Stories of Kindness from Around the World

It is so easy to be kind!

It doesn't take a lot of time or energy to be kind to others.  I happen to be a big coupon fan, and I find myself constantly looking for coupons and savings, not just for myself, but also for others. 

Sometimes we see coupon deals that are really great, but not necessarily something we need.  If you take but a second, maybe someone else you know (or even don't know) can use that coupon for that item on sale.  I just leave the coupon I don't need on the product on the shelf and someone walks along and can use it when they purchase the product!   It is something so little, but can really make a person's day, especially since so many people go without a lot of stuff.   

I have even been in a restaurant before and had an extra coupon and walked up to strangers and asked them if they wanted my extra coupon!  Even if it wasn't a meal they were planning on ordering, they either change their mind and use the coupon, or are thrilled that someone was so thoughtful.   Being thoughtful is so easy!  And, it makes the person who is being thoughtful feel awesome too!

Neighbor in Need

I knew my neighbor and her husband had recently separated and she was struggling. She hadn't shared with me her struggles, but I just knew it couldn't be easy money wise as they had 4 children, one being blind, and they were struggling financially before the separation.   She had not been working before they separated as her youngest child was blind and not yet in school. It was summer time and school was about to start. As I was shopping for items for my granddaughters, I began thinking about her children and how she would be able to get them items they needed that year. I went to the store and bought a gift card and sent it anonymously to her address. When I checked my mail a couple of days later, I saw her down the street as she checked hers and opened the envelope. I couldn't tell her reaction because of the distance between our ... Read Full Story >>

Wherever You Go...

We'd stopped to get coffee at a faraway lights-and-laughter filled cafe somewhere over the bridge. Behind the counter was a young woman with a ready-steady kind of warmth that spilled over into the orders she took. When she looked up over a chocolate croissant at us, her smile deepened, " You two are so cute together!" she exclaimed happily, at which point my husband, who has his own unique brand of ready-steady warmth volunteered the information that it just-so-happened-to-be our first anniversary. She wanted to give us something then,  "I wish you'd told me earlier -- I wouldn't have charged you! Can I offer you a piece of cake on the house?" We declined the offer, saying that the interaction in and of itself was gift enough. At which point she said impulsively, "I wish my boyfriend were so thoughtful. I don't know if he'll ever get around to asking ... Read Full Story >>

And Now, The Rest of the Story: Phone cards from the DAR

If you have read my previous post about my DAR Chapter in Bremerton sending phone cards to be used by the wounded soldiers at Landstuhl, here is another email I got today with a side story about the purchase of those cards at the local base: I requested phone cards be collected and held for me at the customer service section of the Navy Exchange. I knew that I was requiring 70 of them and I had the thought that it might be logistically difficult to place my hands on that number, as they were scattered at the registers throughout the store. The young lady who rang up the phone cards from the Navy Exchange told me that she personally gathered all the phone cards and was hoping to be the one who would make the final sale. (The phone cards had to be activated after purchase and it took over 30 minutes in total to activate ... Read Full Story >>

1,000 Crisp Mohandases

It was late one night when I got an email from the states. It was my friend John who, as usual, had an idea. This one was about the power of connectedness. John was taken with the notion that he could, by sitting at his computer, with only a few small movements of his fingers, could affect change on the other side of the world. “In ten seconds,” he wrote, “I sent an email to my friend in Boston, asking him to go down to the street and give a watermelon to the first person he saw. And he did.” John, of course, wanted to illustrate the power of connectivity with a more compassionate experiment. “Please go find a needy person and give them $20 [1,000 Indian rupees, at the time]. If you can, try to see how it changes their life and let me know.” On our last afternoon in Ahmedabad, ... Read Full Story >>

The School That Cares

I am currently teaching in an International School in Bogota. And although I have taught in many countries where they will devote one or two events/activities to charity, this one tops it all.

Although we are the smallest of the international schools here, we managed to collect the second highest amount of money for Poppy Day (next to the British Embassy)!

We also organise many social work trips to the various insitiutions of Bogota to brighten up the lives of people who need it. Our students would talk to the elderly in a home or bring along toys and books to children who need it.

Our monthly charitable act would be to bring in 1-litre cartons of milk which will be sent to Cazuca, the poorest district in Bogota.

