Overloaded boats filled with refugees. But for lauren, its not just news. Its her familys story. It begins in vietnam, just after the war. Life is difficult and dangerous for her family. So like thousands of others, they plot an escape. It started a journey that lauren is still on. Just as the things were hearing on the news today, its an international crisis. Reporter there have probably been guest lecturers who have failed to captivate their audience. You can imagine as a child. Reporter but not on this day. Seeing someone bleed out to death is quite an impression. Reporter not with lauren speaking. It was the most terrifying thing that had ever happened to me until i got on the boat to escape vietnam. Reporter lauren, a San Francisco attorney, who is there to share the story of her familys experience following the vietnam war. Her parents, wealthy landowners in the south, faced terrible persecution under communist rule. So bad, they decided the best although incredibly dangerous choice for their family was to flee. Laurens family, crowded with dozens of others, onto a small boat and slipped out to sea. It was almost like a suicidal mission. Reporter ten days they were at sea, suffering storm after storm, low on fuel, food, and water. And no one stopping to help. Its recorded in news that 120 ships passed by that route in that time frame. And not one of them stopped. Reporter then early in the morning of november 28th, 1980, one did. A Liquified Natural Gas tanker called the virgo. That tiny little peach dot is me. Reporter lauren and all 61 other refugees were saved. She and her family had the opportunity for a fresh start in the united states, although never learning the name of the captain who made it possible by ordering the rescue. But for one man who said stop, you know, save them, how could i go on enjoying all the benefits of my life . Children, this house, my career. And not acknowledge where it all began . Reporter it sparked in lauren a quest to find that man. One which has spread over decades, tracking down ships logs and photographs, running into dead ends. Until one day a name and a number land in her in box. So she called. I said the one thing that i had wanted to say all those years. I think you were the man who saved my family, and i dont want anything more than to say thank you. Oh, look at you reporter lauren got to do much more than that, though. Thank you reporter the call led to an emotional reunion. And in lauren, a realization that stories of this captain and his crews compassion, along with others who did the same, needed to be shared. Lauren has been recording herup,y aherup, her journey and hopes one day to create a documentary not so much about her but the one she calls the real heroes. This little chapter, un toto is so beautiful and so healing in that it shows the compassion of the human spirit. Silicon valley is one of the wealthiest corners in the entire country. Yet in spite of all that money, there are plenty of people without enough food. And that number, according to some, is growing. But so is the effort to help them. A new nonprofit is getting a big response. And it all started with a challenge from an 8yearold boy to his father. Vikings take over first and ten. Reporter it is the last High School Football game in the career of number 11 from lynbrook high school, cassidy sterner. Its the kind of moment when a dad will reflect. Thats going to make him feel good. Reporter hoping hes been a good influence on his son. Although yule sterner will be the first to tell you its cassidy who inspired him to do something remarkable. It happened when cassidy was just 8 and the pair were volunteering at a shelter in san diego, feeding the hungry and homeless. He literally said, dad, we have so much food at home, we have to help, we have to fix this. That was the entire genesis of hunger at home. Reporter hunger at home is the nonprofit yule started back then and one he revived a few years ago after he went to the San Jose Convention center. Seeing the tent communities growing into massive communities, getting to know individuals that were in need, thinking this has to change. Youve already seen whats in there . I havent seen. Youre going to absolute love it. Reporter with decades of experience in hotel food and beverage, yule has always been familiar with the amount of surplus food that was available to help the hungry but was ending up in the trash instead of on trays. You have cobbler. Reporter hungry at hoer at changed that in a big way. Major hotels are responsible for more than 2 million meals in just a few years being donated to san joses marthas kitchen and the salvation army. Were now sharing resources. Were sharing supplies. Were sharing an abundance of supplies. Reporter yule says, amazing as hunger at homes success has been, its still not enough to meet all the needs out there. If everyone just gave something, he believes, we could do amazing things. Things all of our children would be proud of. For us as fathers and parents, if were not being part of the solution, what are we teaching our children . If youre a fan of photography, youre probably familiar with the work of Dorothea Lang. Her work documenting depression era farmers and migrants in the u. S. Is legendary. But before taking those iconic images, lang was a portrait photographer in San Francisco. Its where she took a