Stories of Kindness from Around the World

A Kindness Box In The Classroom

I am a special education teacher in a primary school.  I try to teach the children about kindness and reward random acts of kindness in my classroom. 

When a student does something to help another peer out of the goodnes of their heart, I will acknowledge it and let them go in to my kindness box to pull out a little surpise.  The students get excited when someone is recognized for being kind and they congratulate that child for caring enought to help someone else. 

It is amazing how children in my classroom are always well behaved and have a caring nature from just being kind.

A Spontaneous Gesture

One day when I was walking towards my office in the morning rush hour, I saw an old and very poor lady sitting near the gate of my building. I guess she was begging for money.

So many strangers were moving around her, I saw that they were all ignoring her plight - busy in their own daily routine.  I don't know what it was, but something moved me to reach out to her.  I took out my lunch box and water bottle and gave it to her without giving it a second thought.

She was so surprised and happy.  A tear ran down one of her eyes.  It made me feel so good to help her a little bit and it reminded me that sometimes it takes very little to make someone smile and feel a bit more secure.  

Thank You For Doing The Most Important Job

I was heading to my writing group yesterday. Standing at the bus stop I decided to run back for a book to read on the journey. (Something I don't normally do.) While waiting for the bus, I flicked through the pages and found my place. Because it was an old book I didn't want to "dog-ear" the pages, so I searched in my pockets for something to use as a bookmark. All I had was a couple of ten pound notes, so I carefully folded one of them and slipped it between the pages. Sitting on the bus I took the book out and was about to read but and I was distracted a young woman behind me who was speaking on her cell phone. She was talking to her brother. She wanted to know where he was, why he wasn't where he was supposed to be, why he had lied to their mother again and ... Read Full Story >>

Christmas Gifts Of Kindness

by Doran Roggio It was the Christmas of 1973. I had just given birth to a baby girl a month earlier. Poverty was a way of life. I was on my own with two children, my infant daughter and a seven year old son. My daughter’s father was not around and I had little help from family. When my infant daughter was three weeks old, I fell asleep during a night feeding. Laying on the edge of the bed I dozed off, my arm relaxed and my tiny daughter slipped onto the floor. Her persistent screams frightened me and I thought it best to take her to the emergency room to make sure there were no injuries. Having no car or money, I called the local police department for a ride to the hospital. The officers were extremely kind and showed concern as I communicated the incident, over my infant’s persistent crying. Reaching ... Read Full Story >>

The Kindness I See In The World

Kindness is a simple answer in a sometimes difficult and challenging world. I know that to be true. For a long time now it has been my mission to acknowledge and appreciate all people and to encourage others to do the same. When my 7 year old grand-daughter, Skylar, and I go out, we have a contest called “Who can make the most people smile. “ It makes for a wonderful glorious day. We will be walking in the supermarket and someone will be walking down the aisle with her head down. Skylar walks up to her and gives her a big smile. I watch her walk down the aisle, turn around and smile at Skylar again or perhaps smile at someone else. Kindness is a chain that pulls us all together. Anything that lifts another person is kindness. Every single act of kindness has a ripple effect.    In 2002, my dad had a series of strokes and other illness. At that ... Read Full Story >>

The Kindness In A Simple Hello

I was having lunch with my teacher and one of her friends who used to teach at the university.  My teacher asked her friend if she would consider coming back to the university but her friend said she enjoyed teaching at the university she works at now because the students are much friendlier, more respectful towards the teachers and work harder. 

She gave an example from a time she was in a mall, she said one of her students spotted her from the other end and ran over just to say hello.  She said how much she was moved by that simple gesture.   She said at this campus students sometimes wouldn't even say 'hello' or acknowledge her when walking right past her.

At this point, my teacher told me how much my friendliness towards her means to her.  She said I always brought a smile on my face whenever I met her and was always warm when I greeted her.  It was nice to hear how much such ay simple act of kindness made my teacher happy without me even knowing it.

Spreading A Little Extra Valentine's Day Love

There are 2 coffee shops in my town that have an upstairs sitting area perfect to leave my Smile Cards. I went to the first one hoping that it would be empty, but unfortunately it was not. So, instead, I gathered my courage and decided to I leave my cards and smile cards on the table where you find the sugar and the milk. I just placed a piece of paper saying "Please take one. Happy Valentine's day!"  and about 25 cards saying "May all your days be filled with love" and around the same amount of Smile Cards. I prefer to do these things when no one is looking rather than when there are people around. But I had paid a fortune for that coffee just to drop my cards so I could not leave without completing my mission. The second coffee shop was a lot easier because there was no ... Read Full Story >>

Extendeding The Hand of Friendship

The last few weeks I took on a more difficult kindness task that I thought I would try. The idea was from a card that I pulled from my smile deck and also inspired by a few posts here. I decided to reach out to a few people I had not talked to in years.