Recently, "charity begins at home" is the focus. All staff were encouraged to bring in 10 packets/cans or food stuff, sign the type of food stuff onto a list and then the school will make a gigantic food hamper for all the maintanence staff of the school.

I really love my school for its sense of charity.

A teacher from this international school in Bogoto, Colombia.

$100.00 gifts!

After services one Sunday at our local church, my husband and I went into the nursery to pick up our baby daughter.  A woman was standing at the door of the nursery handing out small envelopes.  I assumed it was some kind of an invitation to a birthday party or baby shower so I didn't open it until we were at our car.  Inside the card was a $100.00 bill and a little note, but no hint of who gave the money.  After I thought about it for a while, I realized that those who had received the money were parents with young children.  To this day I have no idea who did this act of kindness.

See-Through Friendship

I am 13 years old and a competitive swimmer. My friend was picking me up for swimming practice one day and I was running late. I had just wolfed down my dinner and had threw on the first suit I saw.

We made it to swimming practice on time and everything was good. During practice, our main set was a series of sprints off the blocks. I climbed out of the water and saw that my suit was completley see through! Not just sorta see through, but COMPLETLEY see through. There were a lot of boys at this practice and I felt so self concious and embarrassed. Then one of my friends, Margie, did the nicest thing anyone had ever done for me. Admist all my blushing and deep, deep embarrassment, she had been thinking. She was wearing two swimsuits because both were kind of faded. The bottom one was black, and wasn't see through, just a tad faded out. She took off her top suit and gave it to me to wear over my completley see-through one. My embarrassment ended because of her and I was able to contiue practice feeling confident and normal. I can never thank Margie enough for that completley unnecessary act of kindness that she bestowed upon me.

It's the little things that matter

I was doing some volunteer work at a homeless shelter, and decided to document it with photography. I took shots of the residents which came out really well, but I also gave some of the residents a disposable camera.

His smile was the biggest smile I've ever seen in my life (even bigger than his daughters smile in the photo)!

Thousand Bucks For A Stranger

If you were given $1,000 to change the life of a perfect stranger, what would you do? Following her show where she gave away $1000 bucks, Oprah asked that question on Yahoo Answers. In less than a week, more than 35,000 people have responded to her query with answers like: "Having once been homeless and living on handouts of change to eat at 99 cent all you can eat places and soup kitchens, sleeping on doorsteps and trolley stops and sidewalks and having guns pulled on me for cigarettes...I would carefully like to choose homeless folks who are not of the ones who don't want to get off the street( met many of those while out there who love to work the system) but those who need a hand up, a first step to get out of that cycle." "I'd give it to the orphans, ... Read Full Story >>

My Favourite Act of Kindness

It was a pretty cold day and I was walking with my father. On the way, I saw a person who looked very depressed. He had tears in his eyes, but he was not crying.

I asked him why he was so sad. At first he didn't say anything but I asked him again and again. At last, he said that his mother is seriously ill, she is suffering from fever, and he doesn't have enough money to buy her medicine.

I asked my father for some money. He gave me the money, which I gave it to the man with a smile card. He went to a medical store with a smile on his face. He said thanks to me and left.

This is my favourite act of kindness by me, my father was also pleased with my this act. I've loved helping others since the first time I visited this website. Thank You!

Russian Smile Heroes

This is a story of other people's random kindness to me. I was driving on the freeway when I saw a sign warning drivers that chains would be required to cross the mountain pass up ahead.  I had never driven with chains before and didn't own any, so I pulled off the freeway and bought a set.  It took quite some time to get the chains on, and I had to drive very slowly for the next 15 miles as I was going through the mountains.  The moment I got to a spot where it was no longer snowing, but raining instead, I pulled over and took the chains off so I could resume driving at a more normal speed. After about 30 minutes of driving, I suddenly came upon another snowy, icy patch of road.  I reduced my speed, but then as I came over a hill, I lost control of ... Read Full Story >>

Sharing warmth on a cold night

Being in the high school Band isn't always easy. Hours of practice go into making the show(s) perfect! (Not including if your football team makes it to districts, and so on.) You need a lot of dedication and I realize that because I am in the band. Every day in August from 8am-12pm we have 'band camp' practicing for the upcoming football season. This past week was one of our last regular season football games and it was COLD! During our break, I was standing in line at the concession stand for a hot chocolate when a band member from the other team approched me and told me how nice our band looked, and then began telling me about how cold she was and how she's not used to being this cold during football season because their team never went far into the season. Being next in line, I ordered ... Read Full Story >>

