Helen De Luca

Happy New Year 2026!!!

[Hosna ⚖️ בניטה @DOGEQEEN]

The Nazi guards never heard the baby crying inside her toolbox. If they had, 2,500 children would have died.

In 1942, a 32-year-old Polish social worker named Irena Sendler walked into the Warsaw Ghetto carrying a simple toolbox. She had a permit to check for typhus outbreaks. The guards waved her through. Hidden beneath the wrenches and rags was a six-month-old baby. She walked past armed soldiers and handed the child to a Polish family waiting outside the walls. The next morning she walked back in and did it again.

For three years Irena smuggled approximately 2,500 Jewish children out of the Warsaw Ghetto. She hid infants in toolboxes, sedated children and smuggled them in coffins, concealed them in ambulances under stretchers, and used sewer pipes. Every child received a new Polish name. Irena recorded everything—real names, new names, locations—on tissue paper sealed in glass jars and buried in a friend’s garden.

By October 1943 the Gestapo caught her. They tortured her, broke both her legs and both her feet, and beat her unconscious. She gave them nothing. After months they sentenced her to death. The night before her execution, the underground bribed a guard. He led her out and recorded her as “executed.”

She went immediately back to work and continued until the war ended. When the war ended she dug up the jars and spent months trying to reunite children with families. Most parents had died in the camps.

For decades almost no one knew about her. Then in 1999 four teenage girls in Kansas found a brief mention of a woman who had saved 2,500 children. They researched and wrote a play. At age 89 Irena Sendler became famous. She was honored by Pope John Paul II and nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. She died in 2008 at age 98.

One estimate suggests those 2,500 rescued children produced approximately 6,000 descendants. She was a social worker with a permit and a toolbox. She walked into hell every day for three years and walked out carrying children. The Nazis broke her legs. They couldn’t break her will.

[HEROS Hockey @heroshockey]

If you ever need a reason to smile, look at these faces ❤️
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The laughs, the high-fives, the pure, unfiltered fun of just being a kid on the ice. We love to see it!
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We look forward to many more moments like these this season.

[𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐝 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐧 @DrBradJohnson]

#RelationalLeadership

[Help A Teacher @HelpATeacher]

This!

[HEROS Hockey @heroshockey]

HEROS International is heading back to Belfast, and a massive thank you to Annerin Productions for helping make it happen.

Their generosity is what puts our HEROS on the ice in a new country, building connections that go far beyond the rink.

[Help A Teacher @HelpATeacher]

Yup.

[HEROS Hockey @heroshockey]

Meet Hudson. He’s been part of SuperHEROS Winnipeg since day one. Every Saturday, he's out on the ice with his teammates, his coaches, and now, the newer players who need someone to show them the ropes.

That's #BiggerThanHockey 🫶

[TeacherGoals @teachergoals]

What we do matters. 🧡

[Help A Teacher @HelpATeacher]

Important!

[HEROS Hockey @heroshockey]

Yesterday, SuperHEROS joined @NHLFlames prospects for some HEROS HockeyBall!

Regardless of where they plan on playing in the fall, each and every person in that gym bonded over one simple thing - they are all hockey players!

#BiggerThanHockey

[TeacherGoals @teachergoals]

Thank you, teachers. 🧡

[Help A Teacher @HelpATeacher]

Important!

[Positively Present @positivepresent]

Dream big. 🌈

[HEROS Hockey @heroshockey]

Save the date! Toronto’s biggest night in support of HEROS is back on Thursday, October 29 🗓️

Hockey in the Roundhouse is returning to Steam Whistle Brewing, and sponsorships are now open. Feel free to DM us or tap the link below to get involved!

https://t.co/tXgPwEs6eh

[Help A Teacher @HelpATeacher]

This!

[TeacherGoals @teachergoals]

PSA: 📢

[TeacherGoals @teachergoals]

So true! 🧡

[HEROS Hockey @heroshockey]

We’re still on cloud nine over our time in Belfast last season ☁️

Our annual trek to Ireland is one of the things we look forward to HEROS experiencing the most – bringing youth together across communities to learn, grow, and connect at the Ice Bowl.

[Help A Teacher @HelpATeacher]

Truth.

[Toronto Public Library @torontolibrary]

Four years ago, TPL went fine free. 💙

Eliminating late fines has made the library more equitable and welcoming to all Torontonians.