CNN 5 Things 5 Good Things: The TikToker Who Changed a Veteran’s Life
Dec 6, 2025
A heartwarming father-daughter dance at a Louisiana prison rekindled precious bonds. A TikTok creator's kindness transformed the life of an 88-year-old veteran, raising over $1.5 million. Two innovative teens developed a platform to help find affordable housing in NYC. New research suggests that the teenage brain might not fully mature until around age 32. Lastly, creative gatherings are making tedious chores a fun social event!
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Father–Daughter Dance At Angola
- At Angola prison, nearly 30 incarcerated fathers dressed in custom tuxedos and waited at the end of a pink carpet for daughters aged 5 to 20.
- Volunteers turned a classroom into a ballroom so dads and daughters could dance and reconnect for the first time in years.
TikToker Turns Up-Life-Changing Fundraiser
- 88-year-old veteran Ed Bombas still worked full-time after losing his pension and selling his home, until a TikToker found him at his supermarket job.
- Content creator Samuel Wiedenhofer launched a GoFundMe that raised over $1.5 million in days to help Ed stop working.
Teens Build Tool For Affordable Housing
- Brooklyn high school seniors Beckett Sahedi and Derek Webster Jr. taught themselves to code and launched Realer Estate to surface below-market NYC apartments.
- About 60,000 people used the free site and at least one early user closed on a property found there.