Stories of Kindness from Around the World

The Benefits of Giving To Both The Giver And Receiver


--by maryneilson, posted Dec 14, 2017
My 19 year old son has been suffering from anxiety and depression for 3 years. Thankfully he's had great support and is making good progress and is on his way back to a healthy life. As he was out of school, we both got involved in helping out our local foodbank. Because he had anxiety, he worked in the background, in the warehouse. However it opened his eyes and heart to the need and suffering of others and it helped him.

As a result of our connections through the foodbank, we discovered that our local Salvation Army had a huge list of children who were in need of Christmas presents.

Last year, my son, his older brother, and myself put in some money and we bought as many toys as we could and delivered them to the Salvation Army. This act of kindness, and the gratitude he received from the people at the SA, obviously affected him, as today, one year later, we delivered another large batch of gifts to the SA. I hope they keep doing this because I tell my sons that now they are Santa to many local children who need to be remembered at Christmas time.
 
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Readers Comments

kjoyw wrote: The Salvation Army is great! What a fine parenting!
horsegirl21 wrote: so nice!
splain wrote: I really believe when you spend a large part of your life in giving to others, it does really help with depression. It gets you out of yourself.
lt33 wrote: Wow how giving your sons are they have an amazing mom as a role model 😉
mindyjourney wrote: Such a great way to shift our personal struggles, by helping those in need. thank you and your sons for being Santas <3
leoladyc728 wrote: wonderful story and so glad your son has become Santa
Mish wrote: How truly wonderful. Win/win all around❤️❤️ Bless you all
Painiacs wrote: What a wonderful giving spirit you and your sons have! Thank you for passing it along and making children's lives much brighter! Not only that but helping taking the burden off the parents who feel bad at the holidays. Bless you

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