Stories of Kindness from Around the World

A Class Ring Found

I have a real life Christmas story! My friend, Don, found a class ring in his basement. We have NO clue how that ring got down there!  Well after 6 months of hearing about the ring I decided to investigate.

The initials on the ring were ADN and it said she had graduated in Chardon Ohio. How on earth did a ring get from Chardon to Columbus into my friend's basement, we'll never know.  But I went to myspace and went to the schools and alumni pages, and a girl named beck went to classmates and discovered her name was Alicia Nader! (I knew her name was Alicia, it was on the ring, but I didn't know her last name!)

So after about 2 weeks of searching, I finally got an email from her! So Don and I sent her her class ring back. I can tell the story better, but that is the jist of it! The point is, we made her day, and she in turn made ours by giving us a case to solve!

The Christmas Card

Across the street from my parents live a couple -- Ken and Marsha -- who rarely come out of the house and the husband Ken will complain about everything, like the lights from the outside porches. For the past 3  Christmas'  I have send them a card on behalf of my mom and dad.  This year I just happend to put in God Bless you!  Well, my Mom called and said  yesterday  Marsha  came over  with a card and gifts for them.  She was also questioning the God Bless you, asking if we meant it or if it was like saying a " I love you" without meaning it.  My mom told Marsha that yes it was meant and couldn't live without God being a part of our daily lives.  Marsha was asking all kinds of questions about God.  She and her husband are both very educated with PHD's and are ... Read Full Story >>

Words of encouragement

Today I walked into a shop and was served by a young boy - he must have been around 18. He was being told off by his boss for something. Even if what his boss was saying was valid, which I do not know, because I do not know the full story, I still felt that the way he was being treated was unfair. He was being put down in front of customers and all the other staff. The boss told him that he should not serve in the front of the shop anymore, where he deals with customers and should serve at the back. Then although the boy had started serving me, his boss asked him to stop and passed on the job to somebody else. The boy did not say anything but I could see that he was really upset. I could also see that he could easily have done what ... Read Full Story >>

Twenty Dollars in the Fridge

Years ago, when my husband and I were still starting out, we had a toddler and a newborn.  We had just moved to a different state where my husband was starting his job.  Until he got his first paycheck we had no money whatsoever.  Unfortunately for us there was a screw-up in the payroll division and the checks were delayed for over a month!  This on top of the one month waiting period for your first check.  Needless to say we ran out of money, then we ran out of food.  We were down to one bottle of chili powder and washing our laundry in our bathtub.  Then Easter came and a couple we had met came over.  We had a nice visit and then they left.  After they left I was doing something and noticed that our freezer door was ajar.  I went to close it and found a ... Read Full Story >>

Postal workers

I frequent a small postal outlet that is always busy at Christmas.  (Aren't they all?)  There are only 4 staff members and they work HARD at Christmas time. 

Not all the customers smile at them.  The day before Christmas, I take in small gift bags.  This year, the bag had a single serving of flavoured hot chocolate, a mug, a scratch ticket, one yummy chocolate and a really silly fridge magnet.  I sign the gift tag with my postal box number!  One of the girls actually scratched her ticket and won $3!!!  I got 4 smiles that day.  The gifts cost me a total of  $10 and was worth the time and effort to assemble. 

While I don't get any special rates on postage during the year, I do get return smiles all year long.

Giving support to a co-worker

Recently one of my co-workers children was diagnosed with Lukemia. I purchased an awareness necklace for her, and when we go back to work on the 2nd, I will give it to her with a smile card.

I will also write a note to tell her to keep her faith that her child will pull through this and be healthier than ever. Her friends at work will be there for her for whatever she needs. I have never really spoken to her, except the casual chat near the copier machines, so I thought this would be nice for her.

For the love of marines

My parents live in California by the Marine base. Next door, several marines live. When these special  men go to Iraq, my parents make it a point to go every week to rake and pull all the weeds from their garden. This is cute, my mom mentioned to Joel, one of the Marines, that it's so dark when they leave with no light.  Well Joel was headed to Iraq and guess what he did.  Joel left the outside light on for a year until he got back.

Helping a friend through a tough time

Recently my friend lost her father. My family is helping their family  to cope with his loss. We are making dinner for them once/twice a month and just taking the time to 'hang out' with them.

Be kind - nothing in the world will harm you!

My niece was away from home for a student camp, which was part of preparation for our country's Republic Day celebration. The camp was conducted at a local school and children were put together to stay in groups of 10 in each room for their stay until the completion of the camp. It was the rainy season, which brought a lot of infections and health ailments. Some children suffered from fever due to the chillness, some got throat infections and just one had the most odd infection - an eye infection. While fever, cough and cold were not too contagious, the eye infection was. This was one of the roommates of my niece.  All the children left the room -they just vacated and got into their other friends room to save themselves from an eye infection. Only two of them remained in one room- my niece and the roommate with the eye infection. And ... Read Full Story >>

The value of 24 cents..

I was at this looooooooong Christmas line at the Post Office. After a few minutes of going nowhere,  I decided to use the electronic mailing system so I can get out of there quickly. This line was definitely shorter. I got curious and stared talking to the grandpa just in front of me. Curious because it seemed like he had a single, thin envelope that was already stamped. Why was he in line when all he needed to do was drop it off in the mail box? Grandpa  said he was sending this Christmas card to someone he loved very much and wanted to be sure that it had enough postage. By this time, others in line joined the conversation and everyone assured him that it already had enough postage on it and he could skip this whole "waiting" business. But he was going to wait and make sure the machine ... Read Full Story >>

Nothing Less of a Miracle

We have spent this year using our cards to pay for the car behind us in drive-thru's. Most usually this happens on a Sunday morning after we have all worked at our church. Then it comes back...here is our story: This past Sunday, after 3 of my kids had been with me from 7am-1pm, they were working in the childrens’ wing of our church and were starving. They voted for McDonalds. Not having a lot of money on me I hesistantly drove to McDonalds. Upon arrival, the drive thru line was wrapped around the building, hungry and being impatient, I decided just to give in and wait. At that time I also began to pray. God I don’t have a lot of money but if you want me to pay for the car behind me just give me a ... Read Full Story >>

Lending a hand for Math

On Friday, many people skip school and start their Christmas break a day early, so the school often has a low attendance rate for that day.  I showed up to do a mini math quiz that we had.  To my great surprise, these two girls, who are more of the socializing type, came to class as well!  I'm a guy who studies hard and understands most of the course work, so naturally, they came over to ask for help.  I explained the concepts to them, and the different formulas used, and as we talked, I found many striking similarities that  we shared, which I had not known existed.  Just helping out someone learn easier or know how to solve a problem really goes a long way.  Thanks to our little exchange, I now know a little more about two girls in my class, and by my help, hopefully they passed the quiz with flying colors. 

The little things we can do to brighten up someone else's day, are truly infinite

The Smile Charade

In the middle of the day, I got this call from my close friend in Chicago. She runs a business and was in a temporary cash flow crunch. She asked if I could send her a loan check.

Sure I said and I remembered my old promise to this friend's 10 year old daughter. I had gotten her all excited about Smile cards and promised to send her a few but it remained a promise unfulfilled for quite some time now.

So I decided to use this opportunity along with the check, I added a stack of smile cards and a note from my little son calling her the "bestest sister in the whole wide world".

It was a busy day for me but I decided to drop everything else and go to the post office. After standing in a long queue to send off this Priority Mail, I came home to find a voice message from the same friend. She had gotten the money from her clients and didn't really need the check!

So the whole charade of the post office and long lines and skipping many of my other 'To Dos' was all for me to send a few promised Smile Cards to a little girl who lived far away!

Sharing the Chistmas cheer aound

Yesterday while doing some Christmas shopping my mom and I stop to have a lunch at Easy Steet Cafe. When the bill came I asked if my mom had a pen she like me didn't have one with us. So I asked my mom to ask for a pen while I tried to untangle a peace charm necklace that was in my bag. I wrote the waitress a note that said this.

Happy Christmas to you
"May all your Christmas's be bright."

Left the Necklace out on the table with smile card and left. I know how hard the holidays are with all of your hard earned cash going down the drain for one holiday. Plus she looked  like she needed a a little X-mas cheer to brighten up her day.

A Gift of Cloth

Although I walk through the world with a folio of smile cards in my wallet, and try to be ever-vigilant for opportunities to use them, it always seems that I am the recipient of anonymous kindness much more often than the benefactor. Here's a story about one such incident which happened just yesterday: We arrived at Chennai Central early; our train did not depart for another 45 minutes. I took the opportunity to find a tailor to perform a simple repair for me. Across the lane from the side of the station stood a building typical of those found in India cities, containing a warren of tiny shops – perhaps several hundred of them. These buildings would look like any of the zillions of faceless, multi-storied, style-bereft concrete abominations that proliferate in the metros, were they not covered with scores-and-scores of small peeling signs — most painted directly onto the façade, at ... Read Full Story >>

Mystery Hero

I was out late last year and found my battery was dead when I came back from shopping with my 2 year old son, JUST as I realized this a man approached with some jump leads. He said his name was Bavern and started my car and gave me cash. I thanked him but wondered why the money, "you'll understand soon enough" I asked him how it was he was there with leads to help me, he said "its my karma, I can't help it!!!!" which I don't really understand. As I got down the road I realized my petrol light was on and as I pulled into the station the sign read "NO CREDIT CARDS OR CHEQUES" (they'd obviously had a link problem) This man had saved my day and my son and myself were able to get back home. I have never seen the man again but ... Read Full Story >>

Superman T-shirt

I located this amazingly hard working college student who wanted to save money for college by helping me in the office and home.  When we were sorting through some clothes, she exclaimed, "I love that superman t-shirt."  I didn't understand, and asked "What superman t-shirt". 

 And she proceeded to show me this cute white top with a big Superman S in glitter.  It seemed like it was made for her, and as an act of kindness, I said, "Hey, Merry Christmas, I believe this is your t-shirt." She proceeded to get really excited and immediately put it on.  And the surprising thing, is it was as if that t-shirt had been waiting for her this whole time, as I had forgotten about this gift and it fit her perfectly!  I would say this young lady was superwoman in her own right, putting herself through school and supporting her whole family- including an invalid grandmother.

Costco Love

My Mom is visiting from India and I wanted to show her some Christmas shopping spirit! So one of these evenings,  I took her to a nearby store. As we got out from the car, I noticed something blue and plastic and shining in semi-darkness.  A black & white image of a cheerful, middle-aged lady smiled at me. It was a high-end Costco membership card. I figured she must live pretty close. So when we got home, I picked up the phone book and found the number that matched her name. A friendly male voice answered saying it is indeed his wife's card and she will call me back because she's busy feeding the baby.  I was a little puzzled. Sure enough, the lady called me in 10 minutes and profusely thanked me for safe-keeping of her card. She lived down the same road, just a couple of blocks away!  And then ... Read Full Story >>

Small stuff can go a long way...

I just came back to the Philippines for the holidays...and saw my mom after 13 years.

I went out to see some college friends... do not really have much money since I'm working in the middle east but when I went to buy some shirts and met these two sales guys who were really so nice...I don't know why but after getting my stuff when I was bout to pay at the counter, I gave them a 100 peso bill and said "Merry Christmas." I went away without turning my back. What happened: these guys came back to me and gave me some free gifts!!!

It's not much money and not much free gifts.. but it really made me think that a small stuff can go a long way.

Sharing lunch

It was a rainy day and as my bus was taking me to college, I saw many poor people just huddled up under some cover looking really cold and hungry. Right then I decided that I would skip lunch that day and instead give it away to someone who needed it. But when I returned home by train, I discovered that no one was standing around in the station since it was raining so heavily.

Disappointed, I headed home. Just as I was turning around the street corner to reach home, I saw a man in torn clothes who was searching the garbage bins for food. His eyes lit up as I handed my yummy lunch to him.