Stories of Kindness from Around the World

A Game of Neighborhood Christmas Tag

This story follows my previous story: Last night, my daughter and I printed out Smile Cards and attached a note to each card saying 'Merry Christmas' and 'Have a Happy New Year'. We decided to turn the cards into part of the a neighborhood tag game. You must pass your card along to someone else in the neighborhood with a piece of paper wishing them Happy Holidays too.. We delivered the cards around our neighbourhood in the dark so no one would see us - it was so cold.. :) We gave out plenty of cards to our neighbors. I was curious when I saw my neighbor run up my driveway today after her child got on her bus with a paper in her hand... It was one of our Smile Cards - we got one back!  This afternoon when I was checking my mailbox, our eldest neighbour, maybe around 80 years old, stopped at my mailbox with her friend.  She ... Read Full Story >>

A Christmas Present for Santa

I've been writing about Christmas with my autistic daughter, you can read my previous two stories here and here. I decided to make ornamental cookies with smiley faces on them with my daughter tonight. We printed out different coloured small round faces with different smiles on them. We goofed up the first few times, but, it finally worked. They look cute. We also made little Gingerbread men. We put holes in each one at the top and strung yarn through them. (We didn’t have any ribbon and yarn works J )  We then put some of our Smile Cards with a saying that when you hang me at Christmas, do not forget to make someone smile the rest of the year. We are going to go to every elderly person’s door in this one development and leave one on their doorstep. That will be about 20 homes. We’ve made a few extra to give ... Read Full Story >>

Christmas Smiles During Tough Times

Times are tough for my little girl and me right now. She knows that Christmas may not be so good for her this year, but we have decided to do all the crazy stuff like dancing to Christmas music around our living room and acting nutty ;). Then we plan on going to eat our dinner, make some instant cookies, and have milk while watching Miracle on 34th Street once again (her favourite movie). Anyhow, after that, we decided that we will use our scrap booking art and make some Christmas Smile Cards tonight. We are going to send some out via email. The others, we are going to stick on our neighbors' doors and wish them a Merry Christmas, along with the Smile Cards. Shhh... they won't know it was us. We are even going to leave one with a plate of cookies in the mailbox for the mailman. We are also going ... Read Full Story >>

Today You, Tomorrow Me

During this past year I’ve had three instances of car trouble: a blowout on a freeway, a bunch of blown fuses and an out-of-gas situation. They all happened while I was driving other people’s cars, which for some reason makes it worse on an emotional level. And on a practical level as well, what with the fact that I carry things like a jack and extra fuses in my own car, and know enough not to park on a steep incline with less than a gallon of fuel. Each time, when these things happened, I was disgusted with the way people didn’t bother to help. I was stuck on the side of the freeway hoping my friend’s roadside service would show, just watching tow trucks cruise past me. The people at the gas stations where I asked for a gas can told me that they couldn’t lend them out "for safety ... Read Full Story >>

Persevering With My Kindness Mission

I find that gifting food to others can sometimes be a challenging deed to accomplish.  Last night, I encountered two Asian women collecting bottles from recycling bins in the road, so I asked whether they were hungry and wanted some food.  They hardly responded, and one merely looked at me with a puzzled look on her face.  I assume that they either did not understand English or simply had no desire to receive food. A similar interaction happened this past weekend when I was seeking to give away some pears that I received as gifts (which of course I washed before giving away).  As I rode my bike under a highway overpass, I noticed a homeless woman sitting in the dark, empty space below the highway.  I turned my bike around and rode up beside her.  She appeared to be dirty, had a bin likely filled with possessions, and was fidgeting ... Read Full Story >>

Re-Energised By A Small Act of Kindness

We had gone to another town for a wedding. It had been a long drive, and before going to the wedding hall, we decided to stop at a relative's home to freshen up. On the way to the stairs, I noticed a very old cobbler repairing some shoes.  He gave a heart smile and warm greetings to everyone who passed by him. I returned his greetings and walked up the stairs trying to think whether there was anything to eat in the car that I could offer him on the way back.

While coming down the stairs after freshening up, I decided that I would stop and talk to him and give him some cash instead. That way, he could purchase what he would like for himself and/or his family. So while the others went ahead, I stopped by where he sat, chatted with him for some minutes, and enjoyed his huge grin. I then gave him 500 rupees, saying it was a small token of appreciation from the world to him to use as he sees fit. He immediately burst into another huge smile, and blessed all :).

It made me forget my tiredness from the long journey and gave me a new lease of energy to attend the wedding and endure the long drive back home.

