This story still makes me smile...

My husband was deployed on his first 15month deployment to Iraq when he came back for his 2 weeks R&R and was asked to come to the local elementary school and speak to a class. We both went in to the 1st grade class and he read to them and then they wanted to ask him questions, so we stayed a bit longer and let them ask him questions. Then they turned to me and wanted to ask me questions...I was a bit shocked but I answered. They asked what I did while he was deployed and did I miss him and was I afraid for him...etc. etc. They were VERY cute, innocent and sweet kids. We left and DH promised to write the class from Iraq and they promised to write him back. About a month later I had to leave our hometown and go back to DH's duty station. I was HOME SICK and missed my family VERY much...not to mention I was alone and barely knew anyone (we were new to the Army), it was also Christmas time and I had just found out that my husband was being extended and would not be home for the holidas, leaving me alone for the holidays. I got a card in the mail a few days after getting to post and in it was a card made by the kids DH had gone and talked to while on R&R. They wanted to wish me a merry christmas.......when I opened the card up a bunch of 1$ bills fell out. The teacher had a note in there that said "the kids decided to give you their icecream money, they wanted you to use it for yourself."..............................these kids were in the 1st grade!!!! They turned down icecream for me, lol.....I think I melted right then and there and I know I couldn't finish reading the card b/c of the tears in my eyes. I still have the card and I pray those kids remain as sweet and innocent as they were back then!!!!!


oh-they also wrote to DH all the time (and he wrote back) and DH would say how much those letters meant to him

This is going to be long, sorry.

It was a few days before Christmas 2007, near blizzard conditions outside and by 1:00 pm we had 10 inches of snow with another 6 forecasted. Now this is Kansas so we get snow just not usually that much at one time. We let the kids open a new board game we got them for Christmas and were playing it at the table. The kids were 17, 15, and 11 old enough that they would have rather been out playing in the snow with their friends but I had a bad feeling about the day so made them stay home.. Around 2:00 pm there is a knock on the door, my first thought was which one of the kids idiot friends went out in a blizzard, my oldest son answers the door. He comes back to the table with a concerned look on his face Dad, there are 5 Mexicans on the porch. Dh goes to the door talks to one of them for a few minutes then comes in and tells us that they are traveling to Ohio from Arizona, that the highway patrol closed the interstate and they were told there was a hotel in this town. Well they had turned the wrong direction from the highway, where we lived there is no hotel but the town 15 miles on the other side of the highway has a couple. And they were driving an extended cab truck towing a trailer with bald tires. Only one of them spoke English. I said let them in..
When they came in one of them was wearing shorts and the heaviest thing any of them had on was a hooded sweat shirt.
I made a few phone calls and found out there was a 45 car pile up on the interstate and thats why it was closed and it probably wouldnt be opened till the next morning.
I realize these 5 strange men are going to have to spend the night and that I needed to figure out how I was going to feed them. The only grocery store in town was closed. Oddly my Father in law had requested chili for Christmas eve dinner, and I had gone grocery shopping the day before. So I had everything on hand to make 3 gallons of chili and my in laws usually eat chili with flour tortillas and rice instead of the saltine crackers I grew up eating. With those five grown men and the five in my family we ate most of the 3 gallons of chili. And my oldest sons ex-girlfriends step dad was from Mexico and had given him some Spanish speaking movies.
So here is this white family in the middle of Kansas feeding 5 strange Mexican men rice and beans with flour tortillas and watching Spanish speaking movies with them even though non of us speak Spanish. I really hope they didnt think we were to weird..
Next came bed time Our house is quite small and I had no extra beds to offer them and started scrambling for blankets and pillows when one of them realized what I was doing he jumped up put his hands up for me to stop then went out to his truck and brought in bed rolls for all of them They slept all lined up on the living room floor like a big slumber party. The next morning I decided the only thing I could make for breakfast and have enough to feed everyone was pancakes. I dont think these guys knew what a pancake was or how to eat it. Dh sat down at the table with them while I was still cooking and showed them how to put butter and syrup on the pancakes, I forget how many batches of batter I went through that morning but it was a lot and 2 full bottles of syrup..
One of the tires on their trailing had gone flat over night, while DH helped them air it up with the compressor the rest of the guys shoveled the snow off our sidewalk, driveway, my car, DH truck and the neighbors car using one snow shovel and a couple of scoop shovels. Then they were on their way.
I sometimes wonder what happened to them and what they thought of us.. Some of my friends thought I was nuts for letting them into my house and I found out later they had knocked on the doors of several of our neighbors only to be turned away..

