Stories of Kindness from Around the World

Smiles in Your Mailbox

This past holiday season, I sent out holiday cards to strangers all around the United States. I've sent out fifty so far, and am still going strong. Every day, for the past 30 days or so I filled out 1-3 cards with meaningful thoughts and words to lift the spirit. The holidays can be so stressful, and, in my experience, it can be a time when people feel at the end of their ropes and hopeless. So I wanted to let them know that someone out there cares. As I crafted the cards, I sometimes wrote about my own struggles, and how I overcame them. Other times, I wrote down inspirational quotes and kind, thoughtful words. Though the content of my cards varied, in every envelope, I enclosed another stamped envelope, to encourage the reader to send out a kindness note of their own. :) It felt so good to plant well-wishes in ... Read Full Story >>

The Old Man In Our Shop

I work some weekends at a small but busy shop to help my partner, and every weekend an elderly gentleman comes in. He has a cup of tea with us and chats about his day and his family. One day he got up to leave and stumbled (he walks with a stick as he has bad arthritis in his knees.) I don't know how he managed to save himself from hitting the floor but, thankfully, he did.   I took his hand, made him sit with me for a while and then, when he was ready, I offered to walk him home.    "No need," he said. "It's raining."   "There's every need," I replied. "I wouldn't sleep tonight not knowing you got home safe."   As we walked we chatted, my arm linked through his. It seems his family were far from home, his wife died some twenty years earlier. He said he still missed her.   So I walked him to ... Read Full Story >>

Not A "Self-Help" Book But A "Help Others" Book

I just recently got my book published!  

A Heartfelt Way to End the Year

There is a family in our neighborhood that moved here from Sri Lanka. Their daughter goes to the same school as my children so we see her at the bus stop often. They have had a tough time since they came to America. They had some medical bills last week that made Christmas gifts not possible.

I told my wife that we needed to help her. We got the family a gift card and two toys for each of her two children. When my wife called her mom and told her what we were going to do, she wanted to help too. She bought a few gifts for each child as well.

We took over the gifts, some cookies and wrapping paper for the gifts. The woman was so happy and excited that the kids would have some things to open for Christmas. We couldn't be happier ourselves that we had spread a few smiles.

Some friends and I are doing 10 kind acts for the last 10 days of the year starting today. I thought this was a great way to start it off! It was six years ago today that I joined HelpOthers. It has changed my life in the BEST way, causing me to do more things like this than I ever have! Day one down, nine to go! :)

MSS

Spreading Small, Anonymous Gifts

Knowing the holidays are hard for some people we decided to take three of our smile cards and wrap a $5 bill around each. We hid one next to a pack of diapers in a grocery store, one in the toy aisle of Walmart and one next to a bible at Walmart. We also let the kids pick out toys for a Christmas toy drive. The kids had fun helping place the money around the store and I'm glad they are learning to pass it on. :)

The Hobbling Homeless Man

I was shopping in town when I saw a man aged about 30 hobbling down the road. He didn't have any possessions with him but I guessed he was homeless and that he seemed to have pain in his leg.  I watched him for a few minutes but was unable to help that day.   All that evening I thought about him and wondered about his life and his story. Going to bed I decided that if our paths crossed again I would help him.   I saw him the very next day! He stopped and asked a young woman in front of me for some cash. She looked surprised and not very happy to be stopped. She gave him a few coins.   I carried on walking behind and saw him drop the money into a charity box.   I quickly went to the cash machine to get some money whilst trying to watch where he went.   With cash ... Read Full Story >>

"What is Your Wish List?"

I currently work as the internal human resources manager for a large home improvement store. One of our core values is to give back to the community, and to make an emotional connection with our customers. One afternoon, a lady stopped by my store and dropped off a letter.  It was a very busy week for me so I did not get to the letter until a few days later. When I finally did, I noticed that it was from a nearby day care center. The director had written that they were low on funds, but needed certain things for the day care. I ran her letter by my store manager, and he agreed to a meeting with the day care director. When we arrived at the center, the director gave us a tour. The facility was really in bad shape. The walls needed to be repainted, the ceiling tiles needed to ... Read Full Story >>

A 5 AM Thank-You Note

Sometimes, I need to arrive at work early in the morning, around 6 AM, which means I have to leave my house around 5 AM (yes, it is quite difficult to wake up at 4 AM :)). Luckily, our work arranges for a cab driver to pick up employees from their respective homes before 5:30 AM. But since we don't have one consistent cab making the rounds every morning, the drivers often are not familiar with the employees' addresses. They end up having to roam around early in the morning to pick up close to fifteen people. During my (not so often) early morning commute to office, I have been watching an employee who seems to come to the office early on a regular basis. He also generally gets picked up first by the drivers. Since he usually travels at the same time, he happens to know the addresses of most ... Read Full Story >>

RAKs For The Victims

How to Lighten Up a Laundromat

I recently needed some quarters, so I went to the laundromat to exchange my $10 bill for change. The environment there seemed a little tense-- no one was smiling and everyone kept to themselves. I didn't need to do laundry, and I could feel people looking at me as I waited for my quarters to come out, clinking one at a time.

