Stories of Kindness from Around the World

Christmas Candy Compassion

Each Christmas season I try to buy the large Hershey bars to share with friends, the postman, co-workers and others. 

This year I ran into a local store and bought 6 candy bars.  As is the usual during this season, there was a gentleman outside the front door of the store ringing the Salvation Army bell with the kettle.  I gave my donation and proceded on into purchase my treats. 

In Nebraska that day it was 18 degrees outside and very cold and blustery.  On my way out I offered this gentleman a large Hershey bar with almonds.  He lowered his scarf and thanked me profusely.  He said he could not decline a delicious chocolate bar. 

It made me smile and feel warm inside.  I don't like chocolate so I share the yummy treat with everyone else inside. 

Someone Will Help

Opportunity knocked on my door last January when I was given a chance to work in an other country.  It's really such a blessing! At first, it was really scary living life on my own.  But, I soon met .lots of new people. Some were good and some were bad. It was a true challenge! I met a group of friends, six boys and one girl. They were really nice. I loved their company and they were so funny! We hung out most weekends. We cooked, watched movies, chatted and shared jokes! It was amazing - until something unexpected happened! One of our group was diagnosed with kidney stones which had to be removed surgically as soon as possible. But it was not as simple as that! Our friend could not afford the surgery. He tried to get help from our other friends but they refused to help. My heart cried for him! Our  friends abandoned him just when he ... Read Full Story >>

Remembering Gaspar's Gratefulness

My brother brought home a young man named Gaspar for the holidays many years ago.  He was from Africa and was studying in the United States. He stayed with our family for a week. He was so grateful and gracious. During that week, I remembered he helped me with my studies, chemistry in particular because that wasn't my strong suit.  He taught me a little of his native language, Swahili.  I still remember that 'poa' means cool!!  I taught him 'Heart and Song' on the piano.  It was a cultural awakening for me.  When Gaspar came to the United States he couldn't go home until his college education was done.  He was very appreciative of our family.  In fact, I have never met a person as humble and grateful as he was, to this day.  At the end of the week, he gave us all an emblem from his culture.  What he gave me was a bracelet ... Read Full Story >>

A Small Amount of Joy for a Young Woman

I had been helping a young woman who lives in a slum for some time.  She works very hard, in a textile showroom and she is forced to stand for 10 hours a day. 

One day she mentioned she had never been outside of the city.  So I took her and her widowed mother to another town three hours away in an air-conditioned bus.  I took a photograph of  her near a historical fort. We came back the same evening.

She was super thriled with the journey and also the photograph. Some day hopefully she might get to see some of the most beautiful places in the rest of India and other parts of the world.

It was a privilege to bring a small amount of joy to a fatherless girl.

Smile Card Revolution at School

I am currently in grade twelve at my school and have been working on a project by creating a group of eight girls, ranging from grades five to six, to stop bullying.  I introduced these girls to the Smile Card idea, and it was a huge hit.  We have been meeting every week since then.  Next thing I know, one girl came up to me with over 100 Smile Cards that she had printed out from this website and colored in herself!

This shows me that kindness can reach all different ages.  Now, the girls are continuously spreading the cards and making journals of their experiences.  I plan to get our whole school involved in this Smile Card revolution. 

My next theme is "We are all the same yet so different."  These girls gave me hope that people in this world do care.

Overcoming Obstacles with Kindness

I live in a small town but even so parking is a luxury. If you want to go shopping in town you pay. I went to town to get a few bits and pieces and had my parking under control for an hour when I bumped into a friend. She is 81 years old and a sweetheart and she wanted to talk. So, I was at the door of the shopping centre with almost one foot out the door, an eye out for the parking attendant and an attentive ear for her. When I saw the parking attendant my heart sank. I ran to the car to find a square piece of paper glued to my front window then run to the man who was walking slowly along the cars. I explained that I was just a few minutes late and the proof was that I was there talking to him. If I had ... Read Full Story >>

Trusting in the Kindness of Strangers

While driving from my home on the long commute to work I noticed a car in front of me had a wobbly wheel. It was clear the wheel had been changed recently and had not been fixed correctly. On a slow road this would not present much of a problem but I knew the route and knew a motorway was coming soon where the traffic would move much faster and would be very dangerous as the wheel could very well come off at that speed. I was driving a large jeep at the time and the car in front was a small to mid-sized car driven by a lady on her own. So as I tried to flash my lights and wave her to pull over I was worried that looking in her mirror she would see a lone man chase her down in a jeep waving frantically for her to pull ... Read Full Story >>

The Gift of the Magi

One dollar and eighty-seven cents. That was all. And sixty cents of it was in pennies. Pennies saved one and two at a time by bulldozing the grocer and the vegetable man and the butcher until one's cheeks burned with the silent imputation of parsimony that such close dealing implied. Three times Della counted it. One dollar and eighty- seven cents. And the next day would be Christmas. There was clearly nothing to do but flop down on the shabby little couch and howl. So Della did it. Which instigates the moral reflection that life is made up of sobs, sniffles, and smiles, with sniffles predominating. While the mistress of the home is gradually subsiding from the first stage to the second, take a look at the home. A furnished flat at $8 per week. It did not exactly beggar description, but it certainly had that word on the lookout for the ... Read Full Story >>

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!