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Good News Thursday: Anonymous donor gifts $500K to dog shelter after burglary, Volunteers spend MLK holiday sorting book donations for African children, Wisconsin family builds 58-foot snowman

Anonymous donor gifts $500K to dog shelter after burglary

(WXYZ, CNN Newsource)

After a Detroit non-profit dog shelter was broken into last week, an anonymous donor gifted the shelter $500,000 to put towards better security. The shelter is home to more than 45 dogs.

'This week we had our worst nightmare occur, we got broken into for the fourth time, but unfortunately this time they took my dogs, they took four of them,” Judie Jones, Director of Make A Difference Rescue, said. The dogs have since been found and returned safely.

The money will help the shelter replace the privacy fence which was taken down during the robbery, install new floodlights and more. They hope to soon relocate in order to build a bigger and safer home for their dogs to play in.

Volunteers spend MLK holiday sorting book donations for African children

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Books are sorted into boxes before Georgia volunteers prepare to ship them off to countries in Africa. The books were gathered during a Martin Luther King. Jr. Day volunteer event to help improve child literacy. (WXIA, CNN Newsource)

Volunteers in Georgia spent the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday packing books thousands of books to send to Africa to help improve child literacy.

Books for Africa is a nonprofit organization that collects book donations from different communities and donates them to children in African countries. 'Literacy is a bridge out of poverty. Education is the great equalizer,' organization member Jen Hale said. 'If you can get a better education, you can improve your circumstances, and that's very true in rural Africa where there just isn't much access to education.'

The organization hopes to not only improve literacy around the world, but put smiles on their faces.

Wisconsin family builds 58-foot snowman

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'Jeffrey' the 58-foot snowman towers over the trees of Milltown, Wisconsin. The snowman is made of 166,000 pounds of snow. (CNN Newsource)

Craig Carlson and his sons have continued the family winter tradition this year — building a massive snowman. This year’s snowman “Jeffrey” is the highlight of Milltown, Wisconsin.

The snowman is packed with 166,000 pounds of snow, and crane assistance was needed to top him with a hat. Two trees were used for the arms instead of sticks.

The name “Jeffrey” was chosen to honor Carlson’s late brother Jeff, and has secured the attention and the hearts of the community. Carlson and his sons hope to create an even bigger snowman next year.