Random Acts of Kindness

Oh yeah...in college I alone oroganized to have care packages sent to Afghanistan...not many people donated but we had enough for maybe ten boxes (medium size).

I almost got suspended though and they stopped me from doing it because it was considered "military activity" on campus???? yeah. that was an act of kindness made me feel really good except for that part.

Have any of you ever been the recipient of a random act of kindness or been the one doing the kindness?

Thank you for the inspiration. Tip of the hat, wag of the finger your a great American.:flowerforyou:

My most memorable good deed was on a military base where I was stationed in the mid-1970's. I was in my early-20's and drove past a man, probably in his 50's, who was walking. Something/someone (I think it was God) told me I should turn around and offer the man a ride. He gratefully accepted, but he had a little difficulty getting into my VW Bug. Before he got into the vehicle, I had no idea he had two prosthetic legs. After I dropped him off at the bus stop, I said a prayer of thanks to God for using me.

I received an anonymous gift during a time of need. I made a point to tithe on my earnings, but I knew my budget wasn't going to balance one month. My husband unexpectedly came up with $50 that he gave me, and I received an anonymous gift of $100. That $150 was just the amount I was short. Once again, I gave God the praise.

We're all better off when we help each other out.

As a lady was leaving the car park and we were arriving, she still had couple hours left on her parking ticket and she came up and gave it to me. :flowerforyou:

My life time moto is... smile and pass it on. don't know if it makes a diff, but when i have been in the dumps and i get a smile it made me feel great!!! and u never know if someone is thinking bad desperate thoughts... imagine if a simple smile could turn them around....
So smile and pass it on.

I want to go about this differently... instead of saying what I've done for someone else, I'd like to share a Thanksgiving story about how our family was helped one year.

When I was nine years old my father had disowned us and started living with his mistress. We got put out of our house and had moved into a one bedroom apartment. Picture 6 children (two of which were twins and in diapers) and one parent living in one a one bedroom. We didn't have money for groceries and it was Thanksgiving. The place where my mom worked took up food donations and money and paid our light bill and we had the best Thanksgiving ever. I still have pictures of all the groceries they gave us that year.

It's always made me look back and try to help someone else who's in need.

I have tears in my eyes reading all your posts.

Here's mine: About 10 years ago, my sister-in-law was having the family over for Christmas dinner and she also invited one of her friends who was going through a rough patch. The friend in question had a son who needed glasses and she had to borrow money from my sister-in-law to buy them and was supposed to reimburse my SIL in small weekly payments. I asked my SIL how much her friend still owed her and I reimbursed her.

Hmm... I have three kids, and I find it so nice and considerate when I have all three at the grocery store and someone lets me go ahead of them. Bless you! Wrangling three small children in a public place is almost impossible. When I'm by myself, I try to return the favor.

My husband and I when we were first married went to a production of CATS. We were newly married, with not much money so we were in the second row from the top. At intermission, a lady came up to us and told us the show wasn't really her thing, and offered us her tickets. They were on the floor, maybe 3 or 4 rows back. What a nice thing to do.

This past Christmas a community member gave us her tickets to Mannheim Steamroller. She had four tickets, so we decided to take our two oldest kids, knowing we'd probably have to leave at intermission. When we got there we suddenly realized they front row seats!! We stayed for the entire show, my daughter charmed their socks off, and it was absolutely amazing.

We bought supper for a homeless person, my kids still talk about that experience, it left a lasting impression.

The oddest one was one morning (many years ago) my husband ran to Casey's to get coffee. While there, he met a man who was traveling to speak at a Sunday morning service at a local church (we live in a very small town so no stores were open). He had forgotten his dress pants, and my husband and him were the same size, so he ran home quickly and grabbed a pair for him to borrow.

I love doing random stuff like this..the stunned, suprised, and truly grateful reactions are more than worth the effort.

I've paid tolls for the car behind me. I introduced myself to a homeless guy I always see walking the roads and highways around here. Bought him a McD's meal one time. Another time I found an envelope with $20 in a parking lot. It wasn't mine but there was no way I could identify who lost it. Next time I saw the homeless guy it became his.

On a smaller scale, every time I go into the grocery store or Home Depot I always bring in at least one shopping cart from the parking lot, sometimes 3-4. The lot attendants seem to really appreciate it, helps make their day!