Skip to content
  • Happy Health
  • Happy Mindset
  • Animal Wonders
  • About Us
    • Team
  • Subscribe
Menu
  • Happy Health
  • Happy Mindset
  • Animal Wonders
  • About Us
    • Team
  • Subscribe
Happy News

From Empty Gum Wrapper to National Movement Helping 100 Kids

In 2013, Brian Martindale was down to his last piece of gum, so he took a simple walk to Liberty Food Store in Bay City, Michigan, to buy more. Inside the store, he picked up a copy of The Bay City Times and saw something that would change his life forever: a front-page photo of a 10-year-old girl in a princess dress named Jessica Schwerin, whose mother was desperately seeking a kidney donor. Even though he had never met Jessica or her family, Martindale felt an overwhelming compulsion to help, and within months he donated his kidney to the little girl who would eventually become like a daughter to him.

That life-changing moment opened his eyes to the thousands of children waiting for kidney transplants across the country, inspiring him to found the nonprofit Kidneys for Kids in 2022. Since then, Martindale has driven over 25,000 miles across America in his “Driving for Life” initiative, literally circling the earth in his quest to connect 100 kidney donors with 100 children in need. Reflecting on that fateful day, he says if he hadn’t run out of gum and made that walk to the store, he never would have seen Jessica’s story. What started as a simple craving for chewing gum has grown into a national movement that’s giving children across America a second chance at life.

PrevPreviousThe Glowing Comeback That’s Bringing Joy to Summer Evenings
NextScientists Transform Nature’s Most Dangerous Weapons Into MedicineNext

Recent Articles

Happy News

A New Lord Of The Rings Movie Is In The Works, Written by Stephen Colbert

March 26, 2026

This is not a drill. Warner Bros. has announced that Stephen Colbert, one of the most famously devoted Tolkien fans on the planet, is developing a brand new Lord of the Rings film alongside his son and screenwriter Peter McGee. The announcement dropped in a video that opened with director

Read More
Happy News

A Teen Just Solved A Huge Microplastic Problem

March 26, 2026

Mia Heller is 18 years old, lives in Warrington, Virginia, and has invented a water filter that removes 96 percent of microplastics from drinking water using a magnetic oil and a clever self-recycling system she built herself in her garage and kitchen. The idea started when her local newspaper reported

Read More
Happy News

Science Just Explained Why Music Makes You Feel Closer To People

March 26, 2026

Most people feel it but cannot fully explain it: the way a song playing in a room seems to pull people closer together, the way a shared playlist can make strangers feel briefly like they know each other. A new study from Yale School of Medicine has now provided one

Read More
« Previous Next »
  • Privacy Notice
  • Accessibility Notice
  • Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information
  • Unsubscribe
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Privacy Notice
  • Accessibility Notice
  • Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information
  • Unsubscribe
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
Copyright © 2026 HappyNews.