Search Results for 'popular' (3484 matches)

Pocket Money in Tanzania

I was doing a year of voluntary service in a residential home for people with learning disabilities. It was set in an English village, deep in the countryside, quite different from my home in Sweden. One of my fellow volunteers, a girl from from Tanzania, seemed a bit desperate, so I asked what the problem was. She told me she had a friend back home who was really struggling with her university studies. It was beginning to look like finacial difficulties would make it impossible for her to complete her course.   So this friend of mine had done something incredible: she had sent all her pocket money for the month to Tanzania to support her friend! This meant that she didn't have much food to eat, no money to go anywhere outside the village, no money to buy any clothes, and so on.    We lived in our workplace so not being able to ... Read Full Story >>

My Gas Station Story

One rainy evening I went to fill up at the gas station. A pre-teen boy approached my car with a thick hoodie pulled around his face. He asked me for money to help him and his mother stay in their hotel for an additional week. He stated that if they did not come up with $25 they would be evicted that same evening. Having worked in social services before, and being a little skeptical, I asked how come his mother hadn't sought out social services for assistance. The boy said that they needed to remain in their hotel for one more week until his grandmother, who lived out of town, could take them in. I gave the boy what I had - $5. He thanked me and continued to wander the parking lot asking for help. I got my gas and drove away. A separate time some weeks before, a boy asked ... Read Full Story >>

You Are So Beautiful To Me

I was attending a Fundraiser Gala Celebration for a school. Now, I've recently lost weight and felt good about how I looked in my outfit ... which I hadn't felt in years!

Once I got to the event, many people where telling me how wonderful I looked.  To be honest, it felt great to hear that because I worked really hard to look and feel better.

Then, all of a sudden, I was thinking how I wished someone had given nice compliments last year when I was heavier. I did look nice then too, I had a nice outfit, pretty hair and carried myself nicely...

So I started looking around the room for people I knew that were maybe not what was considered "thin" and I went up to them and told them how nice they looked and that I loved their outfits ... they were true comments and came from my heart. 

Oh, you should have seen their faces light up because I took time to notice them and let them know they are just as pretty as anyone else there! I think it'll make us closer because they know I care.

We should all look for something nice to say to one another to lift one's spirits.

You Helped Me

I know this site is primarily for sharing stories of how we help others, however I have to take this time to say thank you. 

All of you and your stories have not only helped with my depression but it has given me more faith in others. I am in the process of changing careers to the non-for-profit sector, especially focused on children's homes in our local area. I never would have made this change had you not all shown me the world is still a place full of good people.

Hopefully I get this job and can begin to share your stories with the children who have lost their faith in humanity, the way I had before I found this site.  Wish me luck on the job and again from the bottom of my heart I thank those who started this website and all those that are members.

You have truly made an amazing difference in my life and my future. God bless you ALL!

Repaying a Stranger's Generosity

This story was brought to my mind after reading some of yours :)  It happened several years ago but I have never forgotten it.  My husband and I were going through some bad times financially.  We had both lost our jobs and were trying to catch up on bills by cutting grass for extra money on the weekends.  We got up one Saturday morning and loaded up the little flat bed trailer that we carried our lawnmower on and headed out.   About 15 miles from the house the trailer started swerving and we realized that it had a flat tire.  Luckily, we were close to a little store and pulled into the parking lot.   The tire was in shreds, so my husband took the truck back to the house to see if he could find another tire for the trailer.  I stayed with the trailer at the store.   I had ... Read Full Story >>

A Seven-Year-Old's Stained Glass Gifts

My seven-year old son had been given a gift of "creating stained glass kit" decorative pieces and enthusiastically went to work making beautiful color combinations that could be hung on a glass window.  The kit had 4 different pieces to complete and two of them got ruined in the process.  But the other two were real "masterpieces" of kid artwork and he was very thrilled to see them hanging on our window.  The pieces remained there for some months and then one day my son's piano teacher came to our house (which was not usual) to give him a lesson and he casually admired the stained glass. As soon as his lesson was done, my son ran out of the room, wrapped up the stained glass piece and presented it proudly to his teacher!  A few months after that we had a friend visiting from out of town and she too admired ... Read Full Story >>

Growing Seeds in Silence

Sometimes you read a story that just takes root in your heart. Many stories on the helpothers.org website have been like that for me: "I Wish You Enough" by BrightEyes and "An Unforgettable Fishing Experience" by Mike Delyria to name just two. Well this story I'm about to share with you has been growing in the heart of many people on Cape Ann, where I live. It is the story of Jude, a young deaf man with green thumbs and a big heart who recently opened a plant store in our community called The Silent Seed. I first heard about him from my friend Nana who had noticed the new store during one of her walks and was so inspired by the owner that she felt called to draw the whole neighborhood's attention to his work. A few days later, my friend Loretta who lives in a totally different part of ... Read Full Story >>

