from nbc news this is "today" with kathie lee gifford and hoda kotb from studio 1-a in rockefeller plaza. >> favorite day of the week. >> what is it? >> friday, july 25. >> can we please slow the winter -- i mean the summer down? because before we know it it is winter. >> it is the end of july. we have only had a few sweltering days on the east coast. does it not feel like summer? it is so glorious and now it is flying by. >> i have reason to celebrate.

guess what arrived moments before the show started. my shoes. yesterday i told you i lost my shoes. >> you forgot your shoes. >> i took them off and left them in the bathroom. kathie and i were shooting a segment and doing it in the john at rockefeller center. >> an ordinary day. >> i took off these shoes because i wanted my shoes to look cute and i left them in the bathroom. guess what arrived! >> things always come back around. these are beaten up. this is why -- i went to a restaurant and there was a woman seating us. i said i love your shoes. she said thank you. i had these on and she said oh, my god. yours look really comfortable. >> you know when you walk around new york city or chicago you want to be comfortable. most people remember when they take them off to put them back on.

>> meredith is assuming -- so sweet, a whole bunch of flowers. >> they are gorgeous. meredith doesn't realize we don't live together. so i need flowers for the weekend so i'm divvying up my side. >> you want to come tonight? >> why not? >> come over tonight. we will put a shrimp on the barbie. does it pay to cheat on your hair dresser. >> you feel a loyalty. but then you get talked into things sometimes. laura does a gorgeous job cutting my hair here. one time i was over at lewis waiting for cassidy, my daughter, to be done and all of a sudden the very seductive russian says come sit in the chair and starts chopping. and then i had to call laura because i didn't want her feelings to be hurt.

i love the way laura does it. so i wasn't trying to cheat but i ended up cheating. >> it is a terrible feeling. what happened? >> it took about a year or two but we all got over it. there was a "huffington post" blogger who took on the question. >> there was a place i used to go to for years before laura did her magic, waved her magic wand and i loved this woman so much and i never even walked down 52nd street because i felt terrible. i felt awful that she was going to walk out. one day i was walking my dog and i said you know what i'm doing, i'm going out and i walked in there. my heart was pounding. i felt terrible. she said you don't love me. i felt terrible. this whole crazy apology. >> you don't love her. >> i felt terrible. you have a connect -- when

someone is washing your hair -- i did go back. the guilt killed me and i went -- you feel better now? >> i feel bad because i brought it all back up again. >> you felt bad until you saw this coming down, getting into the studio. >> it is try day friday. >> what is that? >> you were told it was a? >> red pear. >> so they all look just like this. so cass said it is try day friday so i brought it out. >> try it. >> i just put lipstick on. >> we can find more of that for you. >> tastes like a pear. >> that was really worth it.

>> have you ever had peanuts in your coke? >> i have lived a lot of my life in the south. southern, in the south you mix sweet and salty. >> it adds a little salty. plop them in and drink it. at florida state university the head coach, jimbo fisher, was spotted putting peanuts in his coke. i guess one of the reporters or something was like what is that guy doing and he basically tweeted out that he had no idea what was happening here. >> it never goes north of the mason dixon line. it stops in virginia. >> taste it. see that, a little salty sweet. >> very salty sweet but i understand. i get it. >> apparently it's a very

southern thing. >> try it. >> have you ever had this? >> what? >> this is a pizza in a cone. and apparently it's about 200 calories less -- >> why? >> because there is no crust around the side. >> the company is called cone pizza usa. >> that makes sense. >> alternative. the guy that was exercising like crazy yesterday, jimmy, let's let him try it. jimmy, come on, muscle man, try this. let's see what big muscle man mountain man says? >> can i say something? >> good? >> it's all right. >> he can talk, too. >> just so you know that hunky mountain man -- if you ever see jimmy in the hall he is always

eating fruit. >> not today, he is eating a pizza cone. >> you want some salty coke with that? >> no thank you. >> you know what it is time for at this moment? "friday funny". >> a man was walking along the beach when he tripped over something. and dug through the sand and found an old lamp. looked like it could be magical. he rubbed it and yes a genie popped out. the genie says i will grant you three wishes. great said the man trying to contain his excitement. the only condition is that you cannot wish for more genies -- crap, i just gave it away, the only condition is you cannot wish for more wishes. so the man says i wish for more genies. >> it was so perfect almost and then it wasn't. >> you can't win them all. i am genius most weeks.