picture of and became lifelong friends with ellen chongs grandmother. Its a relationship that is about to be a boon for one small bay area art museum. Reporter there is more than one way to be put on the map. Sure, though tucked away off of busy el camino real, youll find lots of museums. But how does a small museum specializing in living california artists put itself on the map of the art world . Ellen chong, one of the museums dedicated volunteers, has a plane. One shes pretty excited about. I was welling up with tears, because it just means to much. Reporter it all has to do with something tucked away on the floor of ellens closet for quite some time. I have had them in my possession for three decades, at least that, in my fire safe. Reporter more than 20 prints by the legendary photographer, Dorothea Lang. And not just any pictures by a famous artist. For ellen, theyre pieces of family history. That is my mother as a young girl walking down the shallow stretch of the creek. Reporter ellens grandmother was lifelong friends with lang. And the photos are snapshots from the time their families spent together. Ever since the first time i saw the collection when i was a teenager, i was told how famous this photographer was. And she was a friend of grandmas, et cetera. I didnt know my grandparents sun bathed in the nude until then. Reporter it also wasnt until ellen, an artist herself, started volunteering at the museum that she fell in love with it and started to think of ways she could do more to help raise its attendance and statute tour. One day she marched into the Museum Founders office with a surprise. I laid them out for her. She was astonished that right in front of her was this little treasure that had been hidden away for 30 years. This is one of my favorites. Reporter conservation of the photos is now complete. And Dorothea Lang the Louise Lovitt collection is set to open this january. Ellen thinks many museums would have wanted to host this exhibit. But theres just one she wanted to share it it with. A south bay man overcomes challenges to find inspiration. But he didnt let his disability get in the way of art, next on bay area proud. Am i actually pushing these guys who ran out of gas six miles on a lonely highway . Or is this a metaphor for how im constantly pushing myself to make a tastier sandwich . Like my new pepper jack ranch spicy chicken sandwich with spicy pepper jack cheese, spicy ranch, and spicy allwhitemeat chicken. But judging from the thirddegree sunburn, and the fact that i cant feel my legs, id say im actually pushing this car. Theres gotta be a better way to get new customers. The pepper jack ranch spicy chicken sandwich. Taste it before its gone. Yep, im lost. There are many works of art that you can tell by looking at them they were a challenge to create. Others you can tell just by meeting the artist. Thats the case for san jose painter don riker. A teacher once said of his work, theres always motion in his subject. You can say the same thing about don himself. Over your head, don. Reporter amazing often takes time. Amazing. Good . All right. Reporter and by that we dont just mean the many hours don riker will spend on this work of art. No. Don, who has cerebral palsy, has been doing amazing for much longer than that. His mom andrea says that was always the plan. We were very proactive about making sure don got to participate in everything and there wasnt any we didnt see any reason he shouldnt. We just had to figure out how. Reporter figure out how don would wash dishes or play baseball, mow the lawn, ride a horse, or lead a marching band. But it wasnt until an art teacher encouraged don to start painting that he didnt just try something. He decided to excel at it. Hes been seriously working at his craft for just a few years. But the results are amazing and now the centerpiece of an exhibit in downtown san jose at the offices of ameriprise financial. You are excited to have people see your work and want to buy it. Reporter don says hes not an advocate for people with disabilities nor does he want to be. He would simply like to be an example, visible to people of all abilities. What one man in a wheelchair is capable of. On the canvas and in life. How strangers came together to help a bay area woman who was told she just had a few months to love. The incredible labor of love to give her a dream wedding, next. We have been doing the bay area proud series for nearly five years and have been fortunate to share more than 400 Inspiring Stories about the good people do in the bay area. We would love now to go into our archives and share a best of bay area proud. We first told you about jen bullock back in 2013, the year she got some terrible news about herself. To make the most of the time she had left, jen chose life. And one woman helped her to do just that. Reporter time can be a tricky thing. No matter what any clock tells you, time doesnt move at a steady pace. Theyre going to go to the second one. Reporter something jen bullock knows too well. You see, the few days left to her wedding to fiance jeff lang cant go fast enough. Whats likely to happen a few months after that, well jen and jeff met six years ago, she was a hairdresser, he a yoga instructor. Jen making people beautiful on the outside, jeff on their inside. A friend thought these two opposites would attract. Shes like, you took all my weirdness in stride, so i think he would be really good for you. Reporter there was talk of a wedding. The couple shopped for rings last december. About the time it turned out that jen developed a cough she couldnt shake. And i went to the doctors a couple of times. They diagnosed it as pneumonia. Im 35 so they werent thinking that this was something else. Reporter in january came the diagnosis. Lung cancer stage iv. Last month came the prognosis. 