Stories of Kindness from Around the World

Little Christmas Surprises for the Little Ones

Today a customer came in with her two little ones.  She had a little boy and a little girl. 

I try to keep little things at my desk to give to the little ones who come in the bank.

For the little boy, I gave some bubbles and the little girl I gave a plastic ring, pink to match her pretty outfit.  They thanked me.  I couldn't hold back my huge smile!

We wished each other Merry Christmas as they left.

It made my day!

Smiles...

Learning Kindness From My Father

I remember when I was growing up that my mom would tell me stories about the kind acts my dad would do.  She told me that one time my dad met a close, long-time friend of his in the downtown area. They talked for a while and his friend mentioned that he didn't have money for fare back home.  My dad gave him the only money he had, which was for his own fare, so he just walked home.   I obeserved these acts kindness in our home.  Dad would let me and my two younger brothers eat first and he would eat after us.  Whatever was left on the table he would consume.  I remember the days when his older brother would come to our house and ask for money for his kid's allowance in school and my dad would give him some.  And when it was our time to ask for allowance he would tell us ... Read Full Story >>

City Of Dreams

Where I work, we participated in something called City of Dreams this year, where we receive gift requests from underpriviledged children, and then we go and buy their present (kind of like anonymous Santas), return it unwrapped to a collection bin at work, and then they get it back to the child.  We just know the child's name, age and gender.

This year, "my" child wanted LA Lakers gear, so I got him a T-shirt and a hat.  It's a great program and it feels good to give anonymously in this way.

A 5 Year Old's Extra Special Birthday Kindness

My wonderful  grand daughter just turned five. We always have a party for her with all of our friends and family. I am often a little embarrassed by all the riches received by her.  I thought that this year, with her parents blessing, we could do something different. A nearby elementary school was devastated by fire over the summer and lost nineteen classrooms and the library.  I thought we could use  this birthday to create an opportunity for Lily, even at the young age of five, to understand service to others. The day before her party we drove to the school and took her on a tour of the devastation. Since Lily has been attending nursery she understood the concept of school and seeing the burned buildings helped her understand why we wanted to help. We asked the party-goers to bring donations of books for the school instead of a present. Of course people still brought Lily ... Read Full Story >>

Winter Wonderland for Children of Fallen Soldiers

I had the wonderful opportunity to be a part of something that will forever remain in my memories of Christmas. It's called Snowball Express. Basically a group of sponsors get together to provide trips to children of fallen soldiers.  This year there were 23 families going to Dallas, Texas to spend some time on a ranch, visit Dallas Cowboys stadium, meet Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders, and see Gary Senise perform with his band. American Airlines gate 45 @ LAX was transformed into a Christmas wonderland. There were huge decorations, balloons, food, and a bunch of people who were there at 3am to greet these families and especially the kids. Prior to the families arriving, we were greeting other travelers. We'd smile at them, wish them a Merry Christmas, and we knew by the looks on their faces that it was going to be a great day for them after all. We'd see them walking ... Read Full Story >>

Just Decide, Friend

I was waiting to pick up a friend at the airport when I had one of those life changing experiences, the kind that you sometimes hear other people talk about, the kind that sneaks up on you unexpectedly. This one occurred a mere two feet away from me. As I was straining to locate my friend amongst the line of passengers exiting the airport, I noticed a man coming towards me carrying two light bags. He stopped right next to me to greet his family. First he motioned to his youngest son (maybe 6 years old) as he laid down his bags. He crouched down and they gave each other a long, loving hug. As they seperated enough to look in each other's face, I heard the father say, "Its too good to see you, son I missed you so much!" His son smiled somewhat shyly, averted his eyes and replied softly,"Me too dad!" Then the man ... Read Full Story >>

A Simple Christmas Gift

Here's a way I stretched a dollar on gift giving at work. I thought it might come in handy for some of you I went to Marshall's (a discount dept. store) and bought a gourmet bag of flavored coffee for $5. Then I went to the dollar store for small velvet bows and also decorative goody bags for $2. I found bags shaped like a snowman that you need to close with a twistie tie....I used the velvet ribbon instead.  I measured out the freshly ground coffee into the snowman bags...enough for an 8 cup coffee pot. I had fancy cut out shaped gift tags and I wrote on them who the coffee was for and also  "White Christmas Coffee - makes 8 cups".  I punched a hole in a Smile Card and slipped it on the gift tag string. They look so cute and I can't wait to hand them ... Read Full Story >>

'Snowing' A Little Kindness

I had a new neighbour move in sometime back. I was very close with the previous owner, who was an elderly woman. I used to cut her grass for, shovel her drive-way and look out, in general when her health was decling. I haven't been able to get along very well with the new neighbour since she has moved in.