it is time for our "johnson's baby of the week". this is our special summer fun edition featuring babies up to a year old. our first is page irene born in annapolis, maryland on january 28. her parents say this little girl greets her mom and dad every morning with a huge gummy. our next is june belle huynh born in pennsylvania. her parents kelly and thomas tell new parents time flies with your baby so enjoy every single first. this picture is the tree swing for the first time. >> next a little boy born in winter park, florida. his name is malchi jackson. his mom says when you are at your wit's end try to remove yourself for a moment and

breathe. and our final "johnson's baby of the week" is wyatt daniel bitner born in new jersey on february 12. his parents say he loves to smile especially when he is at the beach. congratulations to all of our sweet babies. if you want to submit your baby go to hlg and hoda.com. our girl bobbie thomas gives it her all with products that give back to charity. and a family with a seriously ill 3-year-old child made crowd funding to make it home. >> how does crowd funding work exactly work anyway? mimuppets: it looks so good.... animal : no flavour! kermit: when it's time to eat together... animal: sooorry. kermit: do everyone a favour, serve a drink that has real flavour.

lipton fresh brewed iced tea is the natually refreshing way to enjoy your meals. it's the flavour we all savour, does any food a favour. gotta be more tea! tea-riffic liption. be more tea. muppets most wanted, on blu-ray and digital august 12th. hey, let's talk probiotics. for digestive health? yeah. and did you know trubiotics is a daily probiotic that helps in two ways? it supports digestive and immune health, by working in your gut where 70% of your immune system lives. hmm. try trubiotics today. the hotel hasallye care of ourry to be right.ep.id for a night.. you can get a 4-star hotel for up to 60% off, even at the last minute. in the neighborhood where we wanna go? yes. you just won't the name until after you book. hmm. ooh. definitely. it's all about sleep. it's not all about sleep. yeah, well, for me it is. lucky me. ♪

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when tragedy strikes someone else many wonder what can i do to help?

thanks to crowd funding pitching in is easier. >> when the family found themselves abroad and in need crowd funding came to their salvation. >> our family was 6,000 miles from our home in south carolina doing humanitarian work on the island nations of cypress. all of our children were happy and healthy. in may he woke up screaming and we found a lump on his leg. after several weeks of testing we heard the news no parent wants to hear, gabriel had cancer. his body began to shut down and at one point we were told he would not make it through the night. our funds were limited and our medical bills were piling up. our priority became getting gabeeral back to the united states. my college friend, lee, set up a crowd funding account and set a goal of $100,000. we were astonished when

donations starting pouring in. in early july we were able to fly him home tthe u.s. gabriel is getting the medical treatment he needs and we were so grateful to everyone who played a role in making that happen. >> i love stories like this. i just love them. >> joanna fleming is here and her good, good friend along with the founder of crowd funding strategy and information. >> hi, ladies. talk about gabriel. how is he doing? >> he is doing well. on june 4 he was getting his biopsy and he was sedated. now he is learning how to work again. >> you are all the way off the coast of israel there in the mediterranean sea.