46 weeks untreated. And four to six months treated. So when i heard that, i said, lets get married, because i wanted to focus on life. Reporter jeff and jen gave themselves two weeks for a wedding and reception. That was the plan until a friend posted for help on wedding planners, a posting erica oder read and couldnt forget. This was an opportunity to do something extraordinary for somebody else. So why not . I told thought about the bamboo. I think it would go perfectly. Reporter erica, a social worker turned wedding planner, thought she would help a little bit on the wedding day. But then stumbled upon jens pinterest account and picture after picture of what jen managed her dream wedding would look like, one that time and money made that impossible. Well, impossible until erica decided to get jen everything on that page. A job that would take months, she has done in just two weeks, coraling goods and services for more than 30 bay area wedding vendors. Total cost, 50,000. All of it donated for free. It was my goal to have them not pay a dime. I thought to myself, these people have already suffered enough, and why not be able to give them a gift, a wonderful gift that both of them will never forget, their families will never forget. Its amazing, the generosity in their hearts, and that theyre so touched by our story. And i guess people have feelings. Reporter it all comes together this saturday at 2 00. Jen and jeff will say their vows under the redwood trees of a nearby park. A marching band will lead them back to jens parents house, transformed into something magical. Look at those little guys, so cute. Reporter it is there that jen bullock will most likely wish that time could stand still. Jen and jeff got married on july 27th, 2013, and even had that marching band lead them in a parade down the street. Jen passed away at home, jeff says, three months later. Well be right back. Our final story will, we hope, leave you in a good mood. Which is exactly what a middle School Principal in san ramon is trying to do every morning for her students. But what started out as just a little fun, sue goldman says, is doing much, much more. Good morning. Good morning. Reporter when sue goldman became principal at this middle school in san ramon four years ago, she had found her dream job. I landed in heaven when i got here. Best school, best staff, best kids, best parents. Reporter still, just because sue loves middle school, doesnt mean everyone here does. Lets face it, middle school is hard. And it can be an awful three years for kids. Reporter and so it was in her quest to make middle school a little less awful. This is what we do. Reporter last march, sue decided to try something a little more creative. Good morning. Reporter a way, she thought, to start kids off on the right foot. Then the left. And the right again. You ready . Were going. Reporter it was the day sue hooked up her phone to a speaker, dragged it in front of the school, and danced. Have a great day reporter danced like no one was watching. Which of course they were. They thought i was crazy. I was crazy. And then they started dancing with me. Whos dancin . Reporter none of them have stopped since. It was at first just a quirky idea, sue confesses, a way to shake up the everyday routine. But not anymore. Can you guys do this . Reporter because ever since sue started dancing, shes noticed something happening even after the music stopped and the bell rings. When kids get here in the morning and bad stuff has happened at home, in the madeed they get here, and guess what, its all okay, because we love you and were waiting for you and were dancing and were having a little party. Reporter the kids clearly love it. And their parents we love you so much. Reporter they just love sue. Sue guesses shes got another ten years of her career left. And she promises to not only keep dancing, but to keep trying offbeat ideas. Because you just never know when they were end up being right on the beat. Sue says she continues to see how that positive start to the day carries into the students behavior and academic performance. She is convinced its the best thing she has ever done as a principal and has no plans to ever stop dancing. Thank you so much for joining. You can see new bay area proud stories every tuesday and thursday evenings on nbc bay area news at 5 30 p. M. If you know someone who should be featured, i would las vegas love to hear from you. Youll find links ton our website, nbcbayarea. Com. Scroll down to the bay area proud site. Have a great night. Release the hounds. Happy thanksgiving day, everyone. Joined by my cohost, david frye. Mary curillo back stage for this holiday tradition in its 15th year. The wirefox tearier. Scottish tearier best in show. We welcome you to the 2016 National Dog Show hosted by the kennel club of philadelphia. David, take us down the line. Here are the hounds. The afghan hound. The pharaoh ho