Multicrafty...I am sure they remember you to this day for taking them in and keeping them warm. What a wonderful story!

What an awesome thread! There ARE good people in this world. Yuo guys made my TERRIBLE day much better! Thank you all.

multicrafty.....that is such an AWESOME story!! Amazing that you had tortillas and rice on hand.......what are the odds?

This has got to be the best thread I have ever read! It is so heartwarming to know that there are such wonderful people in this world! Keep the stories coming, cause I could read these forever!

I have a couple,

Two & a half yrs ago (march of 07) another driver came into my DH's lane and hit him head on, causing him to flip and roll his truck several times ( I was actually on the phone and heard the whole thing! HORRIBLE!!!) Well my DH is self employed. Financially it hit us hard. He had severe head and back injuries and was out of work for a year. I have to tell you though, through that whole time, all of our bills were paid. We would get online to pay a bill and it would say it had been paid. Our rent was paid for 3 months by someone...most of the time we had no idea how or who had done it. People from our church showed up at our door for weeks everynight with dinner so I didn't have to worry about it. Our yardwork was always taken care of, my DH's friends would come and bring him lunch just to keep his spirits up. We were truly blessed through a horrible situation.

Now with the economy so bad things are VERY slow for DH.
For the first time we had to call our landlord (who just lost his wife at age 42 to cancer) and tell him we would be a little late on the rent. He says don't worry about it I know things are slow right now, I'm going to go ahead and LOWER your rent by $100!! Who does that??? This is a new house, we are the only ones who have ever lived in it!

This is my DS senior year. We can't afford all the stuff that goes with it right now. Well one of our friends from church who has known my son since he was 1, and has always spoiled him...called and told him he would do his senior portraits for FREE!!! He is a professional photographer!! What a blessing!

Our son tried out for one of the bands at church and made it. Well him and my DH were just gonna share my DH's bass, because he plays on a different band. Well a guy from church calls last night and says my DS can use one of his extra basses for as long as he needs. So DS goes and picks it up. When he gets it home and opens the case....it is the EXACT same bass my DH has!!! LOL! God is so amazing~

Also my MIL shows up 3 days ago to take my middle son school shopping, bought him everything he needed! Out of the 3 kids he was the only one that needed almost everything.

This one is a little fun thing I get to do for my Best friend. She lives in another state ans is throwing a baby shower for one of her friends. She can bake and frost a cake like i've taught her but she just cant get the fondant figures done. So i'm making all the fondant figures for the cake and sending them out to her.

Multicrafty- that is an amazing thing to do. It takes a very special person- and family- to do such a wonderful thing. I'm sure your act of kindness served as an inspiration to your neighbors.

This is going to be long. Sorry.
I don't know if this is a "good deed" but it is something I am very excited about. I need to preface it with a little back story. There is a well known Jewish charity called Chai Lifeline that provides support for sick children and their families. They have a totally free camp for kids with cancer and other life-threatening or chronic diseases during the summer, my daughter donated her hair to them when she got her first real haircut at age 4 (they makes wigs for children like Locks of Love), and just provide meals, housing, clothing, transportation, or anything needed to families whose kids are in the hospital or struggling with chronic illness. One of their big fundraisers is a marathon (you can run or walk a marathon or half marathon). They have two a year and in order to participate you have to raise $3000 that goes directly to the charity.

