Clowns Without Borders takes laughter to conflict zones

Good News Notes: “Born in 1993 from the belief that laughter can ease pain, Clowns Without Borders International sends jokesters, mimes and circus specialists to refugee camps, conflict zones and sites of historical tragedies around the world. Performances have taken place at schools, town squares, ferry terminals, bus stops, beaches and underground shelters, said Naomi Shafer,…

Peder Cho Upcycles Designer Bags Into Just About Anything

Good News Notes: “Got an old Louis Vuitton bag lying around? Do you secretly wish it were a pair of sandals? Fret not, because a new TikTok designer can totally transform it for you. Peder Cho is a 29-year-old designer based in Los Angeles who is turning designer bags into just about anything—from shoes to bikinis. “My business is…

UMass Medical School drama therapy mental illness patients

Good News Notes: “In the play “Lost & Found,” there is a king, a queen, a princess and a wise man. The characters are reading the lines on their scripts. But those “actors” are not real actors from a drama series.   They are a group of people struggling with mental illness who are either stuck in the dark or in the process of recovery, going through a…

SU alum Taye Diggs surprises Rochester school with $82,500 donation

Good News Notes: “Syracuse University alumnus Taye Diggs never forgets his roots. The award-winning actor surprised the School of the Arts (SOTA) in Rochester with a $82,500 donation on Wednesday, according to the Democrat & Chronicle. Diggs, SOTA’s most famous graduate, appeared in a video call to tell faculty that they would each receive up to…

Shawn Mendes on How Meditation Has Transformed His Relationship

Good News Notes: “Back in 2019, during some downtime from his relentless schedule after releasing his chart-topping, Grammy-nominated third album, Shawn Mendes found himself in the U.K. with a rare moment to reflect. While his girlfriend, the similarly chart-topping Camila Cabello, was working in the studio every day, she recommended he download the Calm app as a means of helping…

PowerZ raises $8.3 million for its video game focused on education

Good News Notes: “French startup PowerZ has raised another $8.3 million (€7 million at today’s exchange rate) including $1.2 million (€1 million) in debt — the rest is a traditional equity round. The company is both an edtech startup and a video game studio with an ambitious goal — it wants to build a game that is…

Yale drama school to stop charging tuition after receiving $150 million donation

Good News Notes:  “Yale University’s drama school will stop charging tuition for its students starting in August after receiving a $150 million donation. The donation came from philanthropist David Geffen, the drama school said in a statement. It’s the largest donation on record in the history of American theater. The donation also makes the school the…

Why Upcycling Clothes Is The Hottest Trend You Can Do This Summer

Good News Notes: “‘Sustainability‘ is, without question, the biggest buzzword in fashion at the moment. But with the threat of ‘greenwashing’ – using eco and sustainable terminology without doing the work to ensure verifiable benefit to the planet – on the rise, consumers are having to become more savvy about interrogating their purchases. Upcycling clothes that already exist is…