Stories of Kindness from Around the World

Kindness with my Son

Hello. I'd like to share a bit of kindness and the use of the Smile Cards my son who is 12 got to witness and be part of.

My son and I went out to eat and there was this table of older ladies (like their once a month get together--they must have been into their
70's or more and dressed up) next to us. Well, when my son and I were leaving, I decided to do something good. I told the guy at the counter that I wanted to pay for those ladies meals. He looked at me funny. Asked me if I knew them. Nope--I certainly don't. He looked at me again, asked again and again I said nope. Don't tell them I'm doing this, just give them this "smile" card.

He said "not so many people so generous now a days" So, I paid for their meals (a whopping 20 bucks) and me and my son left.Then he asked me to see the card we left--and he wants some.

Learning Morality from a Begger

We had just received a large donation of clothing at our non-profit organization. As we looked at the pile, we didn’t know what to do with it, but figured that the answer would present itself. As three of us walked home for dinner, we saw a woman begging by the bridge. She was old and had no legs. She shivered in her thin sari, which offered little protection from the cold wind, but could not seek even mild refuge in her “hut” (four wooden posts, with a tarp like material as a roof and walls). Her hunger forced her to beg. My friends and I looked at each other: here was a perfect opportunity, but first it was necessary to do a little bit of “research.” We went up to the woman to hear her story. She spoke very little due to her poor ... Read Full Story >>

One Hundred Kind Acts

Okay, I have been working really hard on this project, and as of 15 minutes ago, I finished it!

I work on the college newspaper, and this last week was assigned to do a column. I decided to write over Random Acts of Kindness, but got to thinking and wrote about a whole lot more than that!

This Monday, the newspaper will be handed out to students all around campus! I wrote challenging everyone on campus to do RAK. I gave my e-mail address so they could get some cards from me and whatever. I set the goal at 100 acts before the end of the year! I started a blog so that they can post their stories and we can keep track of how many people are using the cards! I also gave the helpothers web address!

I hope that this project takes off! We will find out this Monday, that is when the paper comes out!

A Little Bit of Love is the Price of the Fare

As I waited for the bus, a shuttle rickshaw came by.  It was headed towards my destination,and  since it was pretty much the same price as the bus I jumped in. Inside, I found a mother sitting with her daughter. The little girl was absolutely precious. She was all dressed up in a new outfit, her hair done, new shoes and a purse on her lap. I've been taking lessons from a lot of inspiring sources and knew this was the perfect time to meet some strangers. I began talking to the little girl. They were headed to her aunt's house to celebrate the holidays. She happily pointed out her school on route and told me about her shoes that squeek when she walks. Her enthusiasm and smile were heartwarming. While conversing, I noticed something unusual. The driver wasn't stopping at the bus stops en route to pick up more passengers. In my ... Read Full Story >>

Tins of Chocolate with a Smile...

Recently, my Mother underwent a surgery to repair a valve in her heart at UCLA Medical Center.  During the first couple of days she was in the hospital, my Dad was telling me how wonderful the nurses were in the ICU and how they took such great care of my Mom and made sure she was comfortable at all times.  I told him it would be great if we could think of a fun way to show our gratitude -- in the whole process of going through a major surgery, the nurses are often the people who get overlooked the most and aren't thanked enough for the compassion and care they give to each patient.  My Dad had a great idea -- he asked me to bring along some cute decorative tins of chocolate from London for all of them. When I arrived at the hospital, I had my first opportunity to tag Kara, ... Read Full Story >>

A Stop Sign Moment

It was one of those awkward stop sign moments.  You and the car on the cross streets both arrive at the stop sign together.  Both want to rush first but both are a bit hesitant.  And then, one person gives in -- usually the person with the faster car. :)

Well, it just so happened that I had one of those stop sign moments the other day.  But I had decided to let the other person go and the lady on the cross street had decided the same.

So here we are -- both of us trying to be kind to each other. 

I was determined to stick my ground, so lifted my hand and signaled her to go ahead of me.