I have a very dear friend who lost her precious 14 month old son about 2 months ago very suddenly to viral encephalitis. They were out of town when he fell ill (living in Kansas, visiting Chicago for a wedding) and Chai Lifeline helped them tremendously. Clothes and meals brought to the hospital, people volunteering to take the other kids in the family on day trips while they had to be with the baby, volunteers came to sit with him in the hospital so my friend and her husband could spend much needed time with their other 3 kids. The list goes on and on.
After he passed away, my friend and her MIL and 2 SILs decided to run the half marathon in memory of her son and to do what they could to help others with sick kids. So my husband and I decided to join them so we are training to run a half marathon and have committed to raise $3000 each to help this amazing charity continue its great work.

My parents are at the point where they don't really want gifts for birthdays, etc. anymore -- if they want something inexpensive, they buy it; if they want something expensive, we can't afford it, and they don't want to have to find places to put the stuff we can afford! So several years ago, they told us that instead of buying gifts, they would like us to do an act of service in their honor, then write them a note and tell them about it. We try to get our kids involved, even though they are little, and this gives us several great opportunities a year, when we might otherwise forget, to discuss the importance of doing good.

Just a thought for those of you who don't need any new cake supplies...if there are any!

What a fab thread!
My story is nothing compared to taking in strangers or helping the sick but it makes me smile inside. A few months back i had been shopping at our equivalent of Walmart and i had just packed up the car and was about to return the trolley (shopping cart? i think you guys call it) i had just started and i saw a fairly elderly man at his car loading up his shopping, without thinking ( my mum must have instilled it in me when i was a child) on my way to the trolley shelter i marched up to the man and as bold as brass said 'if you just hang on a minute i'll be right back for your trolley'. When i was on my way towards him he hadn't seen me but looked around to see where the trolley shelter was and had a really sad, quite desperate look on his face. I didn't even have the manners to wait to see if he wanted my help but when i returned to him his face was beaming and he said 'oh thank you lass God bless you, my poor knees are killing me today you're a wee sweetheart'. I know it doesn't sound much but i really can't convey in words the gratitude that man had on his face or in his voice. Even thinking on it now makes me feel all warm inside - i acted instinctively and wanted nothing in return but that gentleman's smile will stay with me forever. It's nice to think you can make such a difference with a tiny act of kindness and common decency - our world would be a much happier place if it happened more often.

Multicrafty, your story made my cry...
God will always bless you for your kindness. And if some day your children are in need they will always find someone like you to lend them a helping hand...is the 'Pay It Forward' concept you know.

Years ago when I was going through a divorce and raising 3 kids by myself I was always very careful at the grocery store not to go over my budget. Well, one time I got distracted and the kids put stuff that I wasn't planning to buy... When I got to the paying line I noticed the extra groceries so I told the kids to put all that stuff back!...the sales clerk saw us and said---hey kids, put it all back in your groceries it's on me!!---I was embarrased and wanted to cry...I promissed to come back and pay him but he said --nope, the smile on your kids faces was enough---....

My kids are grown now and I have a good job, but nope we will NEVER forget the kind salesclerk. And yes, my kids and I have paid that to others many times when I see people struggling to pay their groceries, especially if they have children.----
Pay It Forward---you know.

Excellent thread...

Thank you all for the complements!! My middle son was absolutely horrified at first and wanted to go spend the night at one of his friends houses.. After I told him that if he was ever stranded somewhere I just hoped there was someone around to take him in. He felt a little better about it then.

And that was not the first time we took in a stranger.. The first time was about 19 years ago, way before the 'pay it forward' concept became popular. Our oldest son was about a year old. DH was helping a friend move and they saw a guy sitting in the back of his truck, playing guitar, at the repair shop in the next town over. It was Saturday afternoon the shop was closed and wouldn't open till Monday. After going by the guy several times moving furniture they stoped and talked to him turns out his truck had broke down on Friday and the part needed to fix it wouldn't be in till Monday. He had very little money so was just staying in his truck and hadn't eaten since friday morning. SO Dh brought him home. We fed him gave a couch to sleep on for two nights then took him back to his truck. Dh even went back that night after work to make surehis truck got fixed and he was on the road again.


