Thru our Church we always have way to share but this year the time I had the most fun, was doll clothes. We have an chili cookoff and auction every year to raise money for the women's ministry this year I did not have time to make doll clothes but I put a promise note in and 2 little girls started to bid but they did not have enough money, so our Preacher finished bidding for them, the next wed nite they brought me a drawing of what they would like. blue jeans and pjs needless to say they received a little more than that , but the looks on their faces when they opened their bags warmed me to tears. I really think with times being like they are just a smile and kind word does more than we know.

I have sent someone a template/ruler they wanted, but couldn't get.....:) And I donate regularly to Habitat for the Humanity and St. Vincent dePaul's (and buy from them regularly, too). I have a friend that is in a bad situation......so I tend to back extra and take the extras to them, telling them I need to diet so they can have the extra.

You guys are so inspirational!! I love these stories! Thank you so much for sharing them!!

Rhonda, I thank YOU for bringing this post to fruition!! I am so touched by these stories.
Happy New Year, hon!! :D:D:D

Since I live in Minnesota and it gets pretty darn cold some times, I always stop for a person that is walking in the crosswalk. I know its the law that you are suppose to stop but you would be surprised at how many people don't stop. Never could figure it out, since they are in their nice warm car and your outside freezing your butt off.

my co. did well this year and yes, I gave bonuses to my staff but I wanted to do more. An email from my sister was the perfect answer. A family at church needed some help. They weren't asking for it, just was talking in general how tough it is and Mom felt overwhelmed. My sister took it upon herself to send an email to all her bffs and it took off. My staff and I had a blast- one of my girls is a huge shopper- knew all the sales and had the greatest coupons. We outfitted the 3 kids from Aeropostale- socks, jeans, hoodies, shirts, and even coats! I bought everything for their Christmas dinner. Sister's office buddies bought toys, the church gave gas cards and $ for more groceries. Sister and hubby bought food for 2 weeks (kids get breakfast and lunch through school).

The family was just amazed. Mom kept saying- we weren't asking for anything, I was just letting off steam. The best part- they were having difficulty making their mortgage payments and I managed to give her some info that has helped her keep her house. I also gave her the name of a place for hubby to apply for a better job and for her to add to her teaching credentials.

Now that's happiness.

Thank you Sue. My mom and I have talked alot about the lack of courtesy in the world today. So I am one that prefers to see the positive so I wondered as in Janet Jackson's song "What have you done for me lately" only I wanted to know what everyone does for others!

It has been an interesting thread!!

WOW Barb! Way to go!! You and your friends have really made a differance in that family's life!

We had our really really tough years when my kids were growing up so it brings me to tears to read things like this.! I remember thinking if I only had $20 it would help so much. I relied on my family at times or we wouldn't have gotten through those years even tho my DH had a good job it was still tough.

I would feel bad that I didn't tithe at church like I felt I should be but didn't. So at times when I had a little extra I would send $10 or $20 to someone anonymously. The Lord would lead me to that person and I would send what I could. I only hope it helped them as much as it did me. I would imagine them opening the mail and seeing that money and it felt good knowing I did something that would make their day brighter.

There were times when $20 meant being able to feed my kids or not. Or needing gas in my car to get to work. So I totally understand the needs that just $20 can fill.

I love this topic, lots of good ideas, & good deeds here. Nice to know, some I haven't even thought of yet!

Whenever I leave the house & am out & about, I keep a natural smile on my face. I choose to be happy & it works, trust me! My smile is such a habit now, that sometimes, I get a smile back & wonder what they are smiling about, lol!

I always put the cart back too, or, if there are no racks nearby, & weather isn't helping, I make sure I leave it in a safe, secure place.

I always hold the door for others, only bothers me when they waltz right through, & don't grab, leaving you to feel like their personal doorman, instead being courteous too, oh well. I try to let others blend in when driving, or go in front of me at the grocery store. One year, we also qualified for a free turkey at Thanksgiving. Being empty nesters, & not wanting turkey around forever, we asked the store manager if they donate them elsewhere. He said no, but made suggestions. Then we shopped. As we were checking out, he came to us, & said, a lady had just come in asking, so our turkey found a much needed home & it made us all happy! Another idea to think about, if you end up with one you don't need! Now hubby is retired & we don't grocery shop often enough to qualify, but I would do it again in a minute!