A Tale of Two Tags

Some months ago, my husband and I had tried tagging some military personnel and it had not materialized. Imagine our surprise when we landed at the same airport last month and noticed that there were military personnel waiting around in order to be shipped to some frontier. We literally rubbed our hands with glee and decided to tag them - and hopefully manage to complete it. Here is the story of the two tags - and both the tags (irrespective of the end result) left a great impact on us. Tag 1 (6  months ago): It was the end of our vacation and while we were waiting at the airport for our flight home, we noticed that there were a lot of military personnel waiting to be shipped out.  We had a thought - why don't we tag them with all with a beverage of their choice before they boarded their special flight. So we ... Read Full Story >>

A Big Difference From A Child's Unknowing Kindness

This past Monday, I was talking to one of the children, Emily's, mom for some time.  We shared the normal stories of potty training, school, etc. and then she mentioned one of the things she had been struggling with- Emily's delayed speech. She was almost 4 years old and still speaking in only two-word sentences. I was able to relate since my son had also been a late talker and like many new parents, anything out of the norm, will cause some level of concern. I understood her concern because Emily, unable to always communicate with words, would resort to hitting others when frustrated - a very common response mechanism with speech delay.  That night after talking the issue through with her for a while, I told her I would put her in touch with my friend who was a speech therapist and I let her know that if needed, I wanted to at least lend her ... Read Full Story >>

Spontaneous Act of Giving

We were shopping at Target (a big shope) and on our way out, when we were in the parking lot, I saw a young woman with a child, asking for money for food. I have no idea what her situation was, but I gave her some money and carried on to my car.

As I got in, I suddenly realized that I had just been given a $5.00 Target coupon by the cashier because of some purchase I had made, so I ran back to the lady and gave her the card so that hopefully, she could buy something in the store with the coupon.

I have no idea what happened later, but I hope it helped her in some way.

An Extra Dose of Compassion at the Hospital

Today I met an old lady when I was in hospital. I was done with my check-up and I was standing in medicine counter of the hospital to get my medicinal receipt and medicines.  I saw that the old lady was sitting in a nearby chair and waiting for something. She seemed a little distraught so I asked her if she was okay.

She told me that she was waiting for her son who was tied up with some personal work and he had told her that he could come back in a few hours. She said that she was feeling faint and tired. I rushed to the nearby hospital cafeteria and bought her some breakfast. I then got her prescription for her and paid for her medication along with mine. 

She had the breakfast and she was happy now. She also had the tablet and thanked me.

I was happier for showing kindness to her.

Even Small Kindness Is Never Forgotten

I came across HelpOthers few days ago and I can`t stop reading the stories. I want to thank you all for sharing joy around the world and writing about it. Ever since I was a kid I've believed that a smile is a cure and that kindness spreads around like a (wonderful) virus. I`m glad to see how many stories of miraculous acts you all have written. I shared some of my favorite to my mom an hour ago. She was a bit down and I wanted to put a smile on her beautiful face and remind her that people can surprise you in a very pleasant way. After hearing some of the stories from HelpOthers she told me one herself that happened 30 years ago. She was just a teenager on a vacation on the Adriatic coast with her two best friends (they are still her best friends).  They were having coffee ... Read Full Story >>

A Little Help On The Way Back Home

I don't normally make a habit of handing money to people in parking lots holding signs. Sometimes, I do pull into the fast food drive thru and got a couple of burgers and some fries and handed them to people.  But this night was different. Late one night, as I was driving out of our local Walmart parking lot, standing under a tree, barely visible, was a young man. As I glanced at the hooded figure, we made eye contact. I can't explain the feeling I felt to my very core.

As I drove past, the image on his face was almost haunting to me. As I pulled out of the parking lot, a voice came into my head, "If you don't help him, who will?" So I rounded the corner and pulled back into the parking lot, rolled down the window and handed him some cash. He was tearful as he thanked me and said, "I'm just trying to get home." I said, "I hope this will help."

As I drove away, I had the thought, aren't we all "just trying to make it home?"  Maybe, we are placed in others' paths to help them get home too! 

A Little Bit Of Holiday Joy On The Go

During Christmas time, I took Christmas cards with me on my errands and I gave them to random people just to wish them a Merry Christmas. They were all been touched by the gesture. It felt good sharing the spirit of Christmas with people I met. I may see them again at some point but I'm not sure at all. But I enjoyed giving some happiness to someones lives on this holiday season. I also included a smile card inside.

When Kindness Doesn't Need Any Words

On 'Pay-it-Forward' Day, our family knew we wanted to pick up someones tab at the grocery store but we didn't know what we would say to them.