She gave me the best smile, and I saw an inaudible "thank you" through some lip-reading, and it just made me feel so good.

All it takes is a moment to be kind.  Try it next time.  It feels good.

Blanket from God

I was on my way to get some books for school, when I saw two old men sitting and talking in the sun near the bus stand. What struck me about them was not their stance, but rather their attire. Both were wearing old and torn clothes, one was barefoot and the other had on broken sandals. As of late, I’ve been keeping my eyes and heart open for opportunities to serve. Stocked with clothing, it’s my job to find these items an appropriate new home. The men were engrossed in their conversation and did not pay heed to me as I inched closer to hear their words. “In these winter months, we’re lucky that the sun shines so brightly in the day and offers some heat in the cold, but what are we going to do at night? My blanket is thin and torn and ... Read Full Story >>

healthy alternative

I usually crave a sugar rush in the middle of the afternoon at work. And the alternatives are not always healthy . Its either a candy bar, soda or coffee. I wish we had more healthy alternatives.  So decided to go ahead and make it happen. I left a single serving size pack of Soy milk right next to the soda vending machine at work a couple of days back, then a fruit - and helped someone stay away from soda/candy they did not really need :)

The Tree of Treats

I have always loved to give, and surprise people. It often frustrates me that I don't have the money to do more. But try to do the best with what I have- and be creative with it! Here are a few things I have done. I hope it will inspire everyone to keep on their giving journey. * Left gift baskets on friends doors. Today My friend was going on an over-due road trip with her family. I created a road trip basket with- sodas, magazines, munchies, coloring books. Left it on her doorstep and drove off. I called and told her there was a tornado to check out her front door, and she found the basket. She called in tears, saying it was the first time anyone had done anything like that. (Isnt it sad with a world full of millions of people...that this doesnt happen everyday?) * I went to my neighbors, with my son and bought fun little toys at walgreens, we tied colored ... Read Full Story >>

Sharing the Omnivore's Dilema

Recently I finished a book entitled 'The Omnivore's Dilema', a really interesting read about how our food arrives at our tables.  I also recently went on a backpacking trip where I was able to share some of the anecdotes from the book with some of my fellow hikers.  One of them in particular seemed very interested in what the book had to say.  So this weekend I decided I would send him my copy of the book with a smile card attached :) 

An Inspiring Comment: Super-sized Kindness

I plan to start by doing a couple of good deeds daily and using the smile cards. My idea is based on the movie "Super size" - document and record thirty days of doing random kind acts for people. For two objections; 1) just because it makes me feel better and helps pay it forward with good karma 2) to prove to others and document what happens to others when you give. That it will come back 10 times. Thank you for your website and the smile cards - you truly make the world a better place.

Purple Carnations at the Hospital

"Do you need a vase for your purple carnations? " asked a gentle voice and I woke up in my hospital bed. It was one of those few  rare moments when no one else was in the room with me and I had slipped into slumber. "Yes - these are from a special friend" I managed to say looking at her for the first time. She was a janitor and while clearing the trash can, she had chanced upon the flowers. But why would she care? And she said 'purple carnations' precisely. I asked her if she likes flowers. Her eyes lit up and she spoke in excited bursts. She LOVES flowers and in her garden, every flower that blooms each day gets a special hug and bye from her before she leaves for work. My God! I told her that I've been getting a lot of flowers and after appreciating  the boquets ... Read Full Story >>

Kindness on my Doorstep

I came home from work one day to find some business cards and a card holder in the street.  Not much, but I figured the person might want them so I called the number only to find out the person was a seasonal employee.  No worries, I thought I would just throw the cards out since they didn't seem to be of much value.   A few hours later I saw a police car driving down the street, which is unusual.  As I went out to see what was going on I saw an envelope on my front porch.  It was a package of food stamps or food checks for mothers with young children.  There were enough checks to last through October or November and interestingly the name matched the name from the business cards.  I called the office that issues the checks, but they were closed so I called one ... Read Full Story >>

Window Seat

I was on the second leg of my trip from Oakland to New Mexico--Phoenix to Albuquerque.  Phoenix was excrutiatingly hot--110 degrees!  I had a window seat and there was another fairly petite girl sitting in the aisle seat. 