I feel kinda guilty that these are my first two post is there someplace where I should do an introduction..

Multicrafty,
As far as i'm concerned you've made an introduction i'll never forget!!
Your family must be absolutly amazing! Your parents did a good job, your husbands parents did a good job, and now you two are doing a good job with your kids...you continue to pay it forward!

I think you, kinda, did it already ...

We have a children's home in the town that we live in. There are about 25 orphans who live there at any given time. The home used to do all the childrens birthdays quarterly with one cake. A few ladies in our community formed a birthday committee. They put an ad in our local news paper looking for bakers to donate cakes for the childrens birthdays. Now each child gets a gift and we donate a cake for every child. We visit the home before each childs birthday to ask them how they want their cake decorated. It feels great to know that we have made a child feel special on their birthday . When we pull up in the driveway to deliver each cake the kids come running out to meet us. One day when we were leaving one of the boys jumped in our van and wanted to come home with us,it nearly broke my heart to tell him he couldn't. We have been donating cakes for about two years now.
We have also started a program called Cookies 4 Kids. I was watching the news one evening and a teacher from one of the schools made a plea to the community to donate food items because some of the students parents couldn't afford to feed them. My then 12 year old daughter and her classmates decided to bake cookies and sell them at school each week . Every Sunday about six of my daughters friends come over bake and bag all the cookies. All the proceeds go to buying food items for the children. We buy breakfast and lunch items for them on a weekly basis and take them to the school.

Not a big deal, but...
Like many others on here, I'm very blessed and not in need of anything. We throw at least one big Bar-B-Q in the summer, and a big dessert party at Christmas (93 people at the last one!). Because we don't need more "stuff," we always tell people on the invitations, that in lieu of bringing a hostess gift (bottle of wine, etc.), they should bring a canned or dry good for the local food pantry.
We've had some pretty good "hauls," and the people at the pantry are always surprised and happy to see what we've brought. They always ask, "What church are you from?" since churches are their main source of donations. We explain that ours are private donations, and then tell them the story about what we request on our party invitations. They seem amazed that people would do something like that.
It's been great, because we get to have a good time with friends, our friends get reminded about those less fortunate, and the pantry gets stocked up.
At the last Bar-B-Q, one of our guests said, "This is a really great idea. You know, if everyone in the US who had a party asked their guests to do this, we could probably go a long way towards ending hunger."

The hungy get fed, fun times are shared, and lightbulbs go off!

reading everyone else made me feel very insignificant. i try to do a little something special for the people in my life. show up at a friends work with coffee taking my mom flowers or bring someone lunch.

but here's a story where someone did something so nice for me i had to share

let me start off this with a little back story i did a cake for a wedding in march for free with the understanding i would get my dummies back never got them or a thank you. to be honest that was a blow to the heart i did it with the right mind set just to be slapped in the face.

so i did a cake over the weekend for a friend of my moms ( side note I'm in love with her son hints the motivation for the cake to show up his gf) don't get me wrong i did the cake because i really like this lady she had just moved into a new house after 24 years. she said no gift but i wanted to surprise her and let me tell you the second i walked in the door people saw the cake and fallowed me to find the kitchen they went krazy over it. to me that was the best feeling. i would hear people walk by talking about it and dragging people to the kitchen to see it. all night people came to talk to me about it then today my mom hands me a box with my cake boards, dowels and a thank you note that was just so sweet i did bring a tear to my eye (the board and dowels could of been thrown away so i thought it was sweet she thought to give them back) that one little act of kindness from her made up for all the unappreciated cakes I've ever done! it made me so happy just had to share!

the cake is under my photos its the toaster

Oh my all the wonderful stories.

I was in the cafeteria line at my work (furniture factory with a gourmet cafeteria, go figure), and a factory supervisor was in line in front of me to pay. The cashier went on and on about one of the supervisor's employees who had charged a lunch the week before and never came back to pay. The supervisor told her that it was probably just a mistake because he wasn't that kind of person. She was relentless...on and on about how it was stealing and wrong...

