Welcome back to Positive DONUT! Did everyone get a chance to check out yesterday's solar eclipse? Here in NYC, I'm pretty sure the whole city collectively stopped and looked like this for a few moments: 

I hope you had a fantastic week and are ready for another edition of positive news and wellness tips to get you through your Tuesday. Let me know which sections are your favorite; I love hearing from you! 

- Kailyn 🥰

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today's newsletter should take ~3.27 minutes to read (872 words).

P.S. First time reading? Subscribe here for free. 

I am doing the very best I can, and that is more than enough.

French entrepreneur Yann Bucaille-Lanreza can remember the exact moment Theodore, a young boy on the autism spectrum, asked him for a job.

They were on a cruise for people with special needs, when the eager young man popped the question to Yann. "You don’t understand," said a determined Theodore, "I know I have a disability that can be useful. I want to have a job like you.”

That was the first spark of a chain reaction. Yann couldn't seem to get that conversation with Theodore out of his head. He realized this community of people needed more than just a cruise vacation; they needed opportunities to thrive in the real world. 

• Thus, Café Joyeux was born. It's a bustling coffee shop and cafe founded by Yann that solely recruits individuals with cognitive and intellectual disabilities, giving opportunities to those who otherwise might not have them. 
• The latest location in the chain just opened in New York City's Upper East Side on World Down Syndrome Day.

Yann has been blown away by his employee's dedication, drive, and gratitude for their jobs. “They [the intellectually disabled community] are capable. We want to show to the world that it’s possible,” he told the NY Post. “It’s to have them be part of society, be part of the game, have a role to play.”

• For many of the employees, Café Joyeux is their first job. They are all cross-trained for multiple positions, including cashiers, servers, baristas and dishwashers.
• One thing that general manager Shray Campbell has noticed is her team's excitement and eagerness to come to work every day. Many of them have never been given a chance like this before, and Café Joyeux has provided them with independence and some financial freedom.
•  “They want to work so hard,” she shared. “So you want to help them and we always make new goals for them so they’re learning new things.

🥹 Bottom line: The ultimate goal of the business is to shift society’s perspective on disabilities, per the NY Post – and Yann believes the Big Apple is the place to do that. “New York is the city of success, the city of pride, the city of diversity,” he said, adding that many different people come in for coffee and “we can prove to them that it’s possible.”

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Because you get a bike! And YOU get a bike! And YOU get a bike!

Well, kinda... Wheels for Winners is a nonprofit organization in Madison, Wisconsin, with the simple mission of "providing bicycles to individuals experiencing challenges in their daily lives who perform community service." 

• The organization collects used bikes and repairs them to nearly new standards. It does not waste a single bike that comes into its possession. 

🚴‍♂️ Give back, get a bike. The bicycles often go to young people in poverty-stricken communities. The concept? Have the person in need of a bike volunteer ten hours of their time at any organization or program that serves the Madison community, then walk out with a new set of wheels. 

• “What we’re trying to do here is allow young people that might not be able to afford a bike to have a bike with just a little bit of sweat equity,” said Chairman of the Board Neil McCallum.

🙏 Unlikely hero... Westpac bank teller Marlena Karbowski became one customer's guardian angel when she caught a money scam over a simple conversation, preventing the woman from potentially losing millions.

🌞 The power of positivity... I loved this article about the impact of a "negativity cleanse," or intentionally removing some sources of stress and/or negativity from your life for a set amount of time (spoiler alert: it can be pretty impactful on your overall well-being). Read it for yourself here.  

🌷 Moved to tears... Happy spring! I couldn't help but smile at this precious video of a young girl finally seeing the outcome of her hard work in the garden. Just more proof that hard work really does pay off💓.

I don't know about you, but over the past month-and-a-half I've been busier than a worker bee with all of its colleagues out on strike.

Whether you're making moves at work, making progress in the house, or making plans with friends you haven't seen since fall, spring is sure to be a season of new beginnings and busy times. But as exciting as they are, busy times can often come with burnout and overwhelm.

• If you could use a refresh to slow down this busy season, try out this quick five-minute recentering meditation. You’ll be surprised how much better it makes you feel❤️.

Refresh, recenter, refocus: try it out.

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Welcome to my favorite part of the newsletter, What's Your Win, where we celebrate all of the good news happening right here in our Positive DONUT community. Check out the submissions we received this week! 

❤️ Dawn A. from Elk Grove Village is committing to better health...

• "I've changed my mind about having bariatric surgery done and have instead restarted my commitment to changing my lifestyle back to where I was several years ago. Back to KETO and adaptive exercise (I have spinal stenosis) and trying to get more sleep. I need to give it one more go on my own before getting outside help."

☀️ Brian W. from Los Angeles, California, has exciting things on his horizon...

• "Getting my 5th tattoo in five months this week, then going to Taiwan end of the month and getting LASIK start of May!! Then going to a rave every month til November😇."

🫂 Lu P. from Huntington Beach, California, is honored to be there for her friend...

• "I spent time with my best friend from college, who has been diagnosed with cancer. We were able to talk about death, fears, goals, and the unknown. How many people can you truly bare your soul to? I felt honored to be there for her and to help examine our life and death."

🍼 Buck S. from Chico, California, is ready to step into his grandpa shoes...

• "My wife and I are getting up there close to retirement age and were thinking that we would probably never be grandparents, but our youngest and his wife just announced that they are expecting in August. It will be the first new baby in our extended family in more than 27 years. We are all very excited."

Whether you just had an energizing conversation with a friend, went on an exciting first date, or simply woke up feeling extra grateful for the little things in life, we want to hear about it.

Nothing is too insignificant to share. And who knows? Sharing that bit of positivity from your own life could inspire someone else to recognize the good in theirs. 

• Submit your wins here for a chance to be featured in next week's newsletter. Big or small, we want to celebrate you! 

Share your accomplishments here, or simply reply to this email and let me know your wins.

👆 Check out the referral prizes you can get, just for introducing people you know to little old us. 

What to do: Copy your unique link below, then send it to anyone who you think would like Positive DONUT. Once you hit each milestone, you'll get an email with a link to claim your prize.

Start referring.👇

Hit that reply button and let me know, I read every response. Have a great week!🥰

–Kailyn

P.S. Enjoying this newsletter and want to support my work? It'd mean the world if you told a friend or two about Positive DONUT. You can even win sweet, sweet prizes for each person you refer using your unique link (found one section above).

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