I quietly placed my quarters in my wallet, and started to walk toward the door. Then I stopped for a moment.

I opened my wallet back up, and looked at the washier unit in front of me. It read: $2.00 per load.

I could feel eyes watching me cautiously, curious of what I was doing. 

I took $2 in quarters out of my wallet and placed them neatly on one of the washers. Then I smiled, walked out, and drove away.

I hope that someone who needs it will pick it up and use it. :) 

And for the people who saw what I did, may they see that it was just a gesture of kindness to someone I will never see or meet or know. It was simply to show that we can leave an act of kindness wherever we may go. As small and simple that act may be.

Yogurt Shop Angel

I was stopped at the traffic light and a homeless man was pacing up and down along the divider. It was a scorching hot day.   'This will make him smile,' I thought, and I turned my car towards a frozen yogurt shop. I grabbed a cup and filled it with couple of flavors and came to the counter to weigh it.   I wanted to add some toppings but my change was not enough for that, so I asked the lady if she would take a $100 bill.   She said she wasn't allowed to accept a bill that large. Alright, I thought and paid for the yogurt.    As I was about to leave, she said, “Ma'am, don’t disappoint your child. Please add their favorite topping.”   I turned to her and said, “Thanks for your offer but this is not for my child. It's for the homeless man across the street.”   She smiled  with surprise and said, “Oh! ... Read Full Story >>

Flowers For The Under-appreciated

I am a junior in high school. There is a lady who works at my school as a campus monitor and her job is to hand out call-slips and prevent people from leaving campus without permission.  Before today I had never seen her smile.    The other day my friends and I were eating in the cafeteria and I saw her walking around. When she came closer to us I could see that she was crying. She pulled out a tissue and quickly wiped her eyes. I thought to myself that this lady is so under-appreciated and needs to be recognized for all her hard work. So ... I wrote a note telling her that the students appreciated everything she did and that her contribution to our school made a difference in all of our lives. I signed it "Some thankful students" and slipped it into an envelope.    Then I realized I didn't even know her name. ... Read Full Story >>

Picking Up the Tab for Breakfast

After church this Sunday morning, my daughter and I went to a local restaurant for late breakfast.. An older woman was seated next to us at an adjoining booth. What drew my attention is that when she came in and seated herself , she walked straight toward us with a smile, as though she was going to sit with us and knew us, but then turned to her table and took a seat by herself. I thought to myself that I should have invited her to sit with us. When we were done with our food, my daughter and I left our booth (the woman was still seated at her table) and whispered to the waitress to put the woman's breakfast on our tab.   The waitress seemed surprised at what I was doing for a stranger. So I told her of a card I had received the previous day from a complete stranger, ... Read Full Story >>

Smile - It's Okay

Hello, my help others family! I want to share my experience when I had taken my daughter to Walgreens'.

I had parked away from the other cars, a bit isolated, the parking lot was busy so it was fine.  I heard a distance voice, as it got louder I realized a woman coming near my car. I turned to see what she was saying... then realized she had just been released from the hospital as I could see that she had had an IV drip in her arm. 

She asked if I had  $2.00 to get her medicine.  I said yes of course.  She was very grateful.  She had been out here all day and no one would help her.  She said she was about to start crying.  I said it was okay and that she should just smile. 

Cheap Funeral and a Good Party

The derecho was unkind to our town of Lynchburg, Va., on the night of June 30, 2012. The 80-mile-an-hour straight-line winds tore trees out of the ground and dropped them on top of houses in almost every neighborhood. Most of the city was without power. However, I was about to discover that damaged homes and lack of electricity were just the beginning of my challenges that week. I am a building contractor, and I was inspecting a neighbor's tree-damaged home the next day when I got the call from my sister in New Jersey. She told me they were taking my 87-year-old mother to the hospital because "she just doesn't look good." Late that afternoon, I got the call we all dread. The doctor said my mother's lungs were about done, and we had better get there. My wife and I quickly packed and got on the road for the 430-mile trip ... Read Full Story >>

Buy A Book, Share A Book

Kindness At The Post Office

I helped a young man at the post office who is working in our city. He had just received his salary and was was trying to send money to two different people. 

Cuddly Bears And Beenies

Today, when I was out in town, I went into the pound shop. Everything they sell costs £1.  

My Chicken Flock Is Growing

The Blanket In The Dug-Out

In my new position as manager of parks and recreation in a small California mountain town I have the great privilege of being able to visit parks and playgrounds as part of my job responsibilities.  A month or so ago, on a cold autumn morning, I walked through a ball park near my office. In the dug-out I noticed some trash and an old blanket which I picked up and carried toward the trash bin. As I lifted the blanket to dispose of it I caught a whiff ... and it occurred to me that it was being used, probably by a homeless person. I stopped, thought about it, and reluctantly returned the blanket to the dug-out.   Over the next couple of weeks I would pop my head into the dug-out. The blanket was always there, always in a different place. As our maintenance men were in the park often I assumed ... Read Full Story >>