Stories of Kindness from Around the World

Stay Warm

A mother of a friend recently fell and cracked bones in her neck.
While in hospital she received a pacemaker, I made her a fleece shawl to keep her shoulders warm while recovering.

She received it yesterday and called with almost overwhelming gratitude.
I'm glad such a small effort on my part made her day happier.
 

888 Reads

Children Are Real Heroes

I enjoyed some cleaning work with children today.
Yesterday, it was a full day of raining in our city. And it made everything wet and soggy. Especially, the play grounds are so wet. And children love the playgrounds so much.

So, today, I did cleaning works with children. We did sweeping, digging, dragging, putting the dry soil on wet places, making pitch, cutting the grass.
It was so much labor work.

But we enjoyed it and I also got an opportunity to see the children's real love and energy for sports and creativity. They enjoyed all of the work and they finished it very smartly and positively. They are real heroes...

Thanks to all of them!
 

862 Reads

Words Can Heal

A personal, long-time friend hurt me deeply this week. I've only shared the details with my wife and my mother. I had a dream about it the night after the incident. Guess it was because it was so deep in my subconscious. Didn't realize it had affected me like that. Then, today, out of the blue, I got a message from a different childhood friend that I've known maybe since 40 years. We hung out in many of the same circles, but we haven't talked in decades. In the message she tells me I'm an amazing person and an inspiration to others and that people should tell me how awesome I am on a regular basis. This was so unexpected, but it came at the perfect time, right after I was hurt by someone from that same era. I'm posting this to tell you that your kind words may mean far more than you ... Read Full Story >>

1536 Reads

Maintaining Connections

Recently I visited my former high school teachers over Christmas Break to see how they were doing and to catch up. I visited my school counselor as well. It struck me that many students forget to think about their former school counselors and support staff who helped them get to where they are today.

I talked to my former guidance counselor about how my first semester of college went and how well I am doing. He really helped me in my senior year of high school so I thought that paying him a visit would be a great act of kindness.

As I was leaving the guidance office, I heard one guidance counselor say, "I feel like they forget about us once they graduate." And my heart felt so big, knowing that I thought to visit them. I am in my first year of university now. I could really see how happy my teachers were to see that I had visited them.

1943 Reads

A Free Zoo Day Goes Both Ways

I have a San Diego Zoo membership. This membership comes with 4 passes to share with others. Each year towards the end of the year I typically still have 3-4 passes left as my membership also includes bringing a friend. Several years ago I decided, instead of recycling them, I would go to the zoo with a friend on Thanksgiving or Christmas and give them away. The people have to walk in with me so I have to be there in person. San Diego has a lot of visitors from all over the world. The first year I gave them to a young family from somewhere in Asia (don't remember exactly). They were the most modest for sure. The second year I gave them to a Guatemalan family. That was exciting because I got to talk to them about my time in Guatemala in the past. This Christmas I gave them to a family ... Read Full Story >>

2098 Reads

Unexpected Surprises

Two wonderful acts of kindness this week to share.

My husband lost his phone and I rang it. He had dropped it on a train. Someone found it and sent me a text that they were going to hand it in at the first stop on the route. We collected it yesterday and
so grateful that it turned up.

The other was a friend of my daughter (who is still struggling) turned up at our house and took her to the airport to watch the planes to land and take off. She was smiling when she came home. x
 

1380 Reads
  • Posted by Helenconnell2
  • Jan 22, 2020
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Positive Force for Peace

The weather was a nice -2 C yesterday.
So I made the most of this opportunity by repairing and putting up some poly on windows for an elder who had been getting sick because of broken windows. That way, she will not get sick again, I hope.

This week, I made her and another elder some fresh bannock for their supper.

I also spent some time visiting and helping to carry around twin girls, 2 months old, so cute.

Then, I went to go help another family at a wake. This is part of what I do, being there for those who lost a family member - I think it's important.

In other actions, I helped carry groceries for an elder to her vehicle, made food to surprise others, helped visitors to my community, fed neighbor's dogs when they weren't home for 3 days. Just generally, I went around being a positive force and energy for others...for peace.
 

1412 Reads

Helping Animals for Christmas

When I can, I volunteer at my animal rescue shelter on holidays, like Christmas.

Usually, the managers work this shift alone so other workers can have the time with family and friends.

I go unannounced with treats for the animals and the staff. I make sure to let everyone working that day know how much I appreciate what they do for the lives of homeless animals. And I clean kennels, feed animals and try to give a loving touch and kind words to each animal before I leave.

I always leave with a heart so full and light; the best present I can give myself.
 

921 Reads

River Cleanup

Today I practiced kindness in a small but meaningful way. I took my 12 year daughter for a walk on the river behind where we live.

We spent 30 minutes walking along the banks and picking up litter and cigarette butts. I was also able to connect with my daughter in a very authentic way (which is hard to do with preteens) and connect with nature.
It was a kindness for the earth, for my daughter and for myself!

1019 Reads

Dinner And Conversation

Yesterday, I spent the day at my child’s sporting event running the snack bar. At the end of the evening, the event organizers were going to throw away the left over hotdogs and hamburger buns, chips, salsa, cheese, etc.

Instead I took them home. We spent the evening making cheese sandwiches and packing ziploc bags of chips. We then went to an area where a lot of homeless people live and handed out sandwiches and chips for an evening meal (about 40 meals total) and spent some time chatting with a couple of people.

It was so fulfilling to to witness the appreciation and gratitude for a full belly. They were happy not only to have some food, but grateful for the opportunity to have a conversation and be treated like anyone else. I was thankful to have met some new friends and for the opportunity to help my fellow humans.

785 Reads

51st Birthday!

