Stories Matching 'Emergency/Disaster' Tag (39)Environment Research New Ideas Public Transportation Children Inspiration Teachers Seniors OnThe Road Grocery Store Money Workplace Animals At Home Anonymous Friendship Kindness Kindness of Strangers Courage Small Acts of Kindness Health and Wellness Generosity Sharing Family Respect Neighbors Reconciliation Smile Cards Advice Good Samaritan Giving Money Giving Ability School Church Youth Collective Arts Creative Kindness Random Act of Kindness Homeless Travel/Vacation College/University Holidays Internet Birthday Sharing Food Emergency/Disaster Community Relationships Paying-It-Forward Coffee Shop/Restaurants $100 Kindness Idea Smile Decks Thank You Serendipity One of a Thousand Stories to Tell--posted by David G. Nadeau, on Sep 10, 2007
comments (30) | email this | print | permalink Stormy Night Outside Taco Bell--posted by Keleth, on Sep 2, 2007
comments (17) | email this | print | permalink Seven Thoughts After A Lost Wallet--posted by Deval, on Nov 23, 2007 I lost my wallet today. It's just one of things that can drive you upside down, but instead of being mad, I am gonna count my blessings with you. 1. The wallet that I left in my car I was glad I wasn't sleeping in my car Thank you God for putting a roof over my head. 2. The violation I felt over stolen property At least my life wasn't stolen from me Thank you God for life and security 3. My credit card that was gone At least I have enough money to lose Thank you God for giving me more than enough to survive ... comments (22) | email this | print | permalink True Story of A Grateful Whale--posted by Gayu, on Jan 2, 2008
comments (48) | email this | print | permalink Kindness Karma on a Hot Summer Day--posted by pattyjw59, on Jan 23, 2008
comments (69) | email this | print | permalink Immeasurable Generosity from a Friend--posted by Tikit, on Feb 18, 2008 My husband died in 1998 and the following year found me incredibly depressed, desperately lonely and totally overwhelmed. I was living over 2,000 miles from my family, and his family had disappeared as if I had the plague. My sister and my friends had been trying to get me to sell and move for several months and a close friend invited to move to the town where she lived. Though I knew I should sell (I couldn't keep the place up), it was impossible for me to consider, as there was no way I could handle the mortgage until it sold, and also pay for an ... comments (11) | email this | print | permalink A Death In The Sky--posted by Ruby, on Mar 2, 2008 My husband was on a flight and as they were nearing their destination, the Captain's voice came through the speaker bearing bad news -- "There has been a death on the plane." Shock and disbelief were the first reactions of the passengers. When everyone looked back, they saw the dead man's son grieving silently. He looked so alone with his Dad's body lying at the end of the plane. My husband, having lost both parents over the past year, overcame his initial shock and geared into action. He asked the flight attendant for an empty container and he went to each passenger and ... comments (14) | email this | print | permalink Small Dose of Hope, Thirty Years Ago--posted by EsTeeBee, on Mar 18, 2008
comments (70) | email this | print | permalink Victim Treats His Mugger Right--posted by Serendipity, on Mar 28, 2008
comments (24) | email this | print | permalink Unforgettable Hug at Orange County Jail--posted by supune, on May 15, 2008
comments (30) | email this | print | permalink The Long Life of a Short Friendship--posted by JackieHall, on May 10, 2008
comments (15) | email this | print | permalink Noticing An Agitated Duck--posted by Elizabeth, on Jul 10, 2008 Kim Tucker was heading home to West Sacramento last week and saw a sight that can't rightly be ignored. There, by the side of the road, was a remarkably agitated duck, pacing the pavement and flapping in fear. Her ducklings, Tucker learned on subsequent inspection, had fallen through a drainage grate and were desperately treading water in the filthy bog below. She looked for help, eventually enlisting a burly construction worker (to pry off the grate), a slew of onlookers and, she was surprised to note, a teenage boy, who whipped off his shoes and, without hesitation, slipped into the drain and started ... comments (10) | email this | print | permalink The Girl Who Gave Me Apples--posted by twocents, on Aug 11, 2008
comments (32) | email this | print | permalink Pano's Basement in Bosnia--posted by hopeful, on Aug 19, 2008
comments (7) | email this | print | permalink Helping A Single Mom--posted by MakeSomeoneSmile, on Oct 25, 2008 Yesterday I heard about a single mom with two kids that I barely know. She was pleading for help to pay her phone bill so it wouldn’t get disconnected. I have seen her help many others over the past months. She struggles to make ends meet but puts on a smile so her children won’t worry. She has no family near her so if she loses her phone, her children or their school will have no way to get in touch with her. After reading her plea, I thought about it all night and it broke my heart. This morning I ... comments (21) | email this | print | permalink Emergency Rescue by a Father and His Sons--posted by speedi, on Feb 18, 2009 A couple of days ago, we were in Edmonton helping one son move there to live with his brother. As we were leaving from their apartment complex, we noticed a man driving by very slowly. We commented how weird it seemed and as we looked back in the mirror we saw he had run off the road into a tree. We quickly whipped a u-turn and jumped out of our vehicle. Our younger son reached in and turned off the man's vehicle and my husband and older son tried talking to the older gentleman but got no response. Fearing he might have ... comments (10) | email this | print | permalink Radical Kindness on the Battlefield--posted by Michael Nagler, on Apr 11, 2009
comments (8) | email this | print | permalink Cherish Life Today for Tomorrow May Never Come--posted by Modestobob, on Apr 22, 2009
comments (18) | email this | print | permalink Grocery Store Commotion Turns Into Kindness--posted by Modestobob, on May 27, 2009
