Feel Good Stories Can Make Good, Too...

Here's yet another example of how so-called soft news stories can make a difference.

Last week I wrote a Monday Merced Matters profile of Jillian Garcia, a 7-year-old who's raising money to help kids with cancer.

Jillian doesn't have cancer, nor does anyone in her family. But she somehow got the idea that kids with cancer need help. Better yet, she decided to take action. She's making necklaces to sell to raise money for her effort.

The story only took a couple of hours to report and write, but it paid off for Jillian.

A man who read the story, Ken Riggleman, dropped off three giant containers of beads for Jillian at the Sun-Star. Riggleman, himself a cancer survivor, said he picked up the beads at a garage sale a while back. When he read about Jillian, he knew he had found the beads' rightful home.

I know he's not the only one who wants to help out Jillian. Several readers posted comments on the story and e-mailed me about it.

If you want to help this exceptional little girl, you can reach her through her dad, Robert Garcia. His email address is rfgarcia209@yahoo.com. I also have his cell phone number, readers can write to me at lalbrecht@mercedsun-star.com if they want it.

In the interest of full disclosure, I have to admit that yesterday when Jillian visited the Sun-Star to pick up the beads Mr. Riggleman donated, she gave me my own version of a Jillian-made necklace. It's a pretty white bead necklace that has five lettered beads. They spell out the word "PRESS." I'm making it my new press pass, and my personal reminder that feel-good stories can make good things happen.

Here's the original story for anyone who missed it: http://www.mercedsunstar.com/167/story/355920.html