Thoughts

(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!