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A Friendship I Treasure

My best friend, Marcie, is an amazing person who I treasure. From the first day we met we have been the best of friends. It all began when I was sitting alone at a new job and didn't know anyone -- it was lunch time and she asked if I wanted to have lunch with her.  That was in September of 1999. Marcie is filled with kindness and somehow touches someone with it everyday. She is the first to help others and has never let me face anything alone from common childhood illnesses with my children, to emergency room visits, financial crises (and we have many!), helping me with my grandparents' scrapbook and helping me and my family through the recent death of my father, including helping me to find and pay for his urn to hold his ashes. She even helped with the lilttlest ones by getting them ready ... Read Full Story >>

Secret Santa with a Difference

This will be the second year at our company when we do a Secret Santa exchange that makes a difference.

As with the usual gift exchange we all pull a name out of a hat and purchase a gift for that individual. The difference is that we envision our recipient as a child & choose a gift the child would enjoy. After we have all opened our gifts & gotten a good laugh, we collect up the toys and take them to one of the many Christmas toy drives in our city.

This is such a great way to have some fun together & make a difference in the lives of needy children during Christmas.

Hand in Hand on a Stormy Night

The train was not working that night as I was heading home.  I had to catch a bus and 2 hours later was dropped off in the middle of the town I was staying in.  The ice storm froze the ground and it was very difficult to walk.  I asked three people for directions, but they were too hurried to help.

Then I saw an old lady holding onto the corner post with her packages, afraid to move.  I asked her where she was going and it was at least 3  miles away.  I tried to find a cab or police car but I was told they do not stop in this neighborhood.

So, we proceeded to walk along, holding onto each other for dear life.  The roads were layered with a sheet of ice.  Then and there I decided that I could not leave this old lady alone like this.  So, I decided to walk her home, hand in hand, for a good 2 hours.  Later that evening, I finally reached my destination  wet and exhausted but filled with joy and love for life.

The Imperfect Act of Kindness

I am in the midst of prolonged frustrations at work. Today was more of the same. I walked to the car remembering my act of kindness and feeling a little pressed for time and creativity. As I drove to the grocery store to pick up milk, I ran some scenarios through my head not landing on one I was satisfied with. I walked in, there was a table of vibrant yellow mums. I chose one and put it in my cart still not knowing what I was going to do with it. I find myself trying to figure out the perfect scenario for these acts of kindness knowing that it defeats the purpose, but I can't help myself. I left the store and while I was backing out of my parking space, I saw an older woman walking to her minivan. She was by herself and did not have much in her cart. I ... Read Full Story >>

A Teenage Boy 'Starts at the Heart'

I have always tried to base my life on helping others. Sometimes I have had to do without but that’s okay. Our family, like everyone else, are having a rough go of it and I feel blessed just to be able to provide for my own kids. I know that my kids have always been kind-hearted and would do whatever they could for anyone else, but when I learned about a recent act of kindness my teenage son did for a friend, it has really touched my heart. My son was going to school every day with lunch money in his pocket but yet coming home hungry. When we asked about this, we came to find out he was sharing his money daily with a friend that was going without any lunch every day.  As rough as we have it some days we now make sure there is lunch money for two ... Read Full Story >>

A 5K Run Becomes An Exercise In Compassion

Sometimes the people who are noticed the least can do the most to lift us up... On Thanksgiving morning I got up early to run in the local 5K run. I figured it might give me the motivation to get back into running.  It was nearly freezing that morning so everyone getting ready to run was hopping around trying to stay warm.   On the side of the road, sitting in the grass, was a man wrapped in a blanket.  It was pretty obvious he was homeless and as usual, most people pretended not to see him.  I went over and talked with him for a few minutes before the race.  In the midst of the idle chit-chat, he told me that he was a veteran and had hoped he might be able to earn a few dollars that morning to be able to go buy a Thanksgiving dinner.  He had a glimmer of ... Read Full Story >>

I Love Gratitude

Yesterday I donated some unwanted items to Habitat for Humanity where the items will be restored and sold. As I was carrying the items downstairs I thought about when I was a child. Roll back 50 years.. I grew up in a very poor area. We lived in a terraced house, two bedrooms and 8 children, yes no typos, 2 bedrooms and 8 children, 9 years between the youngest and the eldest. The dining room was converted into a bedroom. Still they were cramped conditions but we knew no different. Money was scarce and my mum never was in a position to donate to charity, we lived in survival mode. One pair of shoes each and in fact I vividly remember going to Mass and not wanting to kneel down for Communion because there were holes in my shoes. I was no different from the rest of my family in that ... Read Full Story >>

