(For those of us who are weary of the doomsday posts and news)
1. Strangers catch thief & return purse 
(Chicago, IL) — Just today (Nov 17!), a woman named Lavonne lost her purse in Millennium Park. Two strangers saw a man rifling through it, realized he was stealing it, confronted him, got it back, and returned it to her intact!
2. Girls Volleyball Team buys custodian a car 
(Texas, USA) — A high school team secretly raised money all season to buy their beloved school custodian a car so he wouldn’t have to walk to work anymore.
3. Cyclists buy out street vendors to feed homeless 
(Chicago, IL) — A massive group of cyclists rode through the city buying every single tamale from street carts, paying the vendors double, and then distributing the hot food to homeless neighbors.
4. Pastor declines $1M donation, gives it to poor 
(Georgia, USA) — Pastor Jamal Harrison Bryant turned down a $1 million building fund for his church, telling the donors to give it directly to families losing their SNAP (food stamp) benefits instead.
5. Fishermen paid to save turtles 
(Nigeria) — A conservation group launched a new program this week paying local fishermen more to safely release accidental sea turtle catches than they would make selling them at market.
6. Dog sits in road to lead police to owner 
(Stevens County, WA) — A rescue dog named “Gita” sat in the middle of a rural road and refused to move until a Deputy stopped; she then led him to her 84-year-old owner who had fallen and broken his leg in the woods.
7. US Soldiers stop for lunch, save a life 
(Poland) — Four National Guardsmen stopped for a quick burger while deployed, saw a local man choking and turning blue, and successfully performed the Heimlich and CPR to save him.
8. Community rebuilds 99-year-old Vet’s home 
(USA) — After a flood destroyed a WWII veteran’s home and insurance failed him, hundreds of neighbors showed up with tools and materials to rebuild it for free this week.
9. Stranger gives kidney to woman he met online 
(USA) — A man saw a post about a stranger needing a kidney, got tested, was a match, and successfully completed the transplant surgery this week, saving her life.
10. “Human Chain” saves drowning family 
(Florida, USA) — Beach goers dropped everything to form a 30-person human chain into rough surf to pull a struggling family of four back to safety.
11. Janitor leaves millions to library 
(New Hampshire, USA) — It was revealed that a humble janitor who lived frugally his whole life quietly left his entire $3.8 million estate to the town library and hospital.
12. Teen runs into fire to save siblings 
(Ohio, USA) — A 14-year-old girl woke up to smoke, and instead of running out, she ran back in to grab her two younger brothers, getting everyone out safely before the roof collapsed.
13. “Taco Hero” pays for everyone’s groceries 
(Wichita, KS) — When a store’s card reader went down, a regular customer quietly paid for every single person in line so no one had to leave their food behind.
14. Doctor performs free surgeries in war zone 
(Gaza/Region) — A volunteer surgeon spent the last 7 days performing life-saving operations non-stop for civilians, refusing payment or rest.
15. Villagers plant 111 trees for every girl 
(Piplantri, India) — A village celebrated the birth of newborn girls this week by planting 111 fruit trees for each one, securing their financial future and greening the planet.
16. Lost non-verbal boy found by singing 
(New Jersey, USA) — A search team found a missing non-verbal child in the woods because one volunteer remembered the boy loved a specific cartoon song and started singing it—the boy sang back!
17. Homeless man returns $4,000 cash 
(Connecticut, USA) — A homeless man found a dropped envelope of cash on the sidewalk and immediately turned it into the police station; the community is now raising money to get him an apartment.
18. Cafe hires only adults with disabilities 
(North Carolina, USA) — A new coffee shop held its grand opening, staffed entirely by adults with Down Syndrome and Autism to give them meaningful employment.
19. Shelter clears kennel for first time ever 
(Pennsylvania, USA) — For the first time in the shelter’s history, the community showed up in such force that every single dog was adopted by Sunday night.
20. Teacher walks 5 miles to feed student 
(Tennessee, USA) — A teacher realized a student wasn’t at school to get their free lunch, so she walked the meal to their house to make sure the child ate that day.
21. Surfer saves deer swimming in ocean 
(California, USA) — A surfer noticed a deer struggling way out in the waves, paddled out, put the deer on his board, and rode it back to the safety of the shore.
22. Pilot diverts flight to save dog 
(Air Travel) — A cargo pilot realized the heating broke in the hold where a dog was flying; he diverted the plane to a closer airport immediately to save the dog from freezing.
23. “DoorDash for Good” saves tons of food 
(USA) — A new initiative hit a milestone this week, having rescued 250 million pounds of restaurant food from dumpsters and delivering it to hungry families instead.
24. Man reunited with class ring after 56 years 
(Long Island, NY) — A stranger found a ring in the sand, tracked down the owner (now in his 70s!), and returned the ring he lost half a century ago.
25. Nurse adopts patient’s baby (USA) — A dying patient asked her favorite nurse to take care of her baby, and this week the adoption became official—the nurse is now the baby’s mom.
Thanks, Heidi!
Great stories that show we are better than what we think.
A couple of questions do pop up: For #13, shouldn’t that have been a temporary problem? It’s great that “Taco Hero” was able to keep the line moving. For #24, it is amazing that the ring stayed on (presumably) on the beach, not get washed out to sea, and did not get buried enough to avoid being found.