An Unforgettable Fishing Experience

Several years ago, I worked for a trucking outfit as a driver. It was my habit to go in on Saturday and spend a couple hours maintaining my truck. As I was under the truck greasing it, I noticed the owner's elderly father making his way over to his grandson's truck next to mine.  The old man was in his high eighties, had been an avid fisherman all his life, and had come out to ask the kid to take him fishing after work. The grandson told him all about how much he would love to do that, but, he just couldn't that day due to prior commitments. The old man accepted the answer and hobbled off to the house. A few minutes later, the father came out and asked his son what the old man had wanted. After telling the story, the kid ended it with telling his dad, ... Read Full Story >>

Lost & Found: Two Rings

After working out one day, in the locker room, I came across a gorgeous wedding ring studded with many diamonds and a ruby ring.  I could tell they were very expensive, and by the color, the gold looked to be 24 carat. I looked around but there was no one in the gym or in the locker room.  So I took the rings to our work Lost & Found in the Security department upstairs.  After you fill out the tag, the items are kept for at least 30 days. I told the security guard that I did not want my name mentioned, as I wanted it to be a random act of kindness. I did not want the person to feel they needed to thank me or compensate me.  And I was pretty sure that the rings would be claimed! Over the course of the day, I forgot all about turning in the rings but ... Read Full Story >>

It's Not Too Late To Talk

I am writing this story because it is not too late for me to talk to my parents.  I realized this last night when visiting their house while they were away.  I went to freshen it up for their return, and being at their house without them home made me sad.  As I went into their bedroom, I saw little reminders of them -- some Christmas gifts still in boxes and family photos that must have a special meaning to them.  What took my breath away was seeing my dad's tags from his military service to our country. My father never talked about the Korean War.  As I looked at those tags hanging proudly with all the photos that he treasures, I realized that this was an important part of his life, and I never took the time to talk with him about it.  The photos of my mom with friends made ... Read Full Story >>

More Than Just a Favour

I had an errand to do in Saltcoats today.  I arrived early so I decided to go for a walk by the harbourside. It was pouring down with rain but I had my new waterproof jacket on so I didn't really mind.  As I was walking along, I met someone who wasn't so lucky. He had swept back salt 'n' pepper hair, a bushy gray beard, sky blue eyes - and he was soaked through and through. "Could you do me a favour?" He held his hand out. "Probably not," I replied. Things had been tight financially and for the past fortnight I'd been telling my kids we can't do this and we can't afford that. "I've been trying to chase up the price of a beer," he continued. Well, I admired his honesty. If I'd been living on the street like he obviously had, a beer might have been important to me too. I ... Read Full Story >>

Dust In The Wind

It happened so suddenly.  She said she wasn’t feeling well, so she took a shower, drank some tea, and went for a nap just before dinner.  By 5PM, she had passed away. “That’s insane. I just saw Sushila Auntie last week. She’s fine. I mean, she’s my mom’s age. There must be some sort of mistake,” I thought to myself. No mistake, unfortunately. Sitting in the living room at Narayan Uncle’s house to pay our condolences for the passing of his wife, the thoughts in my head wouldn’t stop.   That’s my Narayan Uncle sitting there. He’s been around forever.   And next to him would always be Sushila Auntie.  I just saw her last week. All I gave her was a perfunctory, “Hi”.   Why?  Because she was always there. Yet, there is so much more to the being “there” than one realizes, because once that’s gone, things seem strange and askew. I knew nothing ... Read Full Story >>

Accepting a Blessing and Passing It On

Last Sunday, a woman told me that she felt led to give me twenty dollars.  She wanted me to use the money for whatever I needed.  I tried not to take it, but she insisted and so I took it and thanked her.  I didn't need the money, but I knew there must be a reason for her giving it to me. The next day, Monday, I went to work.  A different woman was walking by the store I worked at.  She was limping, and didn't look to be very well.  I knew her and called out, asking her how she was doing. She responded with her sad situation.  Her husband had died recently, she had to quit her job because of her health, and on top of that, she wasn't drawing her disability benefits as yet.  I told her the story about the $20, and asked her if she would ... Read Full Story >>

