Acts of Kindness to Brighten Your Day

It’s a busy and often chaotic world out there, and sometimes it can be challenging to find the positive in the constant onslaught of news updates and social-media notifications. So if you’re looking for a little joy to brighten your day, we’ve got you covered.  Here are our favorite stories featuring acts of kindness, from cute captures on camera to kids using their favorite craft to save the day. Enjoy!

New parents Caren and Dustin Moore were flying home after finalizing the adoption of their first child. When the flight crew learned about their happy news, they asked passengers on the flight to write down their well-wishes and advice on napkins, which were then collected and presented to the new parents. Napkins with kind words of encouragement for a newly-minted Mom and Dad? Now we need some tissues of our own.

2. A sweet sanitation worker and his BFF

A Ring Doorbell camera caught some heart-warming footage between 88-year-old Opal, and Billy, the sanitation worker assigned to her home. Billy and Opal became friends after Billy waited with her for an ambulance after a fall last year. The two now talk each week as Billy helps brings in her trash can. Make sure to watch to the end to see Opal’s family meet Billy for the first time! 

3. The teenager who sews bowties for pups in need

Is there anything cuter than the dogs and puppies featured for adoption through local animal shelters?  We didn’t think so, but then we saw the bowties. Sir Darius Brown makes handmade bowties for shelter pups so that they look extra adorable in their adoption profiles, therefore increasing their chances of finding a forever family.  

4. An organization specializing in random acts of kindness

Imagine pulling out your wallet to pay for your cart full of groceries, only to be (gently) interrupted by the person behind you— who then offers to pay on your behalf. That’s exactly what the volunteers at Fill My Basket do each time they visit a grocery store, and you’ll love seeing the joy on everyone’s face as their day gets a little bit brighter. 

5. These students who raise money to replace their teacher’s stolen shoes

Today’s kids are all right. Especially the class of students who raised enough money to replace their teacher’s expensive basketball shoes after they were stolen from his room. We love teachers who make a difference, and the students who clearly learned from his positive example. 

6. The stellar student who offered to give his extra credit to a student in need.

We told you the kids were all right. When a high-school student earned five extra bonus points on test he already aced, he wrote a note on the bottom of his exam asking the teacher to pass his points along to a student with a lower score, no questions asked. In a competitive honors class, this act of compassion is just another sign that today’s kids are more than ready to change the world.

7. An 8-year-old who paid off all the lunch debt for his school

Keoni Ching wanted to do something meaningful for Kindness Week at his school, so he made and sold keychains to help raise money to pay off the school-lunch debts of his other classmates. Not only did he raise enough money for his own school, but he earned enough to help six other schools as well!