He walked on and sat down and I told her to add the guy's charged dinner to my bill. She looked at me like I had two heads. Just as I told her that day, I have been blessed so I need to help out people when I can. This time I can. Also, I am forgetful sometimes. That could've very well been me who owed.

To all who begin their story with "this is nothing compared to everyone else's..." or something like that: just remember that your seemingly small deed probably meant the world to the one you helped. No act of kindness is too small to be noticed. If not by the recipiant, certainly by God.

oh my gosh...I told my DH I was right behind him going to bed but I just couldn't stop reading this thread.

I have many stories, free cakes, helping strangers road side, $100 tips to the single mom Denny's waitress but most recently was so sweet.

I was pulling up in front of a friend's house and across the street was a very elderly man attempting to push a trailer (the kind you can tow little four wheeler ATV's on) up his slightly inclined driveway by himself. As I got out of the car he looked over at me in that "hopefully this is someone who can help me" kind of way then quickly looked back at his monumental task upon seeing it was me, a little ol' girlie.

So, I promptly trot over in and slide in beside him and start pushing. We got it to where it needed to go and he was super thankful. I told him, no problem, I can't count the times I've need help and looked to someone with the same look in my eye.

I always pay it forward when I can. I request parents not bring gifts to my son's bday party but instead donate to a cause or shelter. He is too young to be upset about it or even care. I too believe in Karma....this is a great thread even if my nose is NOW congested and my eyes all puffy. More good is done in this world than we know. The bad stuff makes for great "news" and ratings but everyday blessing are being given and received daily but people just like us.

Great thread!

Wow. You guys can not know how much I needed this thread this morning!

My dog passed away on August 21, 2008 of cancer. It is almost a year now and I still can not even think about her without crying. (Here come the tears) Last night I had the most vivid dream of her playing in the yard with me. She was running back and forth with her ears and jowls flapping and that big old goofy grin on her face. I woke up this morning just sobbing and I can't believe how much it still hurts after a whole year. I know, she was just a dog. But, she was so much more than that.

Susie was an amazing soul. She helped me in the nursing homes. She knew when a person needed her and I can't tell you how many beds she walked up to and laid her head on their hand and just held still. It was almost like she was trying to give her life to them, and I believe she would have if possible. She was as big as a horse but she didn't have a bone in her body that wasn't created to help someone. She slept next to my son's crib and rode him around on her back when he got big enough. She knew how to be rough and fun when you wanted and then quiet and calming when you needed that. She was so wonderful. She was my rock through a divorce and always knew when someone needed a hug. She would come up to you and put her head on your shoulder and sigh. She went down the slide at the playground with the kids and was the first one to come running when someone fell and scratched their knee. She went everywhere with us and was like a child to me for many years that I thought I would never be able to have a child. She is my story. She was a gift to everyone that met her. She even tried to nurse a litter of kittens that were left on our doorstep. She was my baby. I have not been able to deal with the fact that she is gone. I admit that I still have her collar in the glove box of my truck. I put it there when we left the vet's that day and still have not been able to throw it away.

So here is what I am going to do. I am not going to forget her, ever. I am not going to let her good deeds stop because she is gone. I am taking your ideas and I am collecting items for the local animal shelter until the 21st. Then, on the one year anniversary of her death, I am going to donate them. You guys have inspired me. I thank you because this has helped me feel like something good will come from something as sad as her death. The earth truly lost an angel to cancer that day.

WOW. What an amazing thread! ive managed to get through the full 8 pages without bursting into tears (trust me, it wasnt easy!) ive had goosebumps all the way!

i havent done half as much as amazing stuff as you guys have, but every little helps l
ast year i was in a charity shop, the british heart foundatation, and an eldery gentleman was looking at a winter coat (it was cold and wet outside, he could of really used it ) and was turned away by the lady at the counter because he was £2 short of the price required to buy
his little old man face was so incredibly sad, i thought about giving him the money, but then i decided, since the coat only cost £7, which no doubt, i could spear and problies spend on crap, when this old man obviously didnt have much and could use his money on other things.
i went and bought the coat instead, by the point the man had left the shop and i ran after him, and handed him the bag. i think he thought i was slightly crazy and he just looked at me totally confused, i told him i thought he could use a nice warm coat. his face was a picture and i wont forget it, he told me it was the nicest thing anyone had ever done for him. he couldnt stop thanking me and it really did give me that 'warm' feeling you all speak of.