A Secret Handshake Puts It Right

Yesterday was my step-mom’s birthday. I haven’t been home in a long time so I wanted to stop by the house to see her on this special day.    I have been struggling financially so I was dreading the long trip. Gas is so expensive nowadays! Anyway, I filled my tank with gas and set off.    I stopped at the shopping mall and found a present. It was the perfect gift and I knew she would love it. But when I got to the cashier my card was declined! I did not have enough money in my account to pay for the gift!    So I pondered the issue for a few minutes. I could put it back and get something cheaper, but I knew there was nothing else in the store she would have liked as much. So, I got on my smart-phone and transferred some money from my savings account so I was ... Read Full Story >>

A Big Act of Kindness On Our First Day In India

On my first visit to India with my partner, Barry, we met a really nice woman on the plane who was flying from Canada to India to move back with her family in Chennai. Talking with Uma, a dentist, who had been trained in England, made the long flight from the US go by much faster. When we arrived in Chennai, we learned that our bags had somehow not made the trip with our plane. As we filled out the missing luggage forms, we couldn't help noticing the mountain of unclaimed baggage in a corner of the terminal. Would we ever see our belongings again? This was not an auspicious beginning to our 6-week trip. It was now 4 a.m. Saturday morning. The officials had told us there was no point in checking to see if our bags had arrived until Monday. What should we do next? As we stood there wondering, ... Read Full Story >>

Smile, It Can't Be That Bad

Six Words That Changed a Life Six words - "Smile...it can't be that bad." - changed Judy's life. Judy is a young woman I worked with some years ago. She was in her late twenties, maybe early thirties, more than a little overweight, and not the most stylish dresser. What was most striking about her appearance was her smile; it was always there. Anyone passing Judy in the hallway was greeted with that smile and a soft, "Hello," or, "Good Morning," in her gentle, Minnesota accent.     ... Read Full Story >>

A Touching Gift From My Nurse

I was in hospital for 5 weeks and was diagnosed with Intracrainial Hypertension. I had to have surgery to have a shunt put in to drain excess fluid from my brain. Following the operations I had a problem with balance and walking was a huge problem. I had to have nurses help me with everything. It was a real difficult and emotional time because it was close to Christmas and I really missed my 3 children.  While I was in the hospital, there was one nurse in particular who looked after me, who had a huge impact on my recovery. One day she came with a gift she had bought for me. I was deeply touched. It was a poster with a picture of an empty beach and a verse printed on it. On the back she wrote me a lovely note and signed it.  Now I'm not very religious and I'd not seen this before but I was overcome with emotion when I read it. I ... Read Full Story >>

One of a Thousand Stories to Tell

Hello, my name is David G. Nadeau and I am from Monroe, Michigan, hometown of General Armstrong Custer. I am a paid-on-call Firefighter for Monroe Township Fire Department and I was at Ground Zero for one week starting September 12, 2001. Some of my hundred or so pictures from Ground Zero have been published in EMS magazines. Newspaper reporters from Cooperstown, New York and Lexington, Kentucky call me wanting to publish this story. That is because someone from the family of the business card I found at Ground Zero told the reporters this story – a story about a business card which is just one of a thousand stories to tell. I arrived at Ground Zero on September 12, 2001 with another Firefighter. After several hours of working at the front of a bucket brigade on Friday, September 14 – just one of many bucket brigades -- there came an opening ... Read Full Story >>

Using Kindness to Hush the Noise Downstairs

  Several years ago my young daughter and I moved into the upstairs apartment where we now live. While my loving, wonderful friends helped me move in, the downstairs neighbors began to complain about the noise. That did not bode well for living above them. After all, how can anyone move in  quietly?   As I suspected, the complaints continued on a daily basis -- well after that initial day. We walked "too loudly" down the stairs, we flushed the toilet too much ... Their child had problems with my child and they complained to me as well.   I soon learned that they had driven out the last few families who had lived above them and that each situation had erupted into feuds and yelling. So, I had the information I needed and I tried to think of the situation from a spiritual point of view. I realized that I could fight with my ... Read Full Story >>

All It Takes Is One

One song can spark a moment,

One flower can wake the dream.

One tree can start a forest,

One bird can herald spring.

One smile begins a friendship,

One handclasp lifts a soul.

One star can guide a ship at sea,

One word can frame the goal

One vote can change a nation,

One sunbeam lights a room

One candle wipes out darkness,

One laugh will conquer gloom.

One step must start each journey.

One word must start each prayer.

One hope will raise our spirits,

One touch can show you care.

One voice can speak with wisdom,

One heart can know what’s true,

One life can make a difference,

You see, it’s up to you!