comments (15) | email this | print | permalink A Man We Will Never Know--posted by ArmyGrl, on Jun 19, 2009 Twelve years ago yesterday, my mother gave birth to the most beautiful little girl. We were a broken family with little money. We were given the news that this little girl, who was three and a half months premature, would only have 14 days on this earth. It's hard to understand what kind of feeling you have when you find out that you're losing something that you don't even know. As time went on, the number of days kept growing, which gave us hope. When they said that we could take her home, that's when realization hit. We had no money. I ... comments (23) | email this | print | permalink Growing From A Rescue Opportunity--posted by Modestobob, on Jun 27, 2009 We had a marvelous 10 days in Idaho and were driving home a day earlier than we'd planned. We just wanted to have a day to rest and prepare for our work weeks ahead. Little did we know the impact our leaving early would have on someone else. We left Caldwell, Idaho at around 1pm and went through a small town called Marsing, population 790. They have a volunteer fire department, a couple of gas stations and a small market. About 10 miles on the other side of Marsing, we saw thick black plumes of smoke miles down the road to where ... comments (9) | email this | print | permalink Rescued By A Cluster Of Goodness--posted by timcollardey, on Mar 28, 2010 Yesterday was the Mother of All Bad Days for me, but I was rescued by a cluster of unrelated kind people/angels. My head's still spinning from the experience. Our house is up for sale and my wife and I agreed to have an open house yesterday. Before it was to start, I had to take our dog, who's been suffering from some unknown liver problem for over two months, to the vet. The appointment was timed just right to get back home and help host the open house. That plan soured in a heartbeat! Our dog had been making some progress with ... comments (15) | email this | print | permalink A Lost Wallet Returned, Across 3 Continents--posted by twocents, on Jul 29, 2010 It was May in Bangkok, and even though I had arrived from India after 6 months of volunteer work, the heat and humidity was exhausting. After a long day of temple visiting, I fell asleep on the sky train for about 5 minutes, only to wake up seconds before the door was about to slam shut at my stop. As I rush out onto the platform, I realize that my wallet is gone! First thought: I'd been pickpocketed while I slept on the train. Second thought: Bravo to the pickpocket! My wallet had been in my front pocket and I was sitting down ... comments (17) | email this | print | permalink Three Strangers Come Together to Help--posted by bluebuddha, on Aug 24, 2010 It was a busy and stressful day at work. I decided that I had done what I could do and it was time to face the hour-long commute to the East Bay. It was stop-and-go as usual when I finally braved through the Bay Bridge traffic and reached the Powell Street exit ten minutes from my home in Berkeley. About to exit the freeway, I noticed a large black pick-up truck parked a bit abruptly to the right shoulder. A small Hispanic woman got out of the driver seat and opened the back door. I could barely see her through the ... comments (18) | email this | print | permalink Facebook Kindness Saves A Family--posted by heavensblessing, on Sep 28, 2010
comments (33) | email this | print | permalink A Neighborhood Pulls Together To Be 'Kind People'--posted by Library, on Nov 9, 2010 Two weeks ago while my daughter and I were eating dinner I saw a police officer walking past my backyard with a worried looking woman. I opened my door and asked if everything was okay. Apparently the woman was the grandmother of an eight year old boy who had gone missing an hour earlier. I said we hadn't seen the boy, but we would help look. I asked my two year old daughter if she understood why we had to go looking for this boy and couldn't finish dinner right then. She replied, "Be kind people, Daddy." (That still makes me want ... comments (11) | email this | print | permalink A Lesson in Compassion From My Brother--posted by advaitin, on Nov 20, 2010 It was my birthday so my wife, my brother and my child treated ourselves to dinner in a restaurant that we had never been to before. As we walked back to our car a very thin man approached my brother saying he hadn't eaten in a while and asking for money. Usually my wife and I treat such requests with suspicion but my brother took a different approach and he started talking with the man. The man said he was a singer and had come to Dubai from Pakistan to find work. His visa was expiring in three or four days. He had no friends here, couldn't land ... comments (11) | email this | print | permalink A 5 Year Old's Extra Special Birthday Kindness--posted by Puppatina, on Dec 2, 2010 My wonderful grand daughter just turned five. We always have a party for her with all of our friends and family. I am often a little embarrassed by all the riches received by her. I thought that this year, with her parents blessing, we could do something different. A nearby elementary school was devastated by fire over the summer and lost nineteen classrooms and the library. I thought we could use this birthday to create an opportunity for Lily, even at the young age of five, to understand service to others. The day before her party we drove to the school and took her on a ... comments (21) | email this | print | permalink Someone Will Help--posted by ishtie, on Dec 9, 2010 Opportunity knocked on my door last January when I was given a chance to work in an other country. It's really such a blessing! At first, it was really scary living life on my own. But, I soon met .lots of new people. Some were good and some were bad. It was a true challenge! I met a group of friends, six boys and one girl. They were really nice. I loved their company and they were so funny! We hung out most weekends. We cooked, watched movies, chatted and shared jokes! It was amazing - until something unexpected happened! One of our group was diagnosed with kidney ... comments (26) | email this | print | permalink A Circle of Kindness From Our Neighbors--posted by Lynne1, on Jan 8, 2011
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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 ... 
