🍞 We’re like a side of garlic bread…

🩸 Be A Match. If you’d never heard of an organization called Be The Match, you might think it was a dating service. That would be one reason for a rebrand, but it turns out there’s a much better one.

Be The Match focused on achieving a perfect match between blood and bone marrow donors and recipients. Until recently, it was believed that there were certain genetic characteristics that all needed to match in order to ensure greater efficacy of transplants. But a recent study has changed that line of thinking, illustrating that - when post-transplant treatment is utilized - there’s “no discernible difference in overall survival from blood cancers using a 7/8 donor compared to a fully matched 8/8 donor.”

The effectiveness of a partial match is huge news - it significantly boosts the odds of patients successfully finding a suitable donor, potentially as much as three-fold in some cases. Previously, when it was believed a full match was necessary, certain demographics and ethnicities faced a lower than 50% chance of finding that person.

With that new and exciting reality in mind, “Be The Match” no longer communicated the right message. “The” implies a singularity and a rarity, when really, the possibilities for life-saving transplants are suddenly far wider. The organization is now known as the National Marrow Donor Program or NMDP.

No, it’s not quite as catchy, but in this case, it seems the reasons for the rebrand are ones we can all celebrate.

 🥡 Well wishes, delivered. Modern food delivery is the most impersonal exchange of money for food imaginable. We place our orders in an app without speaking to anyone, the restaurant prepares the food without speaking with us, and then a delivery driver drops the food on our doorstep without a word. Sometimes, that’s an incredible thing, but it’s also another way in which our human connectivity is diminished.

Turns out, though, that with a little extra thoughtfulness, we don’t have to lose that human connection, even if we don’t see or speak with another soul over the course of the process.

Here’s an old story that’s making the rounds again thanks to TikTok. One woman, feeling very sick, placed an order fourteen minutes before a restaurant’s closing time. Rather than just go about her business until it arrived, she thoughtfully wrote to them: “I’m sorry I’m ordering so late I’m very sick right now I just woke up I understand if you cancel BC you’re trying to close [the] store.”

No doubt, the restaurant gets countless orders near closing and dutifully fulfills them, but to receive a message acknowledging that it isn’t ideal goes a long way. In fact, it goes such a long way that a restaurant employee replied with a handwritten note of his own: “Thank you for the kind note. Don’t stress about ordering late, we don’t mind. Here‘s a free garlic bread to help you feel a bit better.”

Closing the wholesome loop, the customer then left a 5-star review praising the restaurant for its food and kindness. See how far a bit of humanity can take you? It can get you free garlic bread! And if there’s anything more capable of making somebody feel a bit better, I’m not aware of it.

Garlic bread FTW.

🌹 Forget flowers. We know: Miley Cyrus can buy herself flowers. But some people still want to receive them, Amy Brothers among them.

She was receiving care at a Nashville hospital but wasn’t allowed to have flowers in her room. That didn’t stop her son from finding a way to show he cared. Eight floors below her room, he etched one of the biggest get-well-soon cards you’ll ever see into the snow.

It really is the thought that counts….and it helps when that thought is expressed as enormously as possible.

💰 Turning bean bags into moneybags. You could make a strong case that cornhole is one of the last great American unifiers. Who doesn’t love a game of cornhole while the burgers and dogs are on the grill? Forget the tedious process of navigating the net scoring system. “No, actually it’s still 4-2, because we both had bags on the board so those net out,” the overly-competitive backyard games guy said to nobody in particular.

It’s simple: people just love throwing bean bags at a wooden board. But it turns out the game of cornhole can do a lot of good too.

Just ask the California Cornhole Association. The CCA is a business offering turnkey tournament operations for companies who want to host cornhole-related fundraisers. Raising funds for everything from military families to autism and breast cancer research, companies like Anrak Corporation have partnered with CCA to ensure the tournaments run smoothly. Because if there’s anything that’ll harsh the immaculate vibes of a few games of cornhole, it’s a poorly run tournament. Can’t have it. Won’t have it.

Over the last five years, CCA has raised more than $2 million for non-profits. Not bad for a few bean bags and some wooden boards. It just goes to show that when we find some common ground, the potential is enormous.

🚬 Fight for your right. There are similarities and differences between living now and living in 1908. Similar: there are rules against smoking in many public establishments. Different: the rules of 1908 barred public places from allowing specifically women to smoke in public establishments.

The law was called the Sullivan Ordinance, and it was enacted in New York City on January 21st of 1908. On January 22nd, a woman named Katie Mulcahey (who was actually smoking outdoors) was cited for breaking the ordinance and ordered to pay a $5 fine. When she refused to pay, she was arrested. Going before the judge, she defiantly stated “I’ve got as much a right to smoke as you have. I have never heard of this new law, and I don't want to hear about it."

Don’t like the law? Boom. Haven’t heard of it. Don’t want to. It’s the weekend, Budnick. I don’t know you, you do not exist. 

Two weeks later, the mayor vetoed the ordinance, bringing a swift end to a bizarre rule. All because Katie Mulcahey fought for her right to party. True story*: the Beastie Boys song was actually inspired by her defiance.

Smoking is, of course, bad for you, and pretty much nobody is allowed to do it in public establishments now. But at least we don’t live in a world where exclusively men are allowed to engulf uninterested women in clouds of smoke as they tell them they “look a lot like my next girlfriend.”

*Not true at all. But would be way cooler if it was.

🥶 Thawing the ice with a warm heart. Lucas Daggs was bored. And he owns a truck.

Those were the only two criteria he needed to spend the next several days helping people stuck on the side of the road in Middle Tennessee. Treacherous weather had wreaked havoc on the state’s roads, sending cars sliding into ditches. He estimates he’s used his truck to pull about 15 cars out of those ditches, while also giving rides home to another 10 to 15 people.

Boredom was all he needed to become a superhero. When I get bored, I just start snacking. Damn. Not even hungry half the time.

Speaking of which, people stuck in their cars in Louisiana probably got pretty hungry. Ice on a bridge kept dozens of cars stuck in place. If you’re unprepared - and really, most would be - that’s a nightmare scenario.

Among those isolated was Jessica Jernigan. But she wasn’t caught unprepared. Quite the opposite: she stays strapped with supplies, from food and water, to battery packs and an electric blanket. Recognizing the anxiety the situation might be causing others, she visited car after car to share clementines and cookies, offering a ray of warmth in an otherwise cold predicament.

Doesn’t take much to rescue someone from a bad dream come to life. Snacks do the trick nine times out of ten.

🗣️ Prolific public speaking. If you’re petrified of public speaking, there may be no better way to overcome your fear than to break the record recently set by Patrick O’Mara. The Alabama man gave 33 speeches in a 24-hour period, with 32 of those ratified by Guinness.

To break the record, O’Mara had to deliver a unique and unscripted speech lasting at least 10 minutes to an audience of at least 10 people in a venue with capacity to seat at least 50. Dude had to riff off the cuff more than 30 times! That sounds more like an Impractical Jokers punishment than a record achievement.

How did he come up with material for that many talks? He opened fortune cookies and looked to the fortunes as prompts. Have you seen fortune cookies lately?! The fortunes don’t say anything! They’re not even fortunes, mostly just sayings! How’s Pistol Pat supposed to riff for ten minutes on a fortune that says “You are not illiterate”?!

Not sure, but he did it. It’s the most pressure anybody’s delivered a speech under since Dwight brought down the house in front of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Salesperson Association.

We are warriors! Salesmen of north-eastern Pennsylvania, I ask you once more: Rise and be worthy of this historical hour!

🦁 The pride of the Lions. The Detroit Lions haven’t experienced much success over the past few decades. So their fans must be forgiven for relishing the sweet taste of victory on home turf. This fan’s particularly emotional celebration went viral after the Lions beat the Rams last weekend.

But it turns out his tears were well-founded in a moment that transcended a simple football triumph. The fan, Arron Wikaryasz, used to attend games with his dad, who passed away when Arron was just 14. Now an adult, Arron notes that he doesn’t feel as many moments of connection to his late father in day-to-day life. But when the Lions finally won, those feelings came flooding back as he thought about his dad and what the moment would’ve meant to them both.

Even in the absolute heartache of supporting a bad team, there are inevitably memories and emotions of intense humanity and beauty. Sometimes, it just takes a few wins to illuminate them.

❄️ Breaking tables and shoveling snow. Bills Mafia is perhaps the most notorious fanbase in American sports. While they’re known best for diving through folding tables and chugging beers, they’ll stop at nothing to ensure they get to play a role in their beloved Bills’ success.

Recently, Mother Nature has unleashed a deluge of snow on Buffalo, repeatedly burying the football stadium. Clearing a 70,000 seat stadium of snow is no easy feat. In fact, it’s a task fit for a village…or a mafia. When called upon to help, Bills Mafia delivers, showing up in droves to excavate their stomping grounds.

While the Bills paid $20 per hour to their loyal fans, you get the sense they wouldn’t need to. Because Bills Mafia is built different. Because a little community pride goes a long way. See for yourself:

🍔 Riding off into the sunset…and into the drive-thru. On Sunday night, Jason Kelce was in tears as he became immersed in the reality that his career was at its end. In an ultimately fruitless chase of a Super Bowl victory, Kelce pushed his body beyond its limits. When the clock hit zero on the Eagles’ season it signaled his inevitable retirement.

A guy might understandably want to wallow in the knowledge he’ll never play a game he loves again. But the next morning, Kelce wasn’t wallowing. Instead, he was spreading gratitude.

He spun through the McDonald’s drive-thru for breakfast (honestly, an excellent call to cure the blues), personally gifting a signed jersey to his favorite employee. It probably wasn’t his favorite morning of the year, but you can bet it was one of Danielle’s.

Not a bad way to start the rest of your life. Turns out he’s pretty good at being a fan in the stands too…