I so remember the thread about the KA mixer being send overseas to help out a new decorator.
Every one of the posts in this thread has helped me thru a trying day. I have been sitting around all day feeling sorry for myself......another day totally alone......nothing to do.......no one to talk to, etc, etc. What a pity party Ive been having!

I so want to let everyone on here know how much I remember and am sooooo very grateful the good wishes, and offered help to me when it looked like I would have to forgo internet service when my husband left me a few months back.

I try hard to help out others. There is an internet service "Freecycle" where you can offer or request whatever - as long as it is totally free. I have given dishes, DVDs and food from my garden to help. Check out your local freecycle forum to see where you can help.

A few years back, a girl in my Bible study group got pregnant unexpectedly. She already had 3 kids, but the youngest of those was 17, so she didn't have any baby stuff. On top of that, she didn't have insurance, and had a minimum wage-ish job. Our little group of 7 ladies threw her a shower and we ended up giving her everything she needed. Including a crib, bedding, stroller, clothes, diapers, and a large gift card to a baby store. (None of us had much extra money, but it all came together...God is good!) She was so surprised and so grateful. I will never forget the look on her face when we wheeled out the crib, all assembled and fixed up with the new bedding. It was wonderful!

I have been really having a bad day today...until reading this thread. I am reading it backwards but it still has impacted me. I see that there are still good people who are willing to give of themselves to help someone in need. These stories are wonderful and heartwarming!!

What an awesome thread!

My mother died in 2002, and I still miss her terribly! So this Mother's day, in honor of her, I made white chocolate fruit tarts for all the mom's from our church who didn't have children close by and delivered them personally. I also made cookies for all the moms at the church, and put them in boxes I made myself.

Last year a girl from church was supposed to go on a mission trip, but her plane ticket price doubled because of the bad economy. I set up a bake sale for her and she was able to make enough money to pay the other half of her ticket!

Our church couldn't afford to hire anyone to do the janitorial services, so they asked for volunteers to do different things. I did the bathrooms once a week for a year.

These good deeds have a way of blessing us:
I have been working on prerequisites for nursing school for the past two years. It is sooooo hard to get into nursing school here! But I prayed and sent in my application to one of the best schools here, hoping to at least get my name in their files. What do you know, I got a letter asking me in for an interview. Out of 628 applicants, they were interviewing 150, and from that 150, they would only take 80! Well my interview was on the Fiday before Mother's Day when I made those cookies. For some reason, I put one in my bag on my way out the door to the interview. After the interview I saw this lady sitting at her desk in an office (the door was open) so I stepped in and asked her if she was a mom. She said "No." So I said, "Do you know a mom?" She said, "Well as a matter of fact, my mom lives with me." So I took out the cookie and gave it to her and told her to give that to her mom for Mother's Day. She was so happy and impressed! Ijust told her that I think it is important to honor all mom's. She even made sure she wrote down my name!
...Well, what do you know...turns out that lady was one of the three people who read the written part of our interview (we had to write essays in the interview) and helped to decide who would be accepted! Two weeks later I got my letter saying I was accepted into the program!!!!!!!!!!!!! I saw her at orientation and she came up to me to tell me that that cookie was very special because it made her mom's day! Her mom was very ill, but the cookie brightened her up and she ate it! Two weeks later, her mom passed, and that turned out to be the last Mother's Day she spent with her mom, and she hadn't seen her mom that delighted in a long while over anything! I'm so glad I brought that cookie! It was a blessing in sooooooo many ways! For all three of us!

AMAAAAAAAAAZING!

Sorry this was so long. I just had to share it!