by the time they said he might not live through the night at that point you have tons and tons of medical bills already and the cost to fly home immediately was going to be what? over $100,000? >> yes. >> that is when you called your friend lee? >> she called me. >> what made you do this? >> i have a friend who is so far away and i can't help her and i knew she was going to need a lot of money because we were hopefully going to get them back to the states we had no idea what it would be with five family members and medical bills there and potentially medical bills here. i called her and presented it many times. they were so overwhelmed that we tried not to push it. we could see on the outside of this hurricane that they were going through that we wanted to be able to kind of combat that before so by the time they potentially could come to the u.s. we could have the funding for that. >> how did people know to go to the site? to get people to know to donate,

how did you go about that? >> in regards to having the setup? >> first friends and family? >> it first was a prayer work shop. everybody had a prayer network of trying to get information to people like he is sick and we need help. we knew we needed money and we looked online. >> started on facebook and it grew from there. >> you know what is interesting is sometimes you get these things on twitter and you're heart broken because you see a young child and you want to help donate. i don't know if you know if something is legit or not. how do you know if something is a site to donate to. >> there are so many people who need help. you need to just use your best judgment. do research, ask questions. if you don't feel good about it don't give to it. >> is it hard to set up something like this?

>> it is actually not. it is quite easy. you go to the website and they provide a lot of the functionalty for you to write up your story and provide a video, photograph. they even provide social media links where you can share through facebook and twitter. there are no costs up front. >> when the money started coming in that must have relieved something in you. what did you think when you heard about the numbers, the money coming in to help you guys? >> we were amazed and humble by it. there is a lot of need in the world. we didn't feel like we should be the ones receiving the gift. that was a blessing to us that we thought was a huge answer to prayer. >> we are so happy for you for having such a great friend and what a great way to donate. thanks to you all for coming. >> a lot of kindness still left in the world but you said no. how to set a good example for your kids by volunteering as

a family. bobbie is all abuzz about charity. you fifteen percent or more on huh, fiftcar insurance.uld save yeah, everybody knows that. well, did you know that playing cards with kenny rogers gets old pretty fast? ♪ you got to know when to hold'em. ♪ ♪ know when to fold 'em. ♪ know when to walk away. ♪ know when to run. ♪ you never count your money, ♪ when you're sitting at the ta...♪ what? you get it? i get the gist, yeah. geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. so factors like diet can negatively impact good bacteria? even if you're healthy and active. phillips digestive health support is a duo-probiotic that helps supplement good bacteria found in two parts of your digestive tract.

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it is time for "bobbie's buzz". >> bobbie thomas has simple but interesting products that give back to charity when you make a purchase. >> one of our favorite subjects. what better way to start than with gum, especially a flavor called birthday cake. coconut lime peppermint vanilla. not only is the gum fantastic but called project seven. one out of every seven packs

goes to one out of seven causes. it is so fantastic. they help to house the homeless. there is some sugar free. you can pick your cause. >> delicious gum. >> next, a fun way to get school supplies for your kids. at target when you pick up yoobi for every supply you buy they send one to schools. you are getting something for back to school but also helping because teachers they 95% of them spend their own money to get supplies for kids. >> last but not least i love something for the guys when they buy a shirt they give you a prepaid pack that you can send back a shirt you are not using anymore. they launder it and give it back to career gear.

there are more ideas online and on my facebook page i am offering up more ideas of charity. >> you have lots of ideas. >> of course. coming up very simple ways to give back beyond donations. >> what you can do as a family to help raise generous kids. it is so important. our world is going to be over if we don't start raising generous kids. >> it's over if you don't start teaching kids how to be loving after our local news. right now, somewhere in america, there's aprn animal beg beaten and another being locked in a cage, alone and lefted to die. these scared, innocent animals

don't realize there's any hope for a better life. at the aspca, we're committed to searching every dark corner to find them and to help heal the deep, physical and emotional wounds that have been inflicted upon them. but we can't reach these animals without your support. so please visit our website or call now and join. sign up for just $18 a month. it's only .60 cents a day and you'll help rescue animals who are suffering and provide medical care, food, shelter, and love. the situation is urgent and so we're asking you to deal in the next ten minutes.