Reflections from a Giver

While driving, today I passed a man holding a sign, begging for donations. I had two dollars in my wallet. I decided I wasn't going to give because money is so tight right now. Then, it felt wrong of me not to give, so I decided to give him half of what I had. I rolled down my window and handed him one dollar. He said, "God Bless You!" and I said, "You too." It was not a full exchange. As I drove away, I wished I spoken more to him, and I wished I had given him all that I had, but instead I was too afraid to give more of myself. Driving home I wondered if I had neglected a powerful universal law, the law of giving from my heart instead of my head, a law that perhaps creates boomerangs of abundance?! By not giving it all from my heart, perhaps ... Read Full Story >>

Just By Making A Little Positive Effort

It's only since I've been walking everywhere that I noticed the “grot spots” and dangerous locations in and around my town.  When we are safe and snug in our cars we tend to whizz by and hardly notice what life is like for those who travel on foot!  But, deprived of a car, I saw everything from the perspective of the more vulnerable pedestrian.  Speaking to local residents I came to realise that other foot-travelling folk had the same concerns about litter, dog dirt, absence of street lighting, dangerous driving and impossibly placed road crossings too.  I decided to do something about it, so I wrote to my local council. And do you know what? They actually thanked me for bringing these issues to their attention! I was kept informed of their progress and can happily say that they have taken action on all but one issue! I believe we should do our best ... Read Full Story >>

Jamie's Story

For years I was a reporter, with five of those years covering an affluent community.  Month after month of little girl beauty contests, conservative politics and people calling for the extermination of prairie dogs wore on my soul. Then I wrote "Becoming Jamie" the story of a seven year old girl, born a boy, but aware of her own transgender status. I veiled the family, for their safety.  The photographer created an image that illustrated the girl's journey thus far to herself. We ran the story. I went back to the grind of the daily story, the details of government and sustainable business, and the thousand other stories swirling through a community. Then I got an email that I had won a prize with the press association. I had enetered only one story. I knew it was "Becoming Jamie." I called the family, to tell them the story was up for an ... Read Full Story >>

When she found herself without a home at 16, her best friend didn't let her down

I met my best friend Jayce when we were 11 years old. I was adopted by my grandparents and was new to the city. We immediately knew we were best friends in 6th grade and we spent every single moment together: playing dress up, going to school dances, doing gymnastics , the normal stuff when you are that age. When I was 16 years old, my family was put in a bad situation. My grandfather became addicted to drugs, we lost everything; we lost our house, our car, everything. My grandmother wanted me to be able to make the choice of where I would continue to live. She told me "Krisi, I love you, now you can come with me or you can stay in an orphanage." Before I knew it, Jayce invited me to live with her and her family. I was able to finish high school and continue my education at our local university. ... Read Full Story >>

Leaving the World a Better Place

Two weeks ago we came back from Spain, after 8 days holiday with my dearest family, Moran my partner and Ella our 2 year old daughter.
I created a kindness habit for this year, in which I leave every public toilet I visit- cleaner than I got it.

So here is the story- We took the train from Kadis to Seville in south of Spain, and I entered the toilet inside the train. The toilet was full with train tickets that blocked the water.

Automatically I thought just to ignore it- do what I have to do, and someone else will take care of it. But I caught myself and I was committed to my habit: I grabbed some toilet paper, cleaned up all the mess, did what I had to do, and washed my hands really well.

This is a challenging but a very rewarding practice: It teaches me to always leave a better place, better world, than the one I find. Try it.
***Here is a photo of me and my lovely family.

My Children Lift A Heavy Heart

My son, daughter, and I have been trying to write to people in our family and friends who are going through difficult times.  So, recently we decided to make personal note cards for this purpose.  My children sat down immediately and wrote to my brother with cancer, my sister with a sick husband, and an elderly friend living in a nursing center.   I was so proud of them for being so thoughtful! Then, my son went out of the room and I heard a lot of whispering between my daughter and him.  Well, my sister was over and had mentioned that a very close friend of hers (an elderly lady battling breast cancer) was having a birthday.  Knowing that she loves angels, he and my daughter found a beautiful picture of an angel online, they printed it out, and he made her a gorgeous birthday card to cheer her day. ... Read Full Story >>

Mystery of a Missing Class Ring

Many times we write about how we shared our kindness and I wanted to share a brief story about how I received kindness from a stranger. 

