Stories of Kindness from Around the World

A Lunchtime Opportunity To Feed Me Plus Two

It has struck me, lately, how heightened awareness of the things going on around us can present many new helping opportunities!  Last week, I was driving through a local sandwich chain at lunchtime, when I saw two men sitting on the grass a few yards away conversing with each another. They very thin and seemed a little dirty and unkempt, and very thin. It seemed to me that they were homeless... but they were not standing around, with signs or asking for anything.    I immediately felt like I could not just buy myself a sandwich without helping them eat, too. I asked the person at the window if I could purchase two $5 gift cards. I then drove up to the two men and presented the gift cards to them. They were totally shocked! One man said "is this for FOOD?!" He immediately began thanking me, over and over again.    Both these men were tremendously grateful and verbalized ... Read Full Story >>

A Chance Encounter Leads To Long Distance Kindness

I used to work as a casual waitress in a beautiful little restaurant. All I wanted was to put a smile on everyone’s face and I usually did this quite easily.  I believe that it doesn't matter what job you have as long as it gives you what you need and as long as you can give to others.   I had been going through a bad period and hadn’t told anybody except my employer what was happening.  Somehow a customer had over heard my saying that I had to go to Sydney. I was scared as I had never been there before and didn't know anyone there.  As I passed her table she handed me a card with her phone number on it.  She explained that she lived and Sydney and said that I should call if I needed some help.   Some weeks later, it was time for my appointment in Sydney.  I flew there and once I arrived a felt overwhelmed and ... Read Full Story >>

Learning How To Really Smile

Have you ever considered what it would be like to not be able to smile? I hadn't, up until a few months ago, when I found that I actually couldn't. Well, that is exaggerating it a little bit... Technically I could smile, but only with one side of my face! I went to the doctor, and was diagnosed with Bell's Palsy-A relatively unknown condition that paralyses one half of the face. As you could imagine, this was quite a shock to me, and made me very upset. Although this was a major bomb that was dropped on my life, this story is not about how hard life is, but how awesome it is when God challenges you in different ways. Anyway, so smiling is a part of everyday life for me. It is my way of greeting people, of laughing, silent communication (hehe) and consolidation. "Losing" half my face (temporarily) caused me ... Read Full Story >>

Building A Cultural Bridge

When my son was young, we earned a very low income and were living in one of the housing projects in Queens, NY. Having Spanish was his first language, but through attending nursery school, my son was already bilingual.

We were at a health clinic waiting our turn one day, when one of the nurses asked out loud "is there anyone here who could translate from Spanish?" Immediately my son called out raising his hand "I can". I took him into the doctor's office and both he and I helped a Spanish speaking woman to communicate with her physician.

This small act from him many years ago, has been a mirror for me to try to become a bridge between cultures. I now live in an area of Ecuador where there are many English speakers living among the Ecuadorians who speak only Spanish. I have been translating public meetings, without charge, so that bridges may be built among all of us by getting to know one another as individual persons, and so that  a community spirit may grow.

A Silent Connection in a Beautiful Moment

My attention was divided between the book in my lap and the people passing by when  I saw her walking slowly towards my parked car.  She had a bright blue saree, a large nose pin, orange marigolds in snow-white hair, a large shoulder bag and a face that showed every wrinkle of her 70 or so years of age.  She stopped and put a hand out to rest against the car’s hood, gently closed her eyes, took a deep breath and wiped the sweat off her forehead. The sweltring day was taking its toll on her slight frame, and the large bag seemed to affect not just her gait, but also her breathing.  She reminded me of a delicate bird, struggling because of the weight someone had added to its wings.  Was there a way I could do something, anything, to stretch those wrinkles around her mouth to a smile?  But then, I wondered, ... Read Full Story >>

A Little Bit of Chocolate, A Whole Lot of Happiness

Yesterday my sister and I were giving out chocolates with smile cards to people who seemed sad or looked like they weren’t having such a happy day. We saw one elderly man standing by himself looking a bit lonely so we went over to him, gave him a smile card and some chocolates then told him we hope he has a lovely afternoon. He suddenly seemed so happy, seeing his face light up and a smile appear on his tired face really made my day! We had a short chat with him, said our goodbyes and carried on tagging people...  Now the story doesn’t stop there… As we were coming out of a shop nearby some time later we saw the same man with his wife by his side talking to the shop owner. They didn't see us, but as we walked past them we heard the woman saying to the shopowner: ... Read Full Story >>

Capturing Smiles and Printing Them

I went to the photo store and printed up some photos from a recent retreat I  had been on. Some of them really turned out beautiful. I couldn't just keep them to myself. I made doubles of some to share.

I got a pack of blank note cards and sent the people in the photos a nice card with the photos enclosed, and of course along with a Smile Card.

So many people have photos on their own cameras and never print them....and I think it is nicer to have the actual picture to look at and hold.

Pay-it-Forward Coffee Shop Chain in Birmingham

Birmingham area coffee shop customers perform random acts of kindness, pick up others' tabs Posted by Rahkia Nance--Birmingham News April 13, 2009 6:15 AM Random acts of kindness are popping up at Birmingham area coffee shops, as customers are anonymously picking up others' tabs. Sharon Dierking was at a Starbucks on U.S. 280, placing an order for a mocha frappucino. When she pulled up to the window, the barista told her the driver in the car ahead of her had paid for her order.   "I was completely dumbfounded," Dierking said, "but I was thrilled." Dierking wanted to return the kindness to another, but her car was last in line. A few days later, she was able to pay it forward at a Starbucks in Inverness. "It makes you feel good and it brightens your day," she said. Random acts of kindness are popping up at Birmingham area coffee shops, as customers are anonymously picking up ... Read Full Story >>

Helping With My Heart

I was walking down a busy shopping intersection when a large family stopped me, asking if I knew how to speak Hindi (an Indian language). Most people in my city don't know how to speak Hindi and I cant speak it very well. However, I can understand it and spoke whatever broken Hindi I could with them.

The family consisted of a lady and her husband, their two children and two elder parents. The lady said that their luggage was stolen while they were on the train from their village to the city. She said it contained most of their money and they were all very hungry she asked me if I could spare some money.

In my city we need to be careful of impersonators asking for money but something in my heart told me this was genuine, especially since it was an entire family.  I was moved by seeing the sweet, expectant faces of her children.

I gave her everything in my wallet except for the money I needed to get back home, giving her information about the railway police and places to eat.

The family walked away, and I went on my way feeling glad that I listened to my heart.

Strawberry Smiles

My husband and I were driving back home when we saw an elderly lady selling strawberries on the street corner. (It's not too common to see people selling fruits on the street here - as I don't think they are allowed to.) I thought of how hard it must be to make a living like that, and even though I didn't really need strawberries (I had some already at home), I bought a huge "flat" of strawberries from her which had 6 containers of the juicy strawberries!

Now, it's just my husband, my son and me at home and we were never going to be able to eat them.  So I knew just what to do. When we got home, I took little baskets of strawberries around to our neighbors, especially to the elderly living alone and the kids with single moms. The berries were juicy and sweet.  They loved it!  We enjoyed them too, and had eaten them all within a day or two.

I kept hoping I'd see the lady selling them again, and lo and behold....there she was the following week. So, I did it again and gave them away to different neighbors this time! It was such a great feeling :-)

A Kindness Idea to Remind People That They Matter

I received the most exciting message today!  My kindness idea was selected!

I am going to make up some baskets complete with "You Matter" and Smile Cards and take them to local retirement homes.  I will ask a staff member to give the resident most in need of this gift while explaining to them the idea of paying forward the kind act for someone else.

I hope this will start a kindness "epidemic" in the retirement homes that I take the baskets to.  This is just my way of telling them that they are not forgotten and they matter!

Thank you HELPOTHERS!!

A 15 Year Blessing From A Homeless Person

This is a story that happened 15 years ago but it has always stayed with me since then.   On the way back from work every evening, more often than not there would be a homeless man standing at the exit of the freeway.  He looked to be in his late 40's but was probably a lot younger. He had shoulder length straight black hair a short beard, and he was of average stature.   His eyes were what struck me the most about him, they were brown and they had a sparkle. Like an inside light that was beaming out of his eyes.  His eyes, I thought, represented the man in general. People say they can tell a lot from a person’s eyes. It was certainly true in his case.  He always waved at every car, he was always happy and smiling and sometimes almost dancing.     Every day after work I would remember ... Read Full Story >>

A Small Act of Kindness Ripples Out a Long Way

I volunteer at a class twice a week.  The setting for the class is in a really beautiful big  playground which belongs to a school.  After the class, I was sitting with the other women who teach at the class, we were filling out some paperwork and talking away.  I was looked around over the playground and noticed that there were some beautiful birds.  A few minutes later, I saw the caretaker cycle across the grounds on his way home.  He stopped to feed the birds.  The caretaker himself is not at all a wealthy person, but he regularly leaves nuts and grains on all four corners of the playground for the birds, and a large bowl of water along with that. This is not part of his duties, he simply does it out of love on his way home; after all the school children have left the grounds. Earlier during ... Read Full Story >>

Teaching My Daughter Kindness Towards Her Teacher

One year my daughter had a teacher that many children in the school didn't like very much.  I was also in the school and knew both that children did not like her, but I knew she was a good teacher, although demanding.  My daughter came to me asking that I have her placed in another class saying, "All the kids in school hate her, mom. You've got to get me out of there."  I issued a challenge instead and asked her to find out what would happen if she said something nice to the teacher every day.  I told her she find one compliment even if she might have to stretch it and say, "My you have pretty fingernails today. Or what a lovely belt you have."  She was soon laughing as we came up with more ridiculous things she could say.  She really did take my advice seriously and did give her a ... Read Full Story >>

Filled With a New Sense of Hope

Moving can bring out the best and the worst in people, I'm finding.  They say that uprooting can really test a relationship, so, if that's the case, I think I'm passing with flying colors.  And  I've discovered where a very generous spirit lives: Defiance, Ohio. After suffering through many months of unemployment, my wife and I moved this week from Colorado to Ohio, where she's starting a new job.  Not knowing a soul there, we were pretty concerned about all the work involved, not only loading up our entire home and driving two big rental trucks 1,250 miles, but how we'd get all that stuff unloaded without killing ourselves in the process. We made a connection to hire a couple of college students to help with all the heavy lifting once we got there.  But, to our surprise, one neighbor after another stopped by and pitched in to help.  What!?!?  Have we ... Read Full Story >>

A Simple Outdoor Thank You

I have a friend who has been treating me to breakfast recently, and I wanted to find a way to repay her kindness.  Her treats have been helpful since my husband has been unemployed for months, and money is tight.  I came up with an inexpensive and effective way to let her know how much I appreciate her kindness. 

I called and asked whether she likes egg sandwiches.  Hearing her affirmative enabled me to share my plan: to make English muffin sandwiches with bacon, egg, and cheese, and take her to the park to eat them together.

We had a great time at the park.  I picked her up early on a Saturday morning and brought along my little doggies, whom she loves.  She thoroughly enjoyed eating and being outside in the sunshine, and my two doggies where the icing on the cake.  We walked them all around the park and received a lot of pleasant attention.

I am delighted that I found an inexpensive way to give back to my friend, while also enjoying the experience myself.  In fact, we plan on returning to the park for more fun again in a few weeks.

An Unexpected Gesture Helps Us Find Our Way and Makes Our Day

On a hot summer day, a  friend and I decided to go to the forest for a walk.  We walked around for a while, and then realised that we should probably pay attention to where we're going so we wouldn't get lost.  We noticed a marked trail and remembered that the trail started where we parked our car, so we started following it, only after two hours...we realised we were just looping around, and the part of the trail that was supposed to take us back to the car seemed nowhere to be found! So we diverted from the marked path, in hopes of finding our way back. We found a cycling path and followed it to a parking lot. Sadly it was not our parking lot! A map at that parking lot showed us where all the other parking lots were...and we noticed we were a long way from ... Read Full Story >>

A Perfect Opportunity to Answer a Plea

I was in Houston for a prayer luncheon.  Afterwards, I went to the ministry van to change my clothes before going out into the streets. I changed my clothes and then changed from my cowboy boots into a pair of work boots.  I was standing outside the van when a man came up to me and said “Sir I need some shoes”. I looked at my shiny cowboy boots and the work boots and looked back up to him and handed him the cowboy boots. I reached into the van and got a new pair of socks and asked him whether he had a shirt.  He replied, “no Sir”.  I reached back and got the pants and shirt that I had just changed out of. He started to well up and I said that maybe God has sent me here to help him today. He gave me a long look ... Read Full Story >>

Developing the Intention to Help

Last week, I met a friend who suggested that I do an act of kindness every week and then share the story with him through email.    Of course, like the most of us, I have my own share of helping people and hence I thought this "simple" suggestion would be an easy weekly task.  But I was in for a surprise.   I had made a promise to myself that I wouldn't involve giving a materialistic gift. My friend had said: "It should touch you deeply, it should have a story; otherwise, it's just a material experience".   That struck a chord with me, so I decided to step-it up  :) and looked forward to "doing" the act of kindness. I realized in the next 48 hours that "doing" an act of kindness, an intentional act of kindness, might be simple but letting it happen naturally wasn't as simple.  I found myself giving away my ... Read Full Story >>

A Commitment to the Gift of Food

We have an online dinner calendar where we have a slot for “Empty Nesters”. They are the Sunday School class from ClearView Baptist church which has brought us supper every Thursday night for four years now. That’s a really long time to do something for someone else every week. They invite us to their fellowship functions and to their Sunday School class. And usually at least one member will come to our fundraisers. Though not the leader of the class, Kelvin may be our biggest cheerleader. He comes every month without fail and every month brings a trunk full of groceries for our pantry, refrigerator, and freezer. The last few months, as the economy has worsened, we have drawn heavily from Kelvin’s groceries. Last Sunday Kelvin brought us a surprise, even though it wasn’t his week (or day) to bring anything. He said when he brought groceries last time, he had said a little prayer when he ... Read Full Story >>