When I had been ill over the last 2 weeks she had not shovelled my driveway or offered any help.  However, today I could not sleep and and so I got up and shoveled both her and my driveways. I needed to try and put some 'kindness' into the mix and see how it faired out....

This morning, by 9am or so, when more snow had fallen, her side was shoveled but not mine.  But I won't give up on trying to mix more kindness in....

Just To See Them Smile

I have been visiting my mother and my aunt, who both have Alzheimer's, every week for the last five years.

After dinner many of the residents in the nursing home who are in wheelchairs have to wait for someone to push them towards the exit. I usually spend a good twenty minutes helping them. It is incredible how grateful they are, they keep on saying thank you. I do it just to see a smile on their faces and often imagine them young when they didn't need anybody.

Many tell me that God will pay me back. I say He already has since I have been able to keep my mother this long after my father's death.

Little gestures sometimes go a long way.

An Unexpectedly Brighter Day

This particular day I had been feeling stressed all day and I had to drive all the way downtown from the suburbs. I just wasn't very happy about it when I ended up downtown Chicago in the 900 North Michigan building. As I walked out of the building this nice young lady smiled and held the door open for me. I said thank you and we continued to walk down the street in silence.  After about a block she stopped at her bike. I pointed out that one of her tires was completely flat. At first I was just going to keep walking but she just stood there looking somewhat bewildered and her smile was gone.  So I walked back and told her that I owned an Escalade and I would gladly take her to wherever she needed to go. She had a questioning look on her face, and asked, "Are you sure? Is ... Read Full Story >>

Doubling the Gifting

Having experienced the joys of giving small gifts to others through regular random acts of kindness, I have increasingly questioned whether I was truly being generous or whether I was seeking ego-gratification or some sort of karmic credit to justify living an otherwise ordinary life.  To test this concept, I asked myself if I would be just as generous if the acts were truly anonymous, and I would receive no credit. In seeking out those opportunities, an even more interesting challenge arose - providing random strangers with the opportunity to gift acts of kindness. The first experience was as a restaurant in Times Square with a pre-fixe lunch that included dessert.  I did not want any dessert, so I asked the waiter to find another customer and tell the customer that he was offering a free dessert as a random act of kindness.  I specifically made sure he did not mention me ... Read Full Story >>

Tagged For The Very First Time

This weekend I was tagged for the first time! 

After participating in HelpOthers for a couple months now I am grateful to finally be on the receiving end of a random act of kindness!

A young woman at a dance class paid for my evening lesson. She had been gifted her lesson that very same night. 

It was a nice surprise when she and the organizer found out that I am well aware of the great things happening on this site!

Today I continued the chain and paid forward this Smile Card at a Himalayan Fair. I struck up a conversation with a woman in line and smoothly told the cashier that I'm paying for her meal. She and the cashier were pleasantly surprised and appreciative.

Hooray for kindness ripples continuing to sail through the world!

My $100 Kindness Mission

I submited a kindness idea to Helpothers.org $100 kindness contest and I won.  Armed with $100 and a mission - WOW! What an amazing week I just had! It started out last weekend - the first goal was to fill 20 “Smile Baggies” to give out. I had so much fun all Saturday picking out the items to buy. I'm a single mom of a teenager, so the opportunity to buy something without worrying about whether it would hurt our monthly budget made me feel like I had won the lottery! I picked out some practical items – a post-it note pad, pen, hand sanitizer wipes, and breath mints. But since it was a “smile baggie”, I also got some fun stuff too – microwave popcorn, hot cocoa, bubble gum, a smile stamp, and a small bottle of bubble bath. I spent Sunday night bagging all the goodies and attached the following letter to each bag: "HI! This ... Read Full Story >>

An Email Sent With Gratitude

At the store today, I asked my mother if we could buy some carrots, and she agreed that we could use something healthy in our diet.  After returning home, I was unloading the items and spotted the carrots.  Feeling a healthy impulse, I took one out, washed it, and took a bite.  I heard the loud crunch and was suddenly drawn into a flashback experience.

