immediate family in their backyard, then went to Laura's Home, where they added face masks and gloves to their wedding attire. Rich Trickel, CEO of the City Mission, said it was "really unbelievable, especially when you think of many of our clients, the women and kids that are in our building, possibly have never been at a wedding like that before."

CNN