I usually donate blood on my birthday, but I gave too recently. so, today I decided to do something a little different. I turned 51 today. So, I put 51 one-dollar bills in my pocket and surprised people around town: • Bought a Starbucks coffee for a man. • Later, bought another for a woman. • Gave a few bucks to a man asking for money on the street. • Paid for a man buying coffee for him and a friend at a different coffee house. • Bought Boba milk tea for a couple. • Paid for Taco Bell dinner for a couple. • Gave the last few bucks to the guy behind the counter at Taco Bell. Some were hesitant to accept at first until I told them that was how I was celebrating my birthday. I got a lot of "Thank you"s and ""Happy Birthday"s. My favorite part is all in my head. I imagine the story ... Read Full Story >>

959 Reads

Trust For The Best.

I went to get my driver’s license renewed.

A young man came in wanting to get his license reinstated.
He couldn’t. Apparently he had outstanding child support. The clerk told him to first apply for an ID.

The man whom I assumed was out now from jail or corrections and trying to be back in the community became overwhelmed by the unexpected fee he had to pay to get the ID.

He was about to leave the office all together but decided to fill out the application. I went to the clerk and asked her about the fee. She told me; I paid for it and left.

A fleeting thought came in “You are helping a deadbeat dad”, but I quickly reframed to “He just needs some support to get himself back on track.” And had to let go of the outcome. I also got in touch with my gratitude for what  I have, my health and my family.

So I wanted the same for this person.
 

966 Reads

Merry Christmas To Two Little Girls

I just went to get money order, pay bill and such at customer service.

A grandma with her 2 granddaughters were behind me. We were making conversation and laughing. When I was finally done, I handed each of the girls $5.

I said it's not much, but Merry Christmas. The older one was in shock. (Maybe 10 yrs old) I wrapped my arm around each one and gave a hug. They were so happy and said thank you.

As I walked away, the older one said to her grandma: "Grandma, I'm going to cry."

Her grandma said: "you are?"
She said: "Yes, I'm going to cry."
I felt so happy to make them happy.
 

873 Reads

Pay it forward at the restaurant!

What a great night!

My family and I went out for dinner to our local hangout, a well known chain restaurant. I was prepared this time, and had 2 Smile Cards with me.

The outcome? Well, the family whose bill we paid for, they turned around and decided to Pay it Forward, too!!! It was so cool.
So basically, we paid their bill by surprise. Then, touched by the act of kindness, they picked out another table and went to pick up their bill.... I love domino kindness!!

All this random kindness was spotted by a bystander who came over to ask me about it. I told her about our awesome community and gave her my 2nd smile card.
She said that she would try to do a kind act too!!

RaK Pack (definition: a group of people who do Random Acts of Kindness)

 

1379 Reads

5132 Lunchboxes Packed With Kindness!

As part of a club at school, my daughter has to do Community Service. We had been talking about different ways to fulfill it. She eventually decided to do one her friend suggested last night.

She said that they had packed bagged meals for needy people. She was so proud that they did 5,132!!!

Cool news is that apparently they now do it on a somewhat regular basis. She had thought as she was packing -  Wow, mom would really love to do this!That made me happy. Even better was she asked me to go back with her sometime!

876 Reads

Get Warm Project!

There is a very kind local lady who has organized an initiative called the Get Warm Project in Vancouver BC (Canada). All the donated items such as socks, gloves, blankets, toiletries are bundled into bags and then handed out to people in need in one of our country’s poorest areas. This morning, a group of volunteers got together to bundle each bag of items in preparation to hand them out to people in need. I signed up to help bundle the bags this morning. It was so nice to see people truly caring about poverty, addiction or homelessness which many people may just ignore or disregard, due to their circumstances. ... Read Full Story >>

1076 Reads

Small Help Goes A Long Way!

I was on a 10 hour long flight journey. I was sitting on the aisle seat and there was a woman sitting on the window seat who was unable to recline her seat. So, she called the stewardess and complained that the seat would not recline. The stewardess reached over me to try and push the button of her seat, but to no avail. She then offered to move the woman to another seat, but the only seats available were middle seats. The woman said that she could not sit comfortably in a middle seat, and sadly decided to stay in her own seat. I thought of helping her in some way. I tried my own seat recline button and it was very hard to push, but it did move the seat back. I leaned over to the woman and told her that the buttons are sometimes very hard, and asked her ... Read Full Story >>

1364 Reads

Recycling At The Beach!

A few days ago I was at the beach, and I felt sorry to see so much trash lying around near the rocks. How could I relax with so much litter around?
So, my friend and I grabbed a pair of gloves from a nearby place, and started picking up the litter - as many number of cans, napkins, bottles, and rubber as we could find.

While we were picking up these items, a man passing by also joined us and lent a helping hand. I think we collected a bag full.

We should all do our part to be the solution and recycle!
 

636 Reads

Childhood Books for Local Library

This morning I donated a box full of my childhood books to the local library. I hope that those who read these books can gain some knowledge which may help them in the future. It is said that knowledge is the best gift you can give, and I hope to donate more books for children to read.

It feels really good to donate!! While I was there, I also signed up to volunteer to read to the children on my free days. This will be a wonderful experience which I await eagerly.

800 Reads

Cookie Love

The Healing Power...of Cookies! 

I made a double batch of oatmeal raisin cookies.

Our mothers (my husband and mine), were great bakers and infused such LOVE into everything they made. I have learned from them to add the same into my culinary endeavors.

The extra cookies provide kindness opportunities as I run errands today. Also, I like to have them packaged and ready for when our UPS and PO delivery persons come to our door this holiday season, as well as any unexpected guests.

You just never know who might need the healing power of a cookie!
 

809 Reads




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