Good News Thursday: Nebraska pizza restaurant gives 700 free Easter meals to those in need, Homeless woman buys new bike for 3-year-old, Facebook reunites daughter, father after 25 years

Nebraska pizza restaurant gives 700 free Easter meals to those in need

(WXYZ, CNN)

Owners of Nebraska diner DaVinci’s brought back an Easter tradition after a 3-year pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They put together more than 700 free Easter meals to give to those in need.

“We feel very strongly as a Christian family about giving back to Lincoln and supporting the community,” Kelly Knudson, DaVinci’s owner, said. “I know some of the families who’ve been coming in for years, so when I see them again, it’s like super amazing because I haven’t seen them in three years,” Olivia Knudson said. 

The event was made possible by more than 60 volunteers and family members who prepared and served meatballs and pizza.

Homeless woman buys new bike for 3-year-old

Will Fuller-Wright, a 3-year-old from Maine, was thrilled when he received his very first bike.

Fuller-Wright’s red and blue Spiderman bike was stolen and he was devastated and to his mother’s surprise, a homeless woman gifted him a brand new one. 

“We went to Walgreens. We stopped and put his bike on the sidewalk and decided to give him a little candy treat … we came out, and the bike wasn’t there,” Will’s mother Liz said.

A woman living in her car, who preferred to remain anonymous, noticed the Rockland Police Station’s Facebook post about the theft. 

“I cried. I worried about what that little boy would be growing up and be thinking about the world. I went to Walmart, and I purchased the one and only bike, got him the helmet, and the lock. And then I took it to Rockland,” she said.

The Midcoast Recovery Coalition is accepting donations for the woman in order to show their gratitude.

Facebook reunites daughter, father after 25 years

Jordyn O’Neil, a 25-year-old mother, received help from countless strangers on Facebook after making a post about looking for her dad.

O’Neil’s mother passed away when she was just 10 years old, and her father’s name was unknown to her.

“I didn’t have any information on him growing up. No one would give me his name. I didn’t have pictures. I didn’t have anything,” O’Neil said. “I’ve actually been wondering about him my entire life. You know, I knew I was adopted at a young age.

After receiving old pictures of her parents from her grandmother’s sister, Jordyn took the pictures to social media, where several members of the Downriver and Friends Facebook group recognized and know her dad, Brian Ahern. 

Brian raised Jordyn as a single father until she was 8 months old. “I hoped that someday she’d find me or I’d find her,” he said, happy to learn he is a grandfather. “I got the whole package right away, didn’t I?”