Kristin, my 22 year-old daughter, just graduated from college and also just recently purchased her first new car.  In the process she traded in her old car, which by now is 10 years old and was a good and faithful friend that proceeded to overheat 4 times on her way to the dealer to pick up her new car.  This transaction was completed in the beginning of November. 

On Moday of this week, there was a message on my answering machine, from a small wholesale car dealer that had purchased Kristin's old car.  In cleaning it out, they found her high school class ring.  Kristin only wore that ring for about 6 weeks when she lost it and that was 6 years ago!  What a kind effort on the part of this car dealer  to go to the trouble ot tracking us down and contacting us -  it made my day as well as my daughter's! 

The Invisible Woman

When I had breast cancer I had to have a lumpectomy, chemo and radiation (the works). The hardest part of that entire experience was losing my hair. I have strawberry blonde wavy hair down to the middle of my back which I have always considered one of my most attractive features. What was hard about losing my hair, though, was that I lost my anonymity with it. After I lost my hair it was like having a tattoo across my forehead that said "chemo patient." I am a very active, athletic person so to have people looking at me with pity as if I was an invalid or a leper was very hard to take. Of course they never said anything, but if I got in an elevator everyone looked away because they didn't know what to say. I didn't blame them, God knows I've done the same thing myself, but ... Read Full Story >>

Even Ants Need Kindness

Today I met with a very unique person who spreads food for the ants to eat. Every morning he walks for 5 to 10 km to feed ants.

I am very impressed by him. I think he is a very kind person and want to salute to him for his kind work.

Christmas Through My Child's Eyes

My son is 4 years old and Christmas is a very magical time for children. 

My son ran down the stairs very excited as most children are on Christmas morning and went straight for the gifts under the tree.  But, to my surprise, the first gift he grabbed was a gift he made for his father and me.  

He stood there with anticipation, joy and patience as we opened our gift waiting to see the expression on ours faces. As I opened the gift, which was a hand-made wreath made of his small handprints (which is one of the best gift I received), I started to cry.   My husband leaned over and asked why I was crying.

I said I could not believe the thoughtfulness of this child and with all the gifts under the tree with his name on them, he was most excited about giving us the present he had made for us.  As a parent, I felt so proud of the child I am raising, knowing that he values other people and how they feel.

That is actually the best gift I received for Christmas.

Celebrate Pay It Forward Day, April 26th

Pay It Forward Day is coming up on Thursday April 26th and we invite you to celebrate with us by doing an act of kindness!   Below are some kindness ideas, based on some of our favorite real-life HelpOthers' pay-it-forward stories.  And we invite you to share how you celebrated by leaving a comment on this story! 1.  The tried and tested - pay for the coffee for the person in the line behind you.   Andrew was a bit anxious when he tried to do this for the first time and wasn’t sure it would work - a week later, the coffee shop tags him with a free cup of coffee for being cheerful and friendly!  [more]   2.  Anonymously pay for someone’s meal at a restaurant.   A grandmother is sharing pancakes with her family when she decides to pay for the meal of a man eating alone, so she has the waitress deliver him ... Read Full Story >>

Giving a Stranger Some Hope

My ex-husband gives me money to help me pay-off a joint credit card we had when we were married. Since he doesn't have good enough credit to have a bank account, he gives me $500 in cash every month. 

Once when I was returning from his place with the cash, a woman at the corner held up a sign that simply said HUNGRY.  Where I work, there are the same few panhandlers every day, but this was in a residential part of town and it was starting to snow.  I rolled my window down and passed her a bill.  She started to mumble thanks, but then smiels as she noticed it was a twenty.  I said she could get a nice hot breakfast a block away at the pancake house.

Twenty bucks isn't going to pay off my debt any sooner and maybe it will give a stranger strength and hope to go on.

A Charity Shop Pram

  A few weeks ago an anonymous Smile Groups friend gifted me £100 to do good deeds with. Since then I have used the money in the U.K. and the U.S. It has helped family and strangers, and generally raised a lot of smiles.   They have warmed my heart, but none so much as the gift I was able to give just an hour ago.   I was in a charity (goodwill) shop looking at the second hand books. It just so happened that the book shelves were next to the toy section.   After a few minutes I became aware of a group of women standing behind me. They were poorly dressed and spoke in what sounded like an eastern European language.   As they looked through the clothes rails a little girl, about three years old, came over to the toy section. Imediately her attention was caught by a toy pram.   What is it about little girls ... Read Full Story >>