One was a relative who I had lost touch with 25 years ago. She was very happy I reached out. The other 2 were friends I had not talked to in nearly 10 years. Both were great friends that we just lost touch with each other. It was great to talk to them both.

With one of them, I reached out at a great time for him. He expressed his appreciation of my friendship and said some very kind things to me about our past. As many of you know I believe that everything happens for a reason so I believe it was not necessarily an accident we reconnected. I am glad our friendship mattered to him and also glad he sees it as a big positive we got in contact again.

It has reminded me that it is good to be the one to take the initiative to be kind and reach out. Even if it seems difficult at the moment, in the end it offers wonderful rewards!

A Snack That Turned Into Balloons

Often we do little acts of kindness and can’t really know what happens next… the people who benefit from the act return to their lives and we return to ours!  Our paths may never cross again.  But that’s not the case when a member of HelpOthers does a kind act to another member of HelOthers!  Here we can chart the ripples as we guide the kindness on its way!  Here’s one such story. You may have read Aurelia’s post about making Chex Mix for her family, or Bluebell’s post about receiving a snack from a friend in the US.  Well I sent some Karmabucks to Aurelia to find out more about her amazing snack and she offered to send some to me if I was based in the US.  Unfortunately I’m not, I live in the UK but luck would have it that I was off to America for a company event last ... Read Full Story >>

Teaching Kindness To Academically Gifted Children

I am a teacher for academically gifted fourth and fifth graders. Part of their curriculum in Language Arts is studying articles, and newspapers.  As a teacher and wanting my students to make some connections  I was researching the web for articles I came across some that were stories on helping others.  (Our school does an annual food drive for the families in the community who are in need and we had a speaker came in from Good Shepherd (non profit organization designed who gives shelter, meals, and clothing) to discuss about giving, and write about the concept of gratitude.  While searching for a website for the students to read and make more connections and have discussions in class, I came across this website, helpothers.  I love it!  I am going to have my students read some of the stories (I feel are appropriate and they would connect with during this study) and challenge them to ... Read Full Story >>

A Smile Card Farewell

I am planning to change my career, so I went to a career adviser to get some advice on what to do with my qualifications. The career adviser was lovely and we connected immediately as if we had known each other for a long time.

When I booked another appointment she told me that she was moving and that it would be the final appointment. I decided to give her a little glass heart with the words "good luck" and a Smile Card. When she saw the Smile Cards she asked me if she could have more, she was going to have a farwell dinner and she wanted to give one to each of her guests. I was over the moon and handed her all the Smile Cards I had in my bag.

I felt that I wanted to do something else so I went home got one of my books and wrote a small dedication whishing her luck for the new job, and wrapped it in a beautiful paper along with more Smile Cards. I gave it to reception to give it to her, I hope she liked the surprise, and I'm happy to have sent more Smile Cards out in to the world.

Ripples From The Smile Deck

I picked a card from the Smile Deck today - it was a spade.  The spades are in the category “For Our World”.  I picked the card (4 of spades) which says:  “send a thank you note to a person or business helping the world”. I have recently had someone come in to my life who has inspired me tremendously.  She is very kind.  She reaches out to children all over the world who are disabled or terminally ill.  She wants to bring a little bit of sunshine into their lives so she sends them lovely goodie bags for their birthdays and on other special occasions.  I feel blessed to know her and decided to use this opportunity to thank her. I went to the store and bought a lovely ‘Thank You’ card and wrote a kind note inside.  I also placed a Smile Card in the envelope so that she knows she ... Read Full Story >>

Warm Smiles on a Cold Night

Last night my husband and I went to Sonic for an ice cream treat.  It was a little chilly, especially for Texas, because we like it warm and it was too cold not to have a jacket.  The car hop brought our order and low and behold, she had no jacket. I asked her if she was cold and she said she was freezing but had no jacket. It was no wonder because we are not used to needing jackets down here.   I tried to see if I had one in my car but I did not.  On the way home after we had left, I told my husband my plan.  "When we get home I'm going to get my little jacket and bring it back to her," I said, "It is too cold to be working all night with no jacket." I did just that.  I also slipped a Smile Card in to the pocket.  When I got there I looked for the ... Read Full Story >>

Care For The Care-Giver

I work in low income housing for the elderly. All of the people who live in our buildings are so kind. 

Recently, one of our care givers needed medical attention. She was in a great deal of pain but she still came to work every day. She had no health insurance and no money. She has helped to care for people in our buildings for eleven years and has been a reliable helper for many frail elderly people.  

We tried appealing to several foundations to help pay for her medical tests but  had very little luck. Then we found out that if she could raise about $528 she could get the testing done (with the help of a large foundation grant.)

There are forty-two residents in the building she works in and they all decided to hold a fund-raiser for her, despite being on low incomes themselves. They eventually raised $550! She got her test done and now has a medical plan of action.  

How incredible people are!

A Spin Cycle of Kindness

When I moved into my new house it already had a washing machine in it but I had just bought a new one so I wondered what to do with the machine already in the house.  I remembered two girls who regularly knocked at my door for religious reasons.  They never had or kept anything they didnt need.  If one of them needed something, say a winter coat, they would work for the amount of time it took to make the money they needed for the coat and then return to their religious work. They had just got their own house so I decided to give them all the things I didn't need when I was done unpacking. Whatever they didn't need, they could give to the charity store they helped support. I asked them if they needed a washing machine and they both looked at each other and smiled. It turns out that they had called ... Read Full Story >>

A Little Girl's Kindness Lesson on Halloween

My mother lives in a retirement community, and I was visiting her on Halloween night.  There was a knock on the door, and upon opening it, we were surprised to find my sister and her 6 year old daughter, Grace - both dressed up in their halloween costumes.

My sister had brought Grace over to 'share' Halloween' with the residents.  Grace was carrying small peach roses and a boxes of mints.  The ladies that they passed in the hall each got a rose, a bow, and a "Happy Halloween!", and the men got a mint. 

Grace took such joy in doing this, even though she hadn't been trick-or-treating yet.  The joy spreading through the halls could be felt, and the gleaming faces on the residents were treats to all of us.  I thought that a lovely lesson my sister is giving her daughter, in a holiday where kids revel in receiving, she instead learns that giving is the greatest treat of all!

Listening Hard Enough To Hear

I was shopping in a grocery store that was so big that it had an elevator for you and your shopping basket to get from floor to floor.  I was about to get on the elevator with another young lady when I heard a shout from someone. The young lady looked at me shocked because we heard sounds as if someone were trying to startle us with scary yelling. Then, I looked again and saw a man in a motorized shopping cart coming our way with his hand reaching out as if to say, "wait for me!" Once he got to the elevator, we helped him "fit inside" and closed the doors. The man must have had some kind of stroke, because his speech was very unclear and hard to understand. This, however, did not stop him from communicating with us, and I totally understood everything he was trying to say. ... Read Full Story >>

Waking Up With The Kindness Urge

This morning I took the liberty of making my mom breakfast while she was getting ready for work. It was surprising to me that I was able to drag myself out of bed because I was so sleep deprived and given that I didn’t have school today, I didn’t even have to get up early. I guess the fact that I didn’t have school today was all the more reason to help out. So I groggily got downstairs and started to make fresh coffee, along with an onion and sausage omelette sandwich. In the process of cooking, I realized that once I actually got out of bed, it wasn’t so bad after all. When mum came down, she was so happy that I took the initiative to do that for her. It made me feel nice, when she said that.   After she left for work, I felt more motivated, so I wrote an ... Read Full Story >>

Decorating A Heart With Honesty And Kindness

Yesterday I was asked to deposit some cash in the bank. I went out with the money to deposit and some extra money which was to be used to pay for renovations going on at my house. The bank was busy when I arrived so I took a token and waited.  While I was waiting I noticed an old lady struggling to get a cash-in payee slip. I went over and got the slip for her and then asked her what she needed done so I could help her. I filled in her slip and got a queue token for her.  When my turn came up, I deposited the money and I then waited for the old lady's turn in case she needed help. She had intended to deposit three thousand rupees but when it was almost her turn she realised she had lost the money on the way to the bank! She was so upset she started crying. She tried to ... Read Full Story >>

The Small Things That Count

If you've ever been to Chennai in India, you can probably imagine this scene.  Three people, strangers had piled into the same rickshaw (a three wheeler taxi ) and I was one of them. On the way a woman joined us.  She sat up front next to the driver.

The fare for her was only Rs. 5 but she had a  Rs. 100 note. So at the final destination, the Permabur railway station, I paid my fare and paid for her's too. I did that so that she and the driver can move on instead of trying to find a way to change the note at the shops. It is a small thing but I was happy to do my part.