Today, a friend and I were returning from volunteering at Camp Quality, a great nonprofit that gives cancer-kids a chance to be kids! We spent two days there, and on our way back decided to make a stop for some junk food -- yes, Taco Bell!
It was 10:45PM and one of the fiercest storms of the year had hit when we arrived at a local Taco Bell. Half way out of the entrance, a car appeared to be stuck; so while my friend ran inside to see if TB was open, I went over to the car to offer help. ... 
If you read the front page story of the San Francisco Chronicle on Thursday, Dec 15, 2005, you would have read about a female humpback whale who had become entangled in a spider web of crab traps and lines.
The fifty-foot whale was weighted down by hundreds of pounds of traps that caused her to struggle to stay afloat. She also had hundreds of yards of line rope wrapped around her her tail, her torso and a line tugging in her mouth.
A fisherman spotted her just east of the Farallone Islands (outside the Golden Gate) and radioed an environmental ... 
It is so often true that "what goes around, comes around," and that life lessons often walk in through the most unexpected doors.
One hot summer, several years ago, my son and I were taking a trip by train. But first we had to take a bus into the city to the station to catch the train. I was a single Mom and as usual, since times were hard and money was very tight, we simply could not afford any extras. So we packed a large lunch bag of snacks and sandwiches, and had a small cooler filled with sodas to get us through ... 
When I was in my first year of college, I hit a stretch where every area of my life was a disaster, I felt hopeless and alone, and more depressed than I knew was possible.
On one such day, I was walking from class across campus to catch my bus home, head down, fighting tears of total despair, when a guy came down the sidewalk toward me. I had never seen him before. Embarrassed at being seen in such an emotional mess, I turned my head away and hoped to hurry past. I figured he'd walk on by, but he ... 
Julio Diaz has a daily routine. Every night, the 31-year-old social worker ends his hour-long subway commute to the Bronx one stop early, just so he can eat at his favorite diner.
But one night last month, as Diaz stepped off the No. 6 train and onto a nearly empty platform, his evening took an unexpected turn.
He was walking toward the stairs when a teenage boy approached and pulled out a knife.
"He wants my money, so I just gave him my wallet and told him, 'Here you go,'" Diaz says.
As the teen began to walk away, Diaz told him, "Hey, wait ... 
I volunteer for Orange County Jail's "Lights On" project on Saturday nights -- in a RV, from 11PM to 4AM, we provide a safe space for released prisoners until they find a ride home. Of the many interesting stories I've heard, a particular story of 50 year old prisoner really touched me.
After his last stay in jail, this 50 years old guy was homeless. He did have a family member and a friend that would let him sleep over sometimes, but on this particular night, he decided to come back and hang out with us in the RV.
He told us ... 
It was the early 1990s. During the bleak years of the Bosnian war, the Serbian Army surrounded the city seeking it's surrender and the expulsion of all non-Serbians. The residents, with a minimal volunteer and civilian militia, were unorganized but mounted a spectacularly brave defense.
From around the world, many people converged to help them. It was an almost magnetic pull to serve a valiant and vulnerable expression of our human experience. I was one amongst those who came.
Fueled by Hemingway and feeling much like the Spanish Civil War, international brigade volunteers were driving ambulances around town. And yet it ... 
"Some people!" snorted a man standing behind me in the long line at the grocery store.
"You would think the manager would pay attention and open another line," said a woman. I looked to the front of the line to see what the hold up was and saw a well dressed, young woman, trying to get the machine to accept her credit card. No matter how many times she swiped it, the machine kept rejecting it.
"It's one of them welfare card things. Damn people need to get a job like everyone else," said the man standing behind me.
The ... 
You join Facebook and " friend" your old classmates. You might not ever talk about anything serious with them but they are there. You read their status, laugh at their jokes, groan at the corny quotes, or wish them a happy birthday. Until last week, that is....
A classmate from twenty years ago was one of my Facebook friends. A few random comments he made gave me the impression that something was wrong so I prodded him to call me. He did call and I found out that that he, his wife and eight children had just moved into a cheap ... | Home | About Us | Our Friends | Get Involved | Contact us |  |  |  |