Acts of Kindness Thread

[Memento]

I figured that given everything that's going on in the world today, we could use a thread where we can document acts of kindness that touch our hearts. I'll share a video of a multitude of acts of kindness here to kick this thread off, starting with a homeless man named Ron Howell:

Ron Howell's Story

Howell, from Salt Lake City, Utah, saw a Chihuahua being thrown out of a car on the highway where he panhandled, and risked his life to save the poor creature. Noting that the dog was a kindred spirit like himself (both now being homeless), he took care of the dog, hoping to find it a forever home eventually. A woman named Angel Janes noticed Howell protecting the Chihuahua, and quickly got into contact with an animal rescue group, which quickly found the furry friend a forever home. The leader of this rescue group, Kathleen Dahlman, not one to sit aside while others needed help, set up a Go-Fund-Me to help get Howell off of the streets and into a home himself.

As of now, the Go-Fund-Me hasn't gotten to its goal as of yet (a little over $6,800 of a $10,000 goal), but the kindness of these three people touched my heart.

 

[Memento]

Adding another one, this time of a sixty-five-year-old Starbucks supervisor:

Karen Collinsworth's Story

Collinsworth is basically the mom away from home to the younger workers who work with her at the Starbucks in Huntington, West Virginia near Marshall University. She's had a passion for food service for a long time and has built a rapport with the customers and her coworkers for decades.

Unfortunately, she was having a lot of issues with her old 2004 Kia, having people have to jumpstart its battery and the like, but she didn't like to talk about her problems or have people feel bad for her. Then someone stole from the old Kia not once but twice (the first time being the catalytic converter and the second time being items from the interior), and her coworkers immediately stepped to the plate after seeing an anonymous post on social media site YikYak wishing that they could donate money to Collinsworth to help out: they started a GoFundMe for a new car.

The original goal was $10,000. It raised over $40,000, including hitting the original goal in the first twenty-four hours.

The coworkers intended to surprise Collinsworth with the gift, but it spread so quickly that someone told her. Donations included Marshall's president, Brad Smith (who gave the GoFundMe $5,000), but there were about 1,200 donations as a whole, all of them meaning a lot to Collinsworth, who said that she appreciated the smaller gifts because these were struggling college kids who thought of her, even though they needed to make ends meet, and saying that the best feeling is that her coworkers care about her and that they love her as much as she loves them.

 

[snackdaddy]

Its good to know in this crazy age we live in there is still good in people. I have a soft spot when it comes to dogs. I watch these short videos on facebook with dogs being rescued out of a bad situation and have their happy endings. Whenever the world looks so depressing they give me a lift. Nothing but respect for the volunteers who work for rescue organizations.

 

[Memento]

The Father of the Year

This man from China, whose name I don't know, put his body on the line to keep his toddler daughter from bumping her head on the concrete after she climbed on and tipped over a toy wagon. Fortunately, the girl was none worse for the wear (aside from crying because hey, she's a toddler and she took a big spill), and aside from what looks like road rash, he seems to be okay as well.

It's something the dads here would likely do, but still, you see so many bad stories and bad endings that you're grateful for every father who cares about their child, tries to protect them, and prevents a tragedy from something like this.

 

[Memento]

The Story of Joey Romano and Beni Lukumu

Joey Romano was a college freshman when he broke his wrist trying to avoid a car while skateboarding. Worried about insurance, he called an Uber instead of an ambulance. Beni Lukumu was the Uber driver in question, helping Romano get comfortable, and when his injury turned out to be more serious than urgent care, took him to the hospital. Lukumu not only drove Romano there for no cost, but when he realized that Romano had no nearby family to help him, Lukumu, having immigrated from the Democratic Republic of Congo at a young age and feeling a kinship, stayed with him, signing him in and staying six hours with him, and when Romano's grandmother offered payment, he politely turned it down, but agreed to join them for dinner.

Romano was going through a horrible point in his life at that point as well: grief over his ten-year-old brother, Johnny, passing from leukemia, and that friendship cemented a goal for Romano to help people thanks to that act of kindness by Lukumu. Lukumu now works in the insurance industry in Austin, Texas, while Romano is a renewable energy developer, and they've kept their friendship intact for seven years and hopefully much longer.