At the last minute, a very tall man came to our row--he was the intended middle inhabitant of our little row.  He looked flustered and none to thrilled to be in the middle seat--who is really, right?  I immediately thought that this was a person to tag--however he was on the phone so I had to wait to tag him.  As soon as he got off, i asked if he wanted the window seat.  He said "For real?"  I said absolutely.  He had a smile on his face the rest of the flight, as did I.

Teaching Youth at a Shelter about Kindness

I am a teacher at a shelter for homeless and street involved youth. As a class we plan group acticities to help spread kindness. In June, we went to our city's waterfront on a very hot day and gave out bottles of water and cans of pop as well as Smile Cards. It was truly amazing!

Puppy Love

"Charlie" was a Boxer dog whose life was turned upside-down by divorce. His human parents split, and he went to live with the husband, while his female companion went to live with the wife. After a few months, the husband left Charlie with friends and left town. After a few weeks, the friends tracked down the wife and she took Charlie to live with her. Unfortunately, the wife lived with her elderly mother, who didn't like Charlie (probably because he belonged to her ex-son-in-law?). Charlie came into the rescue program that my husband and I volunteer for, and we became his foster family while he waited for his forever home to find him. At 5 years old, Charlie was pretty set in his ways. He was not a very happy dog, was somewhat overweight, not very active, and was rather bossy. Our two young dogs (both under 2) spent several weeks being ... Read Full Story >>

An Inspiring Comment: "I was tagged"

I was "tagged" at my current job and after visiting your website, I decided that I wanted to start spreading the word like many people are doing. In my part-time job, I have the occassion to meet many people and would like to start passing the smiley cards out as much as I can. At a recent outing over the Labor Day weekend with my part-time job, I made copies of the front of your card on plain typing paper, cut them out, and gave one to all the workers helping with the event. It brought happy faces to everyone throughout the day as they taped them to their terminals and in front of their desks for our customers to see. I will be joining the enterprise full-time very soon as I am leaving my current job. I will have the occasion to meet even more people as I will be covering quite a bit of the state of Arizona in my new position as the "Director of Marketing and Promotions".

Bridge Toll Tradition

My finace and I were approaching the toll bridge that we cross often as we go to visit her Mother. We paid our toll and the toll of the car behind us which we did not know. This is a custom that we had adopted from my mother that passed away in 2003. But I got tagged with a smile card the day before at the light rail staiton and had it in my front pocket. So we asked the toll attendant to please take our money for the car behind us and give them the smile card as they passed through. We hope they pass it on. I ordered cards and plan to use them to chear up staff at work and pass the message to as many people as possible.

Lugging Laptops

I never realized one tag would lead to another. I was in the midwest sometime back to help my friend pack and move (out of the country) and found out she had a couple of old laptops and cellphones she had to get rid of. I remembered that the recycle centers in CA are among the best for old electronics - they get dismantled only as the last resort - usually they find a new home for them. So I lugged back a couple of laptops and a cellphone - which will hopefully find use in someone else's  life :)

An Inspiring Comment

I was given a smile card a few weeks ago and I absoloutely love the idea. I really enjoy doing nice things for pepople, and its good to know there are other people who support it as well. I live in a dorm, and everyone on my floor uses the same microwave. Needless to say, it gets very dirty. The janitor is so sweet and never says anything negative about it. I was going to clean out the microwave and counter around it and leave some cookies and a card for her right before she gets there. also, I was going to leave quarters and a card in the washing machine and dryer for some people who may be short on money. My dog recently passed away, so I was going to donate a bunch of unused dog food, treats, and toys with a few cards to my local animal shelter. I'm always giving whatever food I have in my car (fast food, apples, soda, water, cookies, etc.) to homless people I see at intersections when I'm driving, and it would be nice to have cards to give them a smile as well. You guys are awesome! thanks for the cards.