1. There's a lot of life-sized cardboard cutouts of children all around the Grand Rapids area. While it's a strange sight, it's all to raise awareness of homeless children in Kent County.
Family Promise of Grand Rapids laughed "The Hidden Face of Homeless" campaign on Monday morning. It's part of Family Promise Week, a nationwide effort to spotlight family homelessness.
According to family promise of Grand Rapids, family homelessness is the fastest growing homeless population and more than 3,000 children in Kent County are homeless.
The campaign aims to raise funds to provide emergency shelter, basic needs and help families find a permanent home.
For more information or to make a donation, head to helpgrkids.com.
2. Some Michigan license plates will be getting a wild new look soon.
The state's Department of Natural Resources says that an elk will replace the common loon on Michigan Wildlife license Plates starting December 1. The common loon plates have been around for over a decade and raised over $2.6 million.
Elk actually disappeared in Michigan around the 1800s because of unregulated hunting and habitat issues. The new license plate will commemorate 100 years since elk were re-introduced into Michigan.
Funds from the new license plates will go toward wildlife management.
3. They are the rulers of the home in many cases, so they were treated like royalty at "Day of the Dog" this past weekend.
Pooches and their owners gathered at Shaggy Pines in Ada on Sunday, wearing leis and roaming around the whole park.
This was the third year for the event, and it was for a good cause. The event benefited the Pleasant Hearts Pet Food Pantry, and the Kent County Animal Shelter.
4. A letter written on the doomed Titanic voyage sold for a small fortune at an auction over the weekend.
The document, written by passenger Alexander Holverson, sold for $166,000. That's about $60,000 more than it was expected to sell.
The letter is dated April 13, 1912, one day before the legendary ship hit an iceberg and sank in the Atlantic. Holverson wrote the note to his mother saying "If all goes well we will arrive in New York Wednesday A.M."
Holverson was among the 1,500 people to die on the Titanic. About 700 people, including Holverson's wife, survived the incident.
5. Break out the old white earbuds and use the wheel to scroll to your favorite song: today is National iPod Day.
The first ever Apple iPod came out in November of 2001, forever changing the way people would listen to music on the go.
The devices have gone through major changes since the first generation. There are iPod Touches, iPod Nanos, and others, but even today's models have elements of the original design.