Love all these ideas, please keep posting them, & I too, need to work on my listening skills with others!...

Once, a lady at work thanked me for listening to her.
I felt so 'awed' by her saying that & vowed to listen
more often.

My husband and I bought breakfast for a young mother and her three small children in Denny's just before Christmas. No we didn't know her, but we were touched by her mannerisms and the fact that when their food arrived they all held hands and said a prayer before they ate. Not something you see much anymore. We just quietly asked her waitress to bring us her check and then we paid it when we left which was before she did.

I have just read through all the pages and am quite happy at the number of you ladies that return your carts to the cart corral. I also do this and am always aggravated by those that don't. A few weeks ago I was backing out of a space and didn't see the cart that was on the passenger side and put a 2 inch scratch on my door. The cart corral was right next to me on the drivers side. They couldn't walk 10 steps to put it away? Anyway, thank you to those that do. Maybe if enough of us do this we can start others to take note and do the same.

I do like to give the person who doesn't put their cart away the benefit of the doubt. I have personally been in the situation where I had a child in the car I couldn't leave to put the cart away. Or my DH was not doing well and I didn't want to leave him long enough to put the cart away. There can be extenuating circumstances where someone who can't walk well can't take the extra steps to put it away. I imagine most of them are left by people who just don't care but I like to think maybe this one was left because that person couldn't put it away.

I so enjoy it when someone walking up to go to the store will offer to take my cart so I don't have to put it away. Some days my breathing is not good and those extra steps are torture for me after expending my energy in the store.

I don't always know the other person's situation. So I try to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Ok this is going to come out as a complaint so please understand I am only saying this to raise awareness.

I am always aggravated when I park in a long handicapped parking place so we can unload Glen's wheelchair and when I come out someone has parked on the no parking lines behind my vehicle and I can't get his wheelchair in the van til they move. So we have to sit and wait for that person to move!

When you see a handicapped parking spot it is illegal to park on those lines. They are there for the handicapped person to load and unload. If someone parks there then that handicapped person cannot get in or get their gear in the van. This is very uncool!! Especially in bad weather!

Most of the people who have done this to me are also handicapped and feel they have the right to do whatever they want to. One lady told me I should have moved her car! Yeah right like that is going to happen! I don't want to be accused of stealing her vehicle.

This is a courtesy as well as a legal thing that people don't consider the plight of the handicapped person who parked in that space.

My DH has had people run over his feet when he is in the wheelchair in the stores. So I guess I am saying please be aware of handicapped people when you shop and consider what they may need help with. Or at least be courteous enough not to step on them or push them out of the way. Some staff have been known to be discourteous to my husband also because he is in a wheel chair.

I would love to make everyone use a wheelchair at least one whole day so they understand the limits this puts on the handicapped person.

Sorry to post a downer but it is important to me to make people aware of the need for consideration of the handicapped person.

Today we got our computer back from a young guy who recently lost his job. He is a computer whiz who does work at home on the side; anyway he was going to charge $100 but my DH gave him an extra $80. He is going for an interview this coming week so we hope it works out for him,

I was just in walmart and an elderly woman asked if she could see the xmas pin I had on my jacket. It was a gold outline of a reeindeer with a red scarf. She loved it. So I took it off and gave it to her. She was thrilled.... It made me feel good also. Her daughter put it right on her monters jacket. And thanked me again.

Thanks Nolee. I try not to be negative but I do have my soap box themes and this is one of mine. My kids would say quit lecturing MOM! LOL But I don't think some people think about what their actions do to others.

That is why this thread was started. I love to hear all the bright and beautiful ways people help and uplift others!! And it is nice to know not everyone has lost their manners!! :thumbup: :thumbup:

Love it Ms Kay that was so sweet of you!

