PALO ALTO, Calif., July 21 (UPI) -- Facebook announced Wednesday it has a new application, Facebook Stories, that allows users to share stories of how the networking site has helped them.

In a message to Facebook members, founder Mark Zuckerberg cited some examples.

They include Ben Saylor, a Kentucky high school student who used Facebook to gather people to rebuild the Pioneer Playhouse, a flood-damaged outdoor theater, and Holly Rose of Phoenix, who said she caught her own breast cancer in time after a Facebook message telling women to check their breasts. There are also some well-known people, like Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who jogged with Facebook fans when he was Danish prime minister.

Zuckerberg said Facebook is celebrating its first 500 million users worldwide

"Our mission at Facebook is to help make the world more open and connected," he said. "Stories like these are examples of that mission and are both humbling and inspiring. I could have never imagined all of the ways people would use Facebook when we were getting started 6 years ago."