Pennsylvania’s most heartwarming news stories of 2025
The news isn’t always depressing, and these 10 stories prove it.
When reading the headlines of your local paper or favorite online news outlet, it’s not hard to be discouraged about the state of the world. But sometimes, people realize lifelong dreams, help animals in need, or go out of their way to support their communities. These heartwarming moments are not always reported—but sometimes, they do make the news. We’ve rounded up 10 positive Pennsylvania news stories from 2025 that we’re sure will warm your heart even in the depths of winter.
Shelter dogs meet the players of the Altoona Curve
In early September, a handful of dogs from the Central PA Humane Society visited the Altoona Curve baseball team before a game. The minor league players greeted the dogs, who were all up for adoption, with many rubs and pets. “For a lot of the dogs, the shelter can be really stressful,” Kristina Daversa, the humane society’s volunteer coordinator, told Altoona’s WTAJ. Events like the player and pup meet-and-greet “[increase] our odds of finding that forever home for them,” she said.
A 9-year-old girl teaches art therapy to help other kids
In Philadelphia’s Logan neighborhood, a 9-year-old girl named Kalie Mapp Hayes teaches art therapy classes to young children. “This is where kids come to express their feelings,” Kalie told Fox 29 Philadelphia in October. “I started this because I want kids to know that they are bold, they are creative and whatever seems impossible, I want them to know that they can do it,” she said. Her students also learn about journaling to help them get in touch with their emotions.
A young Phillies fan gave his foul ball to a woman celebrating her 80th birthday
Realizing the dream of many young (and old) baseball fans, 9-year-old Jameson Pennings got a foul ball at a Phillies game in September. But then, he gave it away. Jameson gifted the ball to a nearby woman after he overheard she was celebrating her 80th birthday.
“All of a sudden, this boy says to his dad, ‘I want to give that lady my ball,’ and his father says, ‘Are you sure about this,’ and the little boy looked at the ball in his glove and says ‘Yeah.’ They got up from their seat, came right over to me and handed me the ball,” the woman, Donna Morey, recounted to Fox 29 Philadelphia. “I was really absolutely amazed,” she said. To memorialize his kind gesture, Morey had Jameson sign her ball.
Superheroes take a break from fighting crime to wash windows at the Pittsburgh Children’s Hospital
In April, Superman, Spiderman, Captain America, and Batman all took time out of their busy schedules to wash the windows at UPMC Children’s Hospital, delighting the young patients who spotted them. The superheroes were actually window cleaners from Allegheny Window Cleaning, who dress in costume twice a year to clean the windows at the children’s hospital. The company started the tradition about 13 years ago. “I love it when the kids run to the window and want to give us a high five or thumbs up,” one superhero cleaner told Pittsburgh’s KDKA-TV. “That makes you feel good inside.”
Neighbors step up to help community members in need of food
Unfortunately, the first part of this story is not heartwarming: In November, the federal government briefly paused disbursement of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, commonly called Food Stamps) benefits, affecting millions of low-income people across the country who rely on SNAP to put food on the table.
Yet what was encouraging was the overwhelming response across the country, including in Pennsylvania, to help neighbors in need by delivering them food or paying for their groceries. Food banks and pantries across the state responded to rising demand with expanded services and food donations. And even unofficial groups stepped in, like a group of friends in the Pocono Mountains who coordinated their own donation drive and a number of ordinary Philadelphians who committed to buying food for their “grocery buddies” for as long as SNAP was obstructed.
Members of the Central Pennsylvania Amish community travel to North Carolina to aid in hurricane relief efforts
Hurricane Helene devastated much of Appalachian North Carolina in the fall of 2024. But according to a January 2025 news story published in The Keystone, dozens of skilled craftspeople in the Central Pennsylvania Amish community traveled to the area to help. Over just two days in Boone, North Carolina, the volunteers built 12 tiny homes for those displaced by the hurricane. The group also prepared food and distributed donations to the local community. Combined with the construction of the tiny homes, the entire donation was worth roughly $300,000.
Man saves groundhog stuck in litter
In May, a video of a groundhog in York County with its head stuck in a cup went viral—because a new friend stepped in to help the groundhog. Michael Hornbaker, the head of the local school Logos Academy, approached the groundhog and removed the cup from its head. Each year, litter kills millions of animals that either eat it or get trapped in it. But Hornbaker’s small gesture allowed the groundhog in question to safely scurry away.
River otters are making a comeback in Pennsylvania
Otters, once a threatened species, are coming back to Pennsylvania! This past year, there have been multiple new sightings of otters in Pennsylvania lakes, signs that the population is recovering from the near extinction it suffered decades ago. For example, a photographer caught the adorable critters on camera at Manor Lake in Bucks County’s Falls in August. As river otters can be found in every healthy water system in Pennsylvania, the resurging population is also good news for Pennsylvania waterways.
Two bald eagles released at Erie Bluffs
In November, two bald eagles who had been rehabilitated at an area wildlife center were released back into the wild at Erie Bluffs State Park. The birds had been injured and sick, and they were cared for at Tamarack Wildlife Center. The center released an adult male from the Erie area, as well as a juvenile female that hadn’t yet adopted a territory. In and around Erie Bluffs, which has a large eagle population, the juvenile “will learn, by observing other eagles, life skills that we were not able to give her in captivity,” a Tamarack staff person told Erie Times-News.
Downtown Honesdale has a candy store again
Plenty of small businesses open each year, and most are the result of long hours of hard work and dedication. Take Grandma’s Candy Carousel, a new business that opened in downtown Honesdale in July. It had always been Patty Alfredson’s hope to open a candy store—and she finally got her wish. “That feeling of excitement in choosing the different candy from the racks like gummies, licorice, caramels, and chocolate became my mission to bring to Honesdale,” she told the Tri-County Independent.
The store is a dream come true for owners Alfredson and her husband, but it is also good news for Honesdale. The small town, with a population of roughly 4,400, used to have at least seven candy stores in its downtown in 1925. But for a long time, downtown Honesdale had zero candy stores—and now, it has one again.
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