We took the kids and told our oldest to find someone checking out. I felt drawn to the first man I saw, we all agreed this was the one. It was a family with two small children. They had A LOT of items. Still not knowing what to say I went to the cashier when she rang their last item, gave her my card and told her we were paying.

The mother holding the baby was confused and handed  her welfare card to the cashier, her husband signaled to her to put it away. We didn't have to say anything, the couple was deaf. We hugged and cried and left the store. It was a moment we will never forget.

Making Over A Room With Love And Kindness

I wrote earlier about my gift home makeover project - Etseth and I would like to tell you about a very special family that I have recently done a makeover for! The mum of this family, was a victim of severe domestic abuse 12 years ago. After years of the being subjected to violence, she summoned enough courage to leave, she moved from England to Wales with her three children and moved into a woman’s refuge. Further down the line, she met someone, got married and they eventually had two more children.  Their two oldest have moved out so they are left with three children who are 14,11 and 9 years old. My project was to plaster the lounge/dining room. Whilst I was doing this project, their oldest daughter returned from serving in Afghanistan. Unbeknownst to the family, the daughter had spent lots of her army pay to take the family away for a 2 week holiday. As the ... Read Full Story >>

Five Boxes Bursting With Kindness

I had put together 5 different boxes and placed an advert in a local online website saying that I had a FREE box of items that I wanted to give away containing new and used items!   I also added if the replies could tell me why they were in need and then I could figure out what items would be of help!  I really thought I would have hundreds of emails but the one that stuck out the most was an elderly lady who was having a really hard time she had had a stroke, was battleing cancer, had lost her her husband and also lost her 25 year old cat ... and she might be losing her condo because she had no money!  I met her and in handing her what seemed to be just not enough ...I wanted to do more! I have yet to email her and find out if she will be home Christmas eve as she has no family and stop ... Read Full Story >>

A Boot Full of Kindness

My girlfriend and I went to a supermarket called Tesco.  It is a very big shop here in Poland, something like a Walmart for those in the states. Whilst we were there, a homeless man walked in wearing the most tattered clothes and very dirty.  He was using an old vacuum cleaner pole as a stick to carry his life's possessions.  He really was a mess and his face was as dirty as a chimney sweep's. My girlfriend was looking through some clothes and I was wandering around the shoe section, and to be honest, curiously staring as this dirty old frail man who was sizing up some shoes.  Now, anyone in their right mind would wonder, does this guy have the money to buy a new pair of shoes? Security had their eye on him, as I did. I went to find my girlfriend and told her, if that guy doesn't get a pair of shoes, we're buying him a pair.  ... Read Full Story >>

A Teenage Boy 'Starts at the Heart'

I have always tried to base my life on helping others. Sometimes I have had to do without but that’s okay. Our family, like everyone else, are having a rough go of it and I feel blessed just to be able to provide for my own kids. I know that my kids have always been kind-hearted and would do whatever they could for anyone else, but when I learned about a recent act of kindness my teenage son did for a friend, it has really touched my heart. My son was going to school every day with lunch money in his pocket but yet coming home hungry. When we asked about this, we came to find out he was sharing his money daily with a friend that was going without any lunch every day.  As rough as we have it some days we now make sure there is lunch money for two ... Read Full Story >>

An Anonymous Double Holiday Gift

I spent the evening last night shopping for presents:  not for my boyfriend or for me, not for our families or friends, but for a family that we selected to "sponsor" through our holiday angel program at work.  Usually I sponsor just one person, but this year I had the opportunity through our women's network to select a family headed up by a young single mother in my greater community.  It was hard balancing what they were asking for versus what I wanted to get them.  For example, the nine-year-old was asking for a specific doll, and I wanted to get her warm clothes and mittens.  I debated about it for a long time, and decided that I needed to just get both: toys for her to smile about, and warm clothes for her mother to smile about.  This is an anonymous giving program, but I feel like I know the family so well just ... Read Full Story >>

Everyone Deserves A Little Bit of Chocolate

Working in a big corporation, we often get holiday gift baskets containing chocolates and other trinkets from our business partners.  These baskets are usually placed in the middle of our corporate area and are eaten by everyone in the office during the next few days, the remenants eventually thrown out. 

I have made an effort to pick out a few nice chocolate bars that I would usually want to eat and brought them outside for the sercurity guards that work in the cold weather patrolling our parking lots and grounds.  It is the women and men in these roles at my firm that are just as integral as the corporate roles, but often get overlooked. I wanted to show that everyone at the company deserves a piece of the gift baskets. 

The first time that I did this, the guard looked at me in such a perplexed manner.  People are not used to random acts of kindness anymore.  I hope that we can change that, one small kind act at a time.