I really appreciate the person who secretly gave money to our daughter and family. It made a huge difference for them at Christmas. My hubby gave his Christmas tie to another man at a luncheon we were attending because he said it woulde be perfect for a party he was playing piano for that night. He wasn't asking to borrow it or anything, but was pleased to have it to wear.

I also put carts back and try to let other drivers blend in.

Mostly I try to do little things as often as opportunity presents itself. I always get more back than I give in the form of feeling the Spirit of the Lord in my life. Can't beat that!!

I applaude each and everyone of you for your "random acts of kindness" You make this world a better place. if only for a few moments, but added together we can make a big difference. My stepmother taught me to make every person I meet feel better when they leave. She had a way of say "Oh my dear, how are you" with the emphasis on the "are you" It always made me feel so important to her and so loved by her but she did it to everyone who called or came to the house. She was Mom and Mentor to me and I loved her dearly. She passed Monday at 4am at age 94. Her glorious voice is still now but I know she is singing with the angels. God bless all of you, keep up the good works.

I bring my sister's grandchildren over as often as I can to give them a break from a mother who is less than nice. We do projects, go to the park when it's nice, & pretty much anything they want to ease their pain of having a crappy mother.
I am also "raising" 2 of my daughter's dogs since she had moved to a townhouse that doesn't have enough room for all 4 dogs. That's about all I can handle. I don't work any more but am disabled now.

I take food one of the most basic needs. If someone is sick or has a dying family member I cook however many meals it takes to help the spouse, or pack a box of groceries, give it to someone who knows the family and remain anonymous, as people do have pride. Sometimes I slip money into an envelope of a single mother with a tray of cookies and let them know God cares. Flowers are nice but they are for the survivors, food is for the living. The blessings are truly mine.

A very small thing for me, but a big one for an old friend. She is in the nursing home where my Mom was when she died. I had told Jennie some day when it was nice outside I would come get her and we would go out to our church and she could see the new addition. She has been a member for many years. Her only daughter lives in Dallas and cannot get up to see her often. We did that one nice warm day and she saw a lot of people she knew and was so happy. We drove around the lake and had a coke and I took her back. She was so happy and could not stop telling me how much it meant to her. I took her cookies at Christmas and visited awhile. I hope to do this at least once a month. She is 91 and such a sweetheart.

That reminds me of a time I stopped at a rest stop to get a bite to eat. On my way out, a youngish man stopped me and asked me if I wanted to buy a bottle of water from him. He told me he and his wife were trying to raise money to fill their gas tank for a long trip they had to make. I forget the whole story now. I happened to have a $20 bill in my pocket and thought that would be almost a full tank, so I just gave it to him. He was very thankful, and It was a very public place, so I felt safe enough. I thought if he was scamming me, that's on his conscience. Yes, $20 often make all the difference in the world.

DH and I were in Costco the week before Christmas. He said, let's get some toys and take them to the food bank. So we bought four kind of medium-priced toys, 2 for girls, 2 for boys, and dropped them off at the food bank in our town on our way home. Our kids are grown and we both have jobs, so it felt really good! I always have volunteered at something. I usually give at least 1-2 quilts away every year, whatever my energy level lets me do.
I always put carts away at the grocery, too! I straighten when I am in clothing stores!!! :)

I made 14 people happy this year by giving 14 quilts to them. I made 19 all together. Pretty darn good if I say so myself. I give away many more quilts than I keep for myself.

I have another one! A man who worked at a local grocery store who had some kind of brain damage and basically was simple-minded. Washing the windows and collecting the carts was about the most he could mentally handle (the carts that so many people won't return to the cart return : ) Whenever you came by him, he would look at you and say, "have a wonderful day." He spoke slowly and deliberately, almost slurring his words because of his disability. But it was so sincere how he said it, as if he actually wants you to have a wonderful day. He always makes me think of all the times I've said that and didn't really mean it.

One thing that is making me "have a wonderful day" is reading this great thread. Keep 'em coming.

At the school where I work, the student council and some staff members spend a couple of days cooking complete Thanksgiving dinners to deliver to those in need in our community. This year I donated milk, butter, eggs and storage containers to be used for the meals.

