It wasn’t all bad
■ Getting close to 30, BryanTsiliacos set a not-quite-midlife goal for himself: finish 30 major acts of kindness before his next birthday. The Bay Area 29-year-old has so far delivered 400 desserts to firefighters across San Jose and donated $12,000 worth of supply kits to Oakland middle schools.Tsiliacos, who is chronicling his acts on Instagram, hopes to inspire others to give back to their communities. “I realized that every wonderful thing that has happened to me,”Tsiliacos said, “was thanks to the support and generosity of others.”
■ Turkeys aren’t known for their cuteness, but Ellie Laks noticed that the snuggles she shared with the birds at her California animal sanctuary were surprisingly cathartic. So one Thanksgiving, she put up flyers advertising her turkeys’ cuddling services.The event attracted so many participants that Laks made it an annual tradition.Visitors tour the farm, feed turkeys cranberries and grapes, and of course, cuddle with them.The event, now expanded to rescue farms in Missouri andTennessee, benefits the birds, too. “The male turkeys love to strut and show off, and the females love to relax in our laps,” Laks said. “They’re living their best lives.”
■ The Crookshank family was devastated when their puppy, Penny Moo, went missing near Seattle several years ago.Then, a local Facebook group called “Lost Dogs of King County” sprung into action. Within 24 hours, the group’s founder, James Branson, had spotted Penny Moo, playing the Crookshanks’ voices with his cellphone speaker to help attract the lost puppy. It was far from the group’s first success: Among its 34,000 members, volunteers hang posters, monitor Facebook posts, and conduct in-person sweeps to achieve a stunning 92 percent success rate.