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One of National Aquarium’s few Black scuba divers retiring after 42 years
Carl Perkins hopes his story can inspire people.
Perkins is retiring after 42 years as one of the few Black scuba divers who have worked at the National Aquarium in Baltimore. He has volunteered his services since the aquarium opened in 1981, WBAL-TV reported.
A young patron inspects some of the fish at the National Aquarium in Baltimore, Md. (Credit: Theresa Keil/National Aquarium)
The retired teacher’s time at the aquarium even predates his 39-year career as an educator, according to the news station.
“I actually started here shortly after the building was completed, and the program was really in its infancy at that time,” Perkins said. “I did it and kept doing it, and here I am.”
Perkins said he has a passion for the conservation of the oceans and the marine life they sustain.
“It’s a really big issue for me,” he said. “It just so happens that I have this skill being able to scuba dive, so it helps me keep in touch with that.”
Watch Carl Perkins talk about his time at the National Aquarium below.
Perkins’ background comes into play in the educational talks he gives groups of visitors. His diving skills, he uses to help feed the animals and clean the tanks in which they live.
“At the National Aquarium, we do about 3,000 dives annually," Tanner Hughes, an assistant dive safety officer, told WBAL. “The volunteer team makes up about half of those dives, if not more, so it takes a lot of the work off of staff members’ plates in terms of feeding and general exhibit care.”
Perkins’ stint at the aquarium is impressive not only for its longevity but also for the trailblazer status it bestows upon him.
“I hope to be a role model for all kids, no matter how many are interested in the oceans or interested in just scuba diving in general,” Perkins told the news station. “It would be nice to have all groups represented, as well.”
Learn more about the volunteer dive program here.
Former news anchor raises over $244,000 to help elderly veteran retire
Karen Swensen Ronquillo was sweating in the New Orleans heat on Memorial Day when she spotted Dillon McCormick pushing shopping carts across a sweltering Winn-Dixie parking lot.
The former WWL-TV news anchor, better known by her maiden name, drove home to put away her groceries. Still, the image nagged at her: a 90-year-old Air Force veteran working through a 111-degree heat index.
According to CBS News, Swensen returned to the store and approached the man.
Watch Karen Swensen’s interview with Dillon McCormick below.
She learned that McCormick, who has been gathering shopping carts for 23 years, was working to supplement his Social Security payments, which take care of less than half of his living expenses each month.
“Everybody has to eat,” McCormick said, according to CBS News.
Swensen, who was a familiar face in New Orleans homes for two decades before her own retirement, quickly took action, the network reported. She recorded her conversation with McCormick and posted it on social media.
She also established a GoFundMe page to help McCormick.
Within 24 hours, the fundraising page had raised more than $244,000 in donations from across the country.
McCormick was grateful but cautious, unsure of whether or not to believe Swensen at first. The former newswoman called Jefferson Parish Sheriff Joseph Lopinto in to help convince the elderly man that the windfall was legitimate.
Swensen said she was not surprised by the outpouring from the community.
“So often, we think of ourselves as divided, right?” Swensen told CBS News. “’Us’ and ‘them.’ No, this was ‘we’ and ‘our.’
“We take care of our own, not only in Louisiana … this entire nation banded together.”
McCormick, who plans to give 25% of the donations to his local Catholic church, said he is thankful to know that he has financial security but that he has no intention of retiring from Winn-Dixie.
“If you stop working, you will stop living,” he said. “The good die young, so it looks like I'm gonna be here a long time.”
Phoenix police finish DoorDash delivery after arresting driver
Waden Khan and his roommate had given up on their DoorDash driver.
When the Phoenix residents ordered groceries through the delivery app earlier this month, they waited for nearly an hour with no sign of their food. As CBS 5 reported, they got quite a surprise when the knock on the door finally came.
“I look out of the window. Two cop cars pull up,” Khan told the news station. “Three cops come dashing out, and I was, like, ‘Oh my God, what’s happening?’”
Watch CBS 5’s report below.
As Phoenix police Officer Eric Dillard explained, the delivery driver was stopped for a traffic violation on the way to Khan’s home and arrested when officers found an outstanding warrant in their database.
The officers had a choice to either take the order back to the store or go the extra mile. Dillard said the decision was an easy one.
“I took it upon myself and was like, ‘Well, why not keep both parties happy?’” the officer said. “Keep the citizen happy. Keep the driver happy.”
Camera footage of the interaction has been posted on TikTok, where it has been viewed more than 1.8 million times, according to CBS 5.
Khan said the gesture turned a frustrating wait into a sweet moment of kindness.
“It was just a very joyful moment, to see the good side,” Khan said. “I really wanted to hug the cops, honestly, for doing that.”