I took a name off the students' giving tree in the cafeteria and gave the gifts requested to an adult resident of our community center for the developmentally disabled. I added a fleece blanket with her name and a design embroidered on it.

For Thanksgiving and Christmas we insisted that our son-in-law invite his brother to our home for dinner because he had nowhere else to go for the holidays. For Christmas we bought him a small present and filled a stocking for him.

I always put my cart back in the coral and if it's a store without a coral, I push the cart back up to the store.

I intend to add much more to this list for 2011. I've gotten several new ideas from all of the previous postings that I intend to do very soon.

Sometimes the simple courtesies can mean so much. Things like holding the door open for others, saying thank you when someone else does. (I especially appreciate it when I'm with my mom in her wheelchair. Having a door held open helps so much.)
I look at name tags on clerks and call people by their names, wish them a nice day.
Say nice things to strangers. Compliment a hair style, a scarf, their child,etc.
When I was in my teens I started looking at people and saying, Good morning or afternoon with a smile and meaning it. I figured it would make someone's day better. Yes, sometimes I get strange looks but that's OK.
My mom always let us bring someone home for the holidays. Someone with no family close by. Since there was already 13 of us she figured one or two more wasn't a big deal.
My daughter usually has Christmas dinner at her house. She'll ask people without family nearby. If I know ahead of time I try to have some kind of a gift for them... a warm scarf, etc. This year I divided a couple of plants Christmas Eve into nice pots and gave a couple of plants.
I once got a Secret Santa gift with a note thanking me for all I did. I hadn't signed up for the Secret Santa exchange that year because we were in the process of moving. A pleasant surprise.
If a waitress does an especially good job don't just thank her and give her a good tip - tell her boss. (I've been a waitress. You have no idea what we sometimes have to put up with. Aww the temptation.)
I have a friend temporarily in a nursing home in another state. I arranged to make her payments on a bill until she is better.
Three months ago my 33 year old daughter told me I need to be a better listener. That seems to be a problem for a lot us.

I'm a social worker . . . it comes with the territory. I can't help myself, especially with those who least deserve it. I like watching their anger melt into a smile . . . killing them with kindness, you know.

I have worked many years in retail. I grew up in my Dad's service station and my mom worked in the high school and between them they knew everyone around. So I have strong feelings about dealing with the public. I do not suffer silently when the cashier ignores me to talk to her friends over my head. But I also alway make sure I tell the cashier or waitress who is caring that she does a good job and why. One time I was in a Casey's and I complimented the cashier on how quickly and efficiently she put people through the line. She flippantly said tell my boss that. and turned away but her boss came through the doors right behind her and I did tell her boss exactly what I had said to the cashier. I have been on both sides of the cashier and waitress jobs and I know how hard it is to do those jobs. It is important to me that they know that what they do and how they do it affects the customer good or bad.

My boss when I managed the book store had a little newspaper clipping on the desk that said --
Treat a customer right - he will tell ten friends and those ten friends will tell ten friends and so on and that is how your reputation is built - good or bad!

On the 23rd of December, my Grandson helped me deliver 22 lap quilts I had pieced and machine quilted to a nursing home for their residents. The administrator and activity director at the nursing home were thrilled! I had decided this year that I had more than enough quilts and quilt tops and that I should be making something more useful for others and the nursing home residents were what I chose.

