Good News: Sherpas, Big Tips, and the World’s First Openly Gay President

Here are a few more Good News stories making the rounds . . .

1.  Just in time for Pride Month, the world’s first openly gay president was elected on Wednesday.  His name is Edgars Rinkevics.  He’s the new president of Latvia in northeast Europe.  He came out back in 2014.

2.  A Sherpa who guides people up Mount Everest recently saved a climber’s life after finding him stuck in a section near the summit called the “death zone.”  The guy was clinging to a rope and shivering from the cold.

It took six hours to get him down to a spot where he could be airlifted out.  And he couldn’t walk, so the Sherpa CARRIED him for a lot of it.  Experts say rescuing someone up that high is very rare, and “almost impossible.”  But the guy survived.

3.  This kid’s going places:  A 14-year-old in St. Louis named Xavier Jones walked six miles to get to his middle-school graduation last week.  And when someone at the graduation mentioned it, he got a standing ovation.

One of those people was Dr. Latonia Collins Smith, who’s the president of Harris-Stowe State University.  She was so impressed, she’s giving Xavier a FULL SCHOLARSHIP when he’s ready for college.

When they told him he was getting a “full ride,” he thought they just meant a ride to school.  They had to tell him it was much better than that.

4.  And here’s another kid who’s going places:  16-year-old Ryheem Lumpkins works as a cashier at a pizza place in Missouri, and doesn’t let his physical limitations keep him down.

He was born with a birth defect where both arms never fully formed.  But he has a great attitude and says he’s proud of who he is.

Back in April, a random customer named Robert Samay tipped him five bucks.  And cashiers don’t usually get tips, so he was really grateful for it.

And his great attitude obviously made an impression, because Robert decided to stop back in this week . . . to tip him an additional $2,500.

Ryheem says he’s been saving up for his first car.  Now he can get it a lot sooner than he planned.