if you do, we'll send you an animal from our shelter and a t-shirt. if you've ever thought about helping, this is the time. it's a painful and horrifying life for these animals but for just .60 cents a day, you can change everything. it could be the most important thing you do today. go online or call right now.

we're back with more of our special giving back edition of "today." one family is doing just that in their hometown of college station, texas. >> the family created a donation program for books and blankets. >> my name is melissa cunningham. three years ago my family

started our books and a blanket drive. we were trying to brain storm ways to help the community and our daughters decided to give books. we started collecting small plastic crates and filled each one with ten to 15 books and a warm blanket. when turned to one side it looks like a small library. to date we have donated over 400 cartons containing about 6,000 books. different cities have heard about our drive and started doing the same thing in their own communities. we are working on becoming a formal nonprofit and hope to continue the books and a blanket drive for years to come. >> wow. we are so impressed. melissa cunningham is here with her daughters 10-year-old harper and 9-year-old maggie.

>> and editor of "family fun" magazine. >> you were very young when the idea came to you. what happened to make the idea come about? >> we wanted to do a family project. i knew that some of the kids that school didn't have very many books so i wanted to give them books. and my sister, maggie, also knew that they didn't have much warmth. so she decided to put blankets in, too. >> what a great combination. >> did you get to see families who got your books and blankets? >> sometimes we got to go to the schools where we gave out the crates but sometimes wouldn't. >> but you know they are out there, don't you?

>> what did you do to raise these girls? >> i don't think i can say one thing. as a family we try to give back. this was just a small project. it was supposed to be tiny and it has just exploded i think because the concept is so simple that people are enthusiastic about it. >> so many people have books sitting around that could be a great blessing to someone who has nothing. >> we are connecting the dots between children who don't have them and adults. >> one guy even more, your dad is here, too. we don't know why he wasn't invited to the stage but he is in the doghouse over there. mary, you chose the family, obviously. tell us what made them stand out. >> we were looking for projects that were creative. the cunningham's project stood out not only for the scope of what they have done, donated more than 6,000 books but also

because how much maggie and harper are involved. they are out there collecting the books, giving speeches and hosting blanket making parties for members of the community and for their friends. they really are inspiring to show how much of a difference kids can make when it comes to helping others. >> harper, how has this changed your life knowing you are helping that many kids? >> it makes me feel fortunate that i have all of the things that i need and it makes me feel good giving to other kids. >> oh, my gosh. >> yeah. >> i know a lot of parents are watching this and want their kids to be like these great kids. are there any -- is there a common thread -- how do you take a kid -- most kids are worried about what they are doing, how can they change into kids like this? >> it's true. volunteering does help teach your kids gratitude and compassion and responsibility.

one thing is sit down as a family and talk about a cause that the whole family would be interesting in volunteering. you want to find a cause your kids are interested in. often that does involve helping other kids. agree on a cause together as a family and don't be afraid to start small. often that holds people back because you are worried about fitting it into the schedule. once a month. >> a lot of other families you honored and those will be in your magazine. >> thank you. congrats. this is little is much when god is in it. giving back while on vacation. great places to volunteer and you can enjoy the sights. coming up right after this. he has been called energizing, electrifying and unaware of personal boundaries. and now he's here to explain one product that does two things.

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this is it. it's the weather channel. everybody whose great at weather is in this building do it right there or in the field doing it for this place. >> and we don't just forecast a storm, we take you inside one. >> the worst part of the storm. >> everything you do today it all starts with weather. >> people need to understand that weather isn't just bad weather, it's everyday. it's everything around you. it is amazing. it's amazing out there. >> start your mornings with wake up with al and amhq. america's headquarters with sam champion weekdays on the weather channel. ♪

we will share the inspiring stories that you sent us of acts of kindness. >> first this is "today" on nbc. ♪ ♪ ♪ swing low ♪ sweet chariot ♪ coming forth to carry me home ♪ ♪ swing low ♪ sweet chariot swing coming forth ♪ ♪ to carry ♪ me ♪