Happy New Year to All,
This has been the greatest thread ever. I'm one of those people that returns the cart back to the store almost always there have been a few rare time when I just returned them to the corale. I try very hard every day to try and make some small difference in a person life evev if it in the smallest way like a smile or just listening.
It's been a rough year as my daughter was diaignost wirth Breast cancer she has undgone the surgery but still as a long way to go. The Friday before her durgery her husband stopped by and said that their marriage was over and the cancer really put an end to it. after making that anoncement he evicted me Merry Christmas I need to find a place to live. Ok I thought that maybe it will be a blessing is discise I work at a job I love I'm a personal aide for the exceptional education pay isn't great but the benifits are wonderful. So there is a very lovely lady that lives in a rooming house at the corner of the street and we where talking about Thanksgiving and I told her I was going to my son for dinner I asked what ar your plans. She said that she would be selling her Flowers and that she would have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich when she got home, I thought that just won't do so I spoke with me daughter and she said that she would take her and Mr. Frank a plate down after they where done eating,I said geat I came home and pulled out of the freezer some stuffed cabbage rolls and some soup I had made ( which meant that I didn't have to eat it as many days) if I shared it with her. So on the night before Thanksgiving I share with her and on Thanksgiving she and Mr. Frank had a wonderful mea, which was greatly apperciated after standing on a corner selling her flowers she does make enough to meet the rentbut I worry about her as she walks and sometime its late when she returns home. I decided then that I would share my Christmas with her so I packed up a few things for her gave her a Tim Hortons gift card a sweater body cream and soap I was given and couldn't use as I allergis to Jasmin a few other thing a small box of candy a hat scarf and glove to keep her warm ansd another dinner so she wouldn't be eating a peanut butter sandwich
Well it did my heart good to make somebody elses day after receiving my onw bad news but the look on her face said all I needed to hear Thanks for letting me vent and then listening to my my story I hopr that everyone has a good New Year.


Pam,

Rhonda, I wouldn't worry about being on a soapbox; we all need to feel strongly about things or this world would really be in a mess. Yes, common sense, is the key in so many situations. People today just don't seem to have it, or have forgotten. What happened to the "magic words"--please and thank you??? Are we so self centered that we can't take the time to use these small words that mean so much.
My husband and I try, especially at holiday time, to be generous to those who "serve" us--the mailman, the waitress in the restaurant--well you get the message. And why not send a small check to one or two charaties. Yes, helping to pay one's bill in the grocery line is a great thing to do.
Let's all slow down just a bit and take a good look around us; there are so many small things that we can do to help make other people's lives a little easier and brighter.
There, that's my soapbox delivery for the day!

Rhonda, I wouldn't worry about being on a soapbox; we all need to feel strongly about things or this world would really be in a mess. Yes, common sense, is the key in so many situations. People today just don't seem to have it, or have forgotten. What happened to the "magic words"--please and thank you??? Are we so self centered that we can't take the time to use these small words that mean so much.
My husband and I try, especially at holiday time, to ge extra generous to those who "serve" us--the mailman, the waitress in the restaurant--well you get the message. And why not send a small check to one or two charaties. Yes, helping to pay one's bill in the grocery line is a great thing to do.
Let's all slow down just a bit and take a good look around us; there are so many small things that we can do to help make other people's lives a little easier and brighter.
There, that's my soapbox delivery for the day!

I agree! This has been the best thread on this forum I think I have read. So many nice stories, so many hearts warmed...inspirational for us all.

An old chap that I know could not remember the details of a medical appointment that he had to attend. He was anxious because the people had rung to remind him and he didn't remember any details.As I have the capacity, I rang around and found his details, wrote them down for him and ordered the taxi to come to pick him up.
Another person with little income had been told she needed to replace her sewing machine. I took it to my repair man who charged $40 to give it a service and it is running perfectly.
The next item was a gift of money given to me by a 90 year old who wrote on the bottom of the card,"You are not to use this to buy anything for me!" So it will be used to assist elsewhere...
I usually don't speak of these things that a lot of us do to work toward the common good and welfare of others. However, I think it has been a good exercise in actually sitting back and reflecting on the subject. Thanks for the opportunity to do so.
I am particularly interested in adopting the practice of our fellow board member who says she adopts a family.

I help the handicap and the elderly get items off the top shelve at the grocery store if I notice they are struggling. I also help them load groceries into their cars if I see them as I am going to my car in the parking lot.

Last week I helped a handicap man load his walker into his car because I noticed he wasn't able to do so as the wind was blowing so hard he couldn't keep the car door opened.

I make an effort to do something nice for someone every day but often I fail. I do this out of respect for my parents because that is how they raised me.