I can’t believe it’s here: our final Positive DONUT of the year.

Here’s to a happy holiday season, no matter what you celebrate. I’ll see you back here in the New Year with more good news to kick off 2026! Thank you so much for a wonderful year of Positive DONUT, it means the world to have supportive readers like you.

–Kailyn

Ready, Set, Go: Today’s newsletter should be a ~3.73 minute read (991 words).

+Note: We’ll be off until January 6.

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I am worthy of all the good things life has to offer.

Harold “Hal” Yoak spends 365 days a year in his workshop, building wooden toys and trinkets for the holiday season. At 100 years old, he’s showing no signs of slowing down—and he has too many toys to finish, anyway.

Hal’s modest workshop hums with life in Garden Grove, CA. Wood shavings coat the floor, paint bottles crowd the shelves, and brightly colored toys line every available surface. Ducks that waddle; dinosaurs on wheels; tiny helicopters, and cheerful noisemakers. Each one is made entirely by hand, by a man who’s been shaping wood—and meaning—for nearly a century.

Hal’s life has unfolded across eras. Born in Ohio, he learned woodworking early, later serving in the US Navy during World War II as part of Operation Magic Carpet, which helped bring millions of servicemen home.

• He became a schoolteacher after the war and eventually moved to California, where Hal taught high school by day and carved by night

Before retirement, Hal turned memories into art. He crafted walking canes etched with the stories of people’s lives for customers around the world. These days, his focus is simpler: toys that make people smile.

Every December, Hal’s garage transforms into a tiny holiday storefront. This year has been his busiest yet: not because of profits—he laughs about earning just over $100 in tips—but because of the people that keep coming. Parents. Neighbors. Curious strangers. All drawn in by something increasingly rare: a person who loves what they do, and keeps doing it simply for the joy of it.

• Hal has known love and loss. His wife, whom he still beams about, passed away in 2014.
• Since then, the garage has been both a refuge and rhythm. “365 days a year,” he says, “I’ll probably be sitting out here making toys.”

Asked for the secret to a long life, 100-year-old Hal jokes that he’d sell it if he knew. But standing among hand-carved joy, the answer feels obvious: keep making things, especially stuff that makes others happy.

This holiday season, consider a different kind of giving: funding a veteran's recovery journey.

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2,500+ veterans have already transformed their lives. 100+ more are waiting. Your tax-deductible donation gets them off the waitlist and into life-changing support.

Families in Columbia, Missouri, celebrated Hanukkah this year with a little extra creativity, and a lot of LEGO bricks.

• A towering seven-foot-high LEGO menorah lit up City Hall, while kids delighted in hundreds of chocolate coins dropping from a local fire department ladder truck.

🍪 Home bakers around the world recently whipped up 83,000+ cookies in a bid to break a world record. The effort was organized by Pennsylvania resident Laura Mangone, who hopes to earn the title of world’s largest Christmas cookie exchange.

🎄 At The Boys and Girls Club in Panama City, FL, Christmas season starts in August. The club plans and organizes a Christmas tree lot with 500+ trees to raise funds for the nonprofit organization, thanks to volunteers with big hearts who make it happen.

🔬 When the original tree of Christmas Tree Lane—a 100-year-old holiday tradition in Fresno, CA—started to wilt, scientists stepped in with a little holiday magic. Cuttings from the original tree were sent to a drafter in Oregon, who made 80 clone saplings to be brought back to the California holiday staple.

Do the holidays have you feeling a bit like this?

While it's the most wonderful time of the year, it can also be the time with the most burnout.

If you could use a minute to slow down amid this often busy season, try out this quick five-minute recentering meditation. Try playing it out loud while wrapping gifts or prepping for a holiday party as an active meditation; you’ll be surprised how much better it makes you feel. ❤️

Refresh, recenter, refocus: try it out here.

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25% off waterfront suites at Rocky Point Island, Tampa Bay ($127/night)… $15 daily credit. Minutes from downtown and airport. Book here by 12/31.

Welcome to What’s Your Win, the section of the newsletter where we take some time to celebrate all of the good news happening right here in our DONUT community. Big or small, there’s always something to celebrate.

Check out the wins this week!

🍩 Mel G from St Louis, MO is committing to this simple daily habit…

• “My win, daily is reading the DONUT and The Hustle! This is my time just to relax and let the emails come in while I enjoy my coffee each morning. Thank you.”

✈️ One anonymous subscriber is checking destinations off her bucket list…

• “I finally made it to Paris! One more bucket list item checked off. Because LIFE is a bucket list! And every day is an opportunity to do something unique and different, no matter where you are.”

🏠 Another anonymous subscriber is creating a sense of home in a new place…

• “I made a big move last year to a new town/area, but as excited as I was about the move, it was harder on me than I expected. I was starting over (again), but determined to make it work for the long-haul. I struggled with lots of loneliness and some feelings of isolation (I work from home and I’m introverted), but with the encouragement and nudging from my great therapist, I continued to seek activities that align with my interests and stuck with them even when I didn’t feel enthusiastic about them. Now, 8 months later, I am solidly attending music lessons and I joined a chorus and amateur orchestra. I also took a few pottery lessons and I’m now a member of the studio and meeting a few new pals each week. It has taken quite the effort for me to put myself out there in the world, no question, but I am starting to feel more a part of this community and look forward to the future instead of feeling doubtful and hopeless about it.”

🤩Sam C from Ypsilanti, Michigan is enjoying retirement…

• “I have just retired. No more putting up with bosses with big egos and corporations monopolizing my time plus I got to retire early at the age of 59. I am free ... freeee ... FREEEE!!!”

Even if you've been celebrated before, we'd love to keep receiving good news from you, so please don't hesitate to participate!

Note: Some responses have been slightly edited for length/clarity

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1. Who wrote the classic Christmas carol ‘Feliz Navidad’?

• Luis Fonsi
• Juan Gabriel
• José Feliciano

2. In the movie Elf, what department store does Buddy get a job at?

• Gimbels
• Macy’s
• Bloomindales’s

3. What deep-fried potato treats are typically eaten around Hanukkah?

• Matzo balls
• Latkes
• Hashbrowns

4. When did party goers first celebrate New Year’s Eve in NYC’s Times Square?

• 1904
• 1918
• 1932

(Keep scrolling for the answers)

In this crazy day-and-age, nothing positive is too small to celebrate. And who knows? A little bit of positivity and support may be just what's needed to help someone else power through some tough times.

Feel free to share even the simplest achievements with us, we promise to be your biggest hype-people🤝😎.

Share your everyday wins and accomplishments with us here. 

1. José Feliciano
2. Gimbels
3. Latkes
4. 1904