When I was about nine years old, a babysitter who watched over me owned horses, but only the "older" kids got to feed them.  I recall that my curiosity and desire to join in this activity prompted me to walk over to the stalls, quickly take a bite off the end of a carrot, and feed it to the horse before she saw.  This flashback motivated me to take the time to email her and tell her what a big impact she had on my life.  About ten minutes later, she called me in tears wondering where the time went and thanked me so much for all the wonderful years I spent with her.  I was really touched by the impact that a thoughtful email could have when it was charged with the intention of gratitude and the desire to connect.

Going Back To Work With A Smile

I woke up this morning wondering what I could do to help someone feel better today.  While I was in the shower it came to me. I should buy Dave lunch!

Dave has had a traumatic time recently with the death of a close friend and also witnessing some traumatic incidents at work. He is suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

To help him deal with this, and hopefully help his recovery, he has been moved from his normal place of work. Now he is working with me and another friend.

When Dave arrived at work this morning I asked him if he had any plans for lunch. When he said, "No," I asked him if I could treat him to lunch at the local cafe. Dave looked very surprised but also very pleased and quickly replied, "Yes, that would be great! Thank you."

We had a very pleasant and relaxing lunch which gave us the opportunity to get to know each other better. We talked the whole time and Dave did open up to me about his previous experiences.

We are now both back at the office getting on with our work with smiles on our faces.

Life is good!

A Dollar Can Make a Difference

I was in the lobby of my doctor's office waiting for my appointment. As I was sitting there, an elderly couple came in. The gentleman had trouble breathing and looked as if he was in poor health. As they were checking in at the front desk, I overheard the receptionist say that they were on Medicaid and had an outstanding balance of $1.50. The woman only had 50 cents.

The woman and her husband both looked upset and embarassed. The receptionist said that the balance would need to be paid before they could see the doctor. I was sitting far away from the front desk so I walked up and said that I would pay the remaining  $1.00. They were so thankful and gave me many blesssings.

I always thought $1.00 wasn't enough to help anyone, but I was reminded that day that $1.00 really can make a difference!

Giving Flowers That Give In Return

My husband and I were at a discount grocery store waiting in line.  We were behind a mother and her boy who was probably about seven years old. She had a beautiful purple bouquet in her basket. The flowers brought a smile to my face. I remarked to the lady how lovely her flowers were and she said her son picked them out. He just beamed at the compliment so I asked if he would like to pick some out for me.  He was off like a shot down the aisle to pick out a bouquet for me. When he returned he was so obviously pleased at having done a two-fold good job:  picking out nice flowers and helping an "old lady."  When I thanked him, he said a very loud and clear "You're welcome." So, by then Mama is beaming at her helpful polite son who feels great about doing a good deed. ... Read Full Story >>

A Sparkling Heart From A Simple Gesture

This is just a small story but it really warmed my heart.   I'd gone to collect my daughter from her music lesson when I saw this older woman walking around. She looked completely lost.   I had no idea why she would be in that area. It's in a business park and it was at the weekend when there aren't usually many people around. And why would she be in that parking lot which is totally off the beaten path?I guessed she was probably really lost. It turned out she had missed her turning and needed to find her way to the highway. I tired to explain but she seemed too upset and confused for me to just explain how to get there, so I said, "Don't worry. Follow me and I'll take you there."     She looked at me and you could see the worry leave her face. She said, "Bless you," ... Read Full Story >>

Back to Having A Sense of Purpose

It is a rainy Sunday morning and I was just playing solitaire on my computer when an e-mail popped up from this wonderful site with the weekly newsletter that I subscribe for! 

I had been sitting here feeling very low as I have had four months of health problems and am now facing six months off work on disability. Talk about feeling sorry for myself!

Then I started reading your stories! It has been along time since I was on this site but now I am back and full of a sense of purpose!

A huge thank you to you all for reminding me that life is what we make it, not just for ourselves but for others too!

A Little Gesture Filled With Compassion

One morning, as I left home for church, I had skipped breakfast and was hungry.  After the service ended at 1PM, I became delayed, and by the time I left to return home, it was quite late and I had still not eaten anything. 

I did not have any food with me and remembered that I had a 1000/-sh. note in my pocket that I could use to purchase some food.  As I was making my way home, I saw two kids eating yeast on the street who seemed to long for love. 

My heart cried inside, and I gave them the note that I held for my food.  I realized that they needed it more from living in those circumstances that made it more difficult for them to eat and be comfortable and happy.