Lifting the spirit of a teen saddened by death

I have a friend whose mother passed away in September. The entire family is grieving from her passing as she was truly a loving woman. I found out from my friend that her 15-year-old daughter was taking it harder than everyone else in the family because she and her grandmother had a very special relationship. The grandmother had always sent the young girl little care packages in the mail every now and then, even though they lived in the same city. The packages contained little things, maybe some nail polish or a make up item such as lip gloss and she always added a note to her granddaughter to let her know how special she was and how proud she was of her. It wasn't always a gift - sometimes it was just a note to let her know she was thinking of her. The grandmother would also pick up her granddaughter and take her on special ... Read Full Story >>

Employee Coupons

In the store where I work there are many customers who have kids, but hardly any money.   This past weekend the employees were given coupons for 20 percent off any Christmas merchandise.  We could give them to whoever we wanted. 

I gave most of mine out and saved a few. 

While I was working I had a lot of fun giving the coupons to parents with kids who saw all the toys we had out but knew that they wouldn't get any of them.  The parents really had a ball buying toys for their kids that they wouldn't have been able to buy without these coupons. 

It was so nice to see their eyes light up as they began to understand what the coupons were, and how they could help (A lot of the parents either do not speak english, or very little of it). 

I am having fun now imagining the happiness of some of those kids as they get toys that they 'knew' they wouldn't get :-)

Surprise in the Mail

I have been a fill-in personal care attendant for a woman with Multiple Sclerosis. At one point, I was wanting to create a group similar to this but not online. I asked her what would be an act of kindness to her that would make her smile. She said a check in the mail. My offline group never came together but I never forgot that wish. I knew it was just a matter of waiting until I got enough spare change to send something that would be enough to make her smile. About six months ago, enough time for her to forget she made that wish, I sent a blank money order to her with a card that said, "Be one with yourself and all good things will come to you." Inside, I pasted a typed phrase, "You are the awakened heart." I sent it anonymously. I counted the hours when she would arrive home from work and tried to imagine the smile on her face and her getting a lift that lasts for a good while.

A Simple Story...

No one really knows how they will react to being told they are very ill. In March of 2005, I was told I had a benign brain tumor. I wasn't so much scared as ignorant of the rehab involved after a neurosurgery. I just want to thank the nurses and therapists who helped me get back to myself. It is no small feat that these people perform every day with little thanks. Here is a smile for you!

Karma for Me

I was in line at the grocery store yesterday and the lady in front of me was purchasing her items and buying a treat for her grand-daughter - a bag of mini M&M's.

She was fussy about it but I finally calmed her down.

Then as I started to ring up my purchases, the cashier passes me a bag of M&M's. I asked her what this was about. She said the lady in front of me bought it for my daugher while I was trying to calm her down. I didn't notice and I didn't even get to thank her because she had left while I wasn't looking.

If you're somewhere reading on this board - I say Thank You! My daughter smiled all the way home!!

What a great concept by the way!!

That's my story - not the grandest thing I suppose but it made my day a whole lot brighter that's for sure.

Thanks again!

Keep spreading the love!!!

Last week my close friend was not feeling well and she hesistated to tell me thinking I will be worried. I was not sure what I could do for her to make her feel better. Monday morning as I was entering my office building, I went to the flower shop next to our building. I sent a beautiful basket full of flowers to my friend with a note saying "Have a wonderful day".

She was so delighted to see the flowers coming into her office

Sometimes a small act like these for those so close to your heart can make their day.

Keep spreading the love...

Shopping adventures

Recently we went to a Wal Mart store (big adventure in the city for us). When we arrived, it was really busy (maybe normal but seemed very busy to us). When we went into the store, there were no shopping carts to be had, so my husband went outside to collect as many as he could. Before he ever made it back into the store, he had given away all the carts and went back for more. As we shopped, people pointed and smiled at us and told him thanks for being so nice.

He said, "I don't know what the big deal is. Anyone would have done the same thing."