Photo: Randy Sartin/Max Preps By Patti Putnicki Byrdstown, Tennessee seems like a tiny blip on the radar. It has a population of around 800, a total area of just 1.5 square miles, and very little wealth. In fact, an estimated 28 percent of its residents live below the poverty level. To an outsider, it seems like the [...]
(Jillian Loyden spreading some light for people engulfed in darkness) Purpose 2 Play staffer Brittany Alvarado was out helping former pro soccer star Jillian Loyden last week doing video work for Loyden's annual Breaking the Silence gala. Loyden lost her sister, Britton, to domestic violence in 2012, and has since created the Jillian Loyden Foundation. The foundation aims [...]
Photo courtesy of Christiaan Bailey By Rachel Afraimi For Christiaan “Otter” Bailey, 33, surfing and skateboarding were his life and his profession. However, things changed in 2006 when Bailey suffered a devastating injury while filming a skate video at Derby Skate Park in Santa Cruz, California. "I was completing footage for a skate video and I landed [...]
By Matt Petrero After a 20-year illustrious career in the NFL, legendary quarterback and sure-fire first ballot Hall of Famer Brett Favre hasn't backed down from the hustle and bustle. He's no longer leaving footprints on the turf, but he is leaving footprints on the world beyond football. We had the opportunity to chat with Favre, who now sits on [...]
(Photo courtesy of Will Schmidt) By Julie Huynh When you get a flesh wound, the immediate reaction is to triage the wound, assess the severity of the injury, and take appropriate steps to provide the best outcome for healing. Well, what happens when your injury is internal and you are unable to see that you are wounded? How [...]
By Matt Petrero Unless you live under a rock, you know that social media (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc.) is all the rage these days. It can be a very powerful tool for the good. It provides the means to get information in real time, network ideas and contacts, and get your product out to the world en mass; kinda like [...]
(Jill Loyden is pictured with her nephew Madden. Loyden's sister Britton, Madden's mother, was murdered in February 2012, and Loyden has created a foundation to help children as well as the Break The Silence Gala to raise awareness of domestic violence. Photo: NJ.com) Here are our top five stories from October that are definitely worth another look. 5. Activist Shannon [...]
Photo: Veteran Expeditions/Facebook By Kim Constantinesco Serving in the U.S. Armed Forces undoubtedly requires sacrifice, loyalty, and courage among many other endearing qualities, but it's resilience that best helps servicemen and servicewomen carry on and accept a new reality once their military careers are over. To help ease the military-to-post military transition, Veteran Expeditions aims to build [...]
(Photo courtesy of Ira Edwards) What happens when doing a service for others turns into a permanent disservice for yourself? Unfortunately, Ira Edwards, 39, knows first hand. The Anchorage, Alaska resident was working as a park ranger in 2010 clearing leaning and hazardous trees on one of the ski trails at the Nancy Lake State Recreation area when [...]
Photo courtesy of Nik Wallenda By Kim Constantinesco Balance in life is a slippery slope for everyone, but what if you had no room for error? That's the challenge that professional tightrope walker Nik Wallenda faces every time he walks, whether it's on a wire above Niagra Falls or over the Grand Canyon. On November 2, Wallenda [...]