Latest news with #DanBell
Miami Herald
28-04-2025
- General
- Miami Herald
Miami Jewish community marks Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day
Hundreds of members of Miami's Jewish community and its allies gathered in Miami Beach to commemorate Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day on Sunday night. This year marks the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, the largest and deadliest Nazi concentration camp, ending a horrific chapter in human history. All in all, six million European Jews and people from other minorities were killed by the Nazis during the Holocaust. The program, held at Temple Emanuel-El and organized by the Holocaust Memorial Miami Beach, remembered the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust and honored the legacy of the dwindling number of survivors. The event showcased stories from survivors and from second, third and fourth-generation descendants who are continuing to educate the next generation on the consequences of hate. Currently, there are about 220,800 Holocaust survivors living in 90 countries around the world, with half residing in Israel and about 18 percent in North America, according to a new report from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, also referred to as the Claims Conference. The vast majority, 96 percent, are 'child survivors' who were born after 1928 and more than 1,400 Holocaust survivors are estimated to over 100 years old. Nearly 50 percent of all Holocaust survivors will pass away within the next 6 years, while 70 percent will pass away within 10 years, according to the report. As Holocaust survivors continue to age and pass away, events like the one at Temple Emanu-El become even more important, allowing the stories of survival to live on. This story was produced with financial support from Trish and Dan Bell and from donors comprising the South Florida Jewish and Muslim Communities, in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners. The Miami Herald maintains full editorial control of this work.
Miami Herald
04-03-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
To be a world-class city, Miami needs more world-class local journalism
Miami understands the preciousness of democracy in our soul. We are a community built by immigrants, many fled here from nations in crisis. We do not take the health of our country for granted. We also know that one of the hallmarks of a democratic, free and safe society is access to trustworthy local news. We know that communities that don't have a healthy local news landscape are at great risk – abuses go unchecked, corruption flourishes and residents remain in the dark. We know this, yet nationally, local news outlets are shutting their doors at a rate of two per week. If Miami is a world-class city, we need more world-class local journalism. While the Miami Herald and National Public Radio station WLRN continue to protect our community with award-winning journalism, the business model for the news industry has radically shifted with ad revenue going toward search engines and social media. The shock to the system has been hard to recover. At The Miami Foundation, we're taking up the charge as the home base for Press Forward, a national movement mobilizing philanthropists and communities across the country to make the future of local news a top priority. We also feel an urgency to build a thriving local movement right here at home that takes shared responsibility for journalism across our region. That's why, together with Coral Gables Community Foundation, Key Biscayne Community Foundation, Community Foundation of Broward, and Ocean Reef Community Foundation, we've launched Press Forward South Florida. Our mission is to strengthen the local news ecosystem across our region by engaging donors, funders and community leaders on the need for greater investment. Local philanthropists, big and small, have already begun directing some of their resources to keep crucial local coverage alive. Four Miami Herald reporting positions — two on climate, one on economic mobility, and one on faith — are supported by individuals and foundations including Trish and Dan Bell, Ken O'Keefe, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Florida International University, the Lynn and Louis Wolfson II Foundation and the David and Christina Martin Foundation, in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners. And the Esserman Family has been strengthening and honoring strong investigative journalism in South Florida through an annual Esserman-Knight Journalism Award, and a family fund for investigative journalism. These investments are vital, but we must go deeper to support a thriving journalism ecosystem. Every South Florida resident, regardless of where they live or what language they speak at home, deserves access to news and information about their community. At Press Forward South Florida, we are committed to hyperlocal reporting that lifts up our community's stories, shines a light on the information we all need and helps us build toward solutions and a more prosperous future together. If you're reading opinion articles like this one in your local paper, you are clearly part of the coalition of the willing — and we want you in the fight with us. Rebecca Fishman Lipsey is the president & CEO of The Miami Foundation. For more information about Press Forward, click here.
Yahoo
26-02-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
He Put a Snowball in His Freezer in 1987. His Mom Has Saved It All This Time (Exclusive)
Dan Bell was one of many kids captivated when a snowstorm dropped tons of snow on his neighborhood unexpectedly on Veteran's Day 1987 The early-season snow was something Bell wanted to remember, so he saved some snow in his freezer The snow, saved in the freezer in a quarter-machine pod inside two cups, has a bit of ice still remaining to this day A kid's fun snow day idea has the Internet talking. Dan Bell, a filmmaker and director, recently shared a true gem with his Instagram followers. In a cup living in the depths of his parents' freezer was a snowball from a November 1987 storm that he'd held onto for all these years. Bell tells PEOPLE he saved the snow from a memorable snowstorm on Veteran's Day 1987 that caused quite a stir in the the Baltimore area. "The idea came, first, from me being 10 years old. I just remember it wasn't even winter yet. It was still fall and we had this sort of freak storm happen where we were all stuck at school in elementary school. The snow was supposed to turn into rain and then it didn't," he recalls. "It just kept snowing. I live in the Baltimore area, so it's unusual to have a storm like that early in the season. It caused a lot of turmoil, so that's probably why I thought to keep the snow." Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Related: Mom Kept All of Her Kids' Childhood Toys. Now the Family Is Reorganizing Their Entire Collection (Exclusive) Bell also picked a vessel fitting of the specimen: a Kmart quarter machine toy pod. "There was this local Kmart that had these prize machines outside the front of the store. We would always put the quarters in and get the prizes and they came in these little plastic shells. I put the snow in one of those little plastic shells and put it in my parents' freezer, where it's stayed for all these years," he shares. Of course, Bell didn't always remember it was there. After a few years of being dedicated to keeping an eye on it, he forgot about the memento. However, "in the last few years, I asked my mom, 'Do you still have that snowball that I kept from 1987?' She said, 'I don't think so. I think we threw it away.' Then I went to their house and I opened the freezer and looked down at the bottom and there it was," Bell continues. "I was like, 'Oh my God!' I was like I was reunited with an old friend." That's when Bell decided to share his rediscovered treasure in a video shared on TikTok and Instagram. He thought his audience, used to his penchant for the nostalgic, would appreciate what's left of the snowball. "My local mall opened that same year. It's kind of weird because that mall is dead and then the little snow globe only has a tiny bit of ice left in it. So over a period of 37-plus years, it has slowly evaporated," he says. "I didn't really pay attention after I posted it, and then one of my viewers sent me a video that it had been reposted on YouTube and had like 20 or 30 million views. Then I saw it go viral on TikTok and it did also go viral on my Instagram." While going viral is entertaining, Bell notes that there were some commenters who were "unhinged," insisting he made the story up. "I understand people who don't believe it because I see stuff online all the time that I don't believe. But I can assure everyone this is actually real," he says. Laughing, he adds, "Let's say I came up with this idea to do a fake Instagram video. If I went to my mom and said, 'Hey Mom, let's pretend I collected this snow on this random day 37 years ago. Can you play along?' There's no way in hell she would do it. She's all about honesty." Read the original article on People
