With the wedding called off, she donated the venue to another couple

A couple weeks before her wedding, Kolbie Sanders of Tyler, Texas called off the wedding. Unable to give a refund on short notice, the venue offered to apply her funds to a later date.

Kolbie had another idea. She told the venue she planned to give it away to another couple ready to be married. A couple she didn't know.
She put her idea out there on Facebook. The post was shared thousands of times, and responses poured in. Not all the responses were of the 'pick me!' type, many were offers of support. Within days, a photographer, a florist, a bakery, and a restaurant all offered to donate to the chosen couple's wedding.

Just days before the October 20th wedding, Kolbie literally reached into a hat and chose Halie Hipsher and her fiance Matt Jones. Their wedding was planned for 2019, but Halie's grandfather has Stage 4 pancreatic cancer. The quick wedding meant he could attend, which in turn, meant the world to Halie and Matt. 

The wedding went off without a hitch. Kolbie even dropped in for a quick photo with the happy couple.

Home security camera captures 3 kids returning a wallet with $700 inside

When a news station gets hold of home security footage, it's often broadcast to identify a criminal. Aurora, Colorado area stations broadcast this footage to help identify three great kids. It worked.

A couple weeks ago, Haylie Wenke, 13, and her 6-year-old brother Reagan were riding bikes with a friend. They spotted a wallet in a driveway, brought it up to the door, and rang the bell. The smart doorbell system answered, and the surprised-looking kids explained their find. "We found your wallet outside of your car and we just thought we would give it back to you. I'm going to put it over here so no one takes the money," Haylie said. 

The wallet had $700 inside.

The homeowner, Jamie Carlton, was grateful for the kids' honesty. He wanted to thank them personally, but didn't know who they were. So he posted the security video on Facebook in hopes of finding the kids. The video was picked up local news outlets, which led Carlton to Haylie's mother. He was able to contact the kids to thank them for their honesty. He said the kids' action, 'refreshed your faith in humanity." 

Cyclist rescues injured dog by carrying him on his back out of the woods

Jarrett Little was cycling with friends through a wooded area near Columbus, Georgia. When they stopped for a break, a dog limped out of the woods.

The dog had a broken leg and road rash. Plus, he was thin, so the cyclists surmised he'd been hit by a car some time earlier. They fed him and watered him from their own supplