Food Pantry Van And Food Stolen Day Before Thanksgiving

It’s been extremely busy for the past couple of days at the Manna Food Center on Gaither Road in Montgomery County, Md.

“Today, we have over 350 people picking up food here,” said Executive Director Kim Damion.

So it was particularly hard to take what awaited staff and volunteers when they showed up for work Tuesday morning. One of their vans was gone.

"This is our busiest time of year," Damion said. "We really require all of our fleet to get out there and pick all of the donations that we have."

The van is distinctively marked with the Manna Food Center logo on the sides -- and fortunately, it was located in Rockville Tuesday afternoon.

The thieves also made off with some food from another truck at the Gaither Road facility.

"I really don’t know about people nowadays," said Audrey King, as she picked up food for herself and her disabled son. "I’ve been coming here for years. It’s really a big help."

Trung Vu said he heard that the center was low on turkeys so he went out and bought a trunk-load of frozen birds for the center. When told of the theft, he called it "absolutely horrible." As he unloaded turkeys from his car, he added, "We should all pull together."

Volunteer Joseph Harris found a silver lining, noting that no one has been injured. Still, the work they do at the center was going to be a little harder without the van.

"I mean, Manna’s here to serve the community," Damion said. "When they steal from Manna Food Center, they’re stealing from all of our residents here."
click to read original article from NBC Washington.com

Purple Sweet Potato Pies May Possibly Help Fight Cancer Says One Professor

click to read full story from KTKA.com
Manhattan — Manhattan - Many K-State fans say they bleed purple, but soon they may be baking purple too.

New research at the university is studying whether pies baked with purple sweet potatoes can reduce the risk of cancer.

George Wang is a human nutrition professor at K-State who studies cancer prevention through dietary means. He is also leading the Purple Pride Sweet Potato Pie project, which stems from a project years ago.

These purple holiday concoctions all started with a K-State horticulturist named Ted Carey who got seeds from purple sweet potato parent plants from the potato center's germplasma bank in Peru. He stuck those seeds in Kansas soil and those potatoes gave Wang an idea.

"We think this special purple sweet potato is much higher in anthocyanins and may have potential cancer prevention," Wang said.


Anthocyanin is a pigment associated with reduced risk of cancer and higher levels are found in the purple sweet potatoes.

The idea to use the potatoes in a pie came from a student.

"Most of the sweetness comes from the natural color, so we actually cut in half the sugar used in a normal pie and whoever you’re testing, they still tell you it’s really sweet from the natural phytochemicals," Wang said.

Wang sees this as not only an opportunity to reduce the risk of cancer, but also to help out Kansas farmers.

Mother And Father Give Kidneys To Their Daughter So She Can Survive

DALLAS — In the sterile light of a surgical suite, doctors know what a kidney looks like.In her room at Methodist Dallas Medical Center, Christy Wade knows what one looks like, too.Her family.

"I'm so blessed," she said. "It's the hardest for me, because it's just so amazing that I have such a wonderful family — An extended family."

Wade has a chronic kidney disorder. Ten years ago, her father, Billy Lee, gave her one of his kidneys so she could live.

This year, that kidney started failing.

Her mother Miriam was first in line to donate one of hers.

"First I was able to give her life, and now I've been able to give her life for the second time," Miriam Lee said, "and that means so much to me."

click to read original article from WFAA.com

Pastor Becomes Homeless To Reach Out To Those In Need

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - A local pastor will be back on Buffalo streets this week for his annual sleep-out to raise awareness about homelessness.

For 12 years now, Pastor Eric Johns of the Buffalo Dream Center has been spending several days on the streets of Buffalo to raise awareness about the plight of the homeless.

Reverend Johns will sleep outside and in shelters starting Monday and through Saturday. He will eat in soup kitchens and spend time with those who live on the streets. This is tied to his Boxes of Love campaign, which has a goal this year of providing food to 3,000 families and giving 5,000 wrapped Christmas gifts to needy children.

click to read original article from WIVB.com

Texas Teacher Suspended For Spanking Students

McKINNEY, Texas - Some parents believe in spanking their children. Others don’t. But what happens when teachers are accused of spanking students?

Bill and Stephanie Pappas said their 6-year-old son is afraid to go back to Reuban Johnson Elementary School because he told them his teacher spanks children regularly.

The Pappas are the first to admit that if any of their four children are unruly, Mom or Dad will discipline them.

“If a teacher were to come to me and tell me he’s doing this in class I can’t control him, he’d be put in time out or he would get a spanking if it warranted it,” Stephanie Pappas said.

But the couple is irate over the teacher spanking their son and other children, allegedly in front of the class. And their son told them the spankings will only get worse after Thanksgiving.

The Pappas spoke to the school’s principal.

A McKinney Independent School District spokesman said “the teacher in question is on administrative leave and is not allowed back on campus until the investigation into this incident is complete. We don’t tolerate spanking or any kind of corporal punishment.”

click to read original story from MyFoxFW.com

U.S. Aircraft Carrier Strike Group Sets Off For Korean Waters After North Korea Attacks

North Korea's attack on a South Korean island appears to be tied to the leadership succession, a top U.S. military official said Wednesday, as the elderly and frail Kim Jong Il prepares to hand control of his regime to his son.

Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in an interview on "The View" that Kim is generating these kinds of high-profile and dangerous confrontations to coincide with the ascension of his 27-year-old son to power.

Mullen said the United States is working with its South Korean and Japanese allies and also looking to China to exert its influence. The State Department said Wednesday that the administration wants China to restrain the North from further provocative acts. Spokesman P.J. Crowley, calling China "pivotal," said U.S. diplomats sent the message to Chinese officials in Washington and Beijing that the country has to make clear to Pyongyang that its actions are not acceptable.

The deadly strike on the tiny island came just six weeks after the North Korean leader unveiled his youngest son Kim Jong Un as his heir apparent. Analysts described the attack, which followed a claim that the country has a new uranium enrichment facility, as a cry for attention at a critical juncture.

Recent reports show the damage on the South Korean side to be worse than previously thought. Rescuers found the burned bodies Wednesday of two civilians. That was after two South Korean marines were killed and nearly 20 people were injured.

As South Korean troops remained on high alert and buildings continued to burn, a U.S. aircraft carrier strike group set off for Korean waters. President Obama called South Korean President Lee Myung-bak Tuesday night, saying the U.S. would work with the international community to strongly condemn the attack.

The White House said the two presidents agreed to hold combined military exercises and enhanced training in the days ahead to continue the close security cooperation between the two countries.

Obama described North Korea's attack as a "provocative" show of force that "needs to be dealt with."

"This is a -- just one more provocative incident in a series that we've seen over the last several months," Obama said in an interview with ABC, adding that he will be consulting with South Korea's president about their response. "We strongly condemn the attack, and we are rallying the international community to put pressure on North Korea."

He wouldn't comment on the likelihood of military action, but called it "a serious and ongoing threat that needs to be dealt with."

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/11/24/mullen-north-korean-attack-tied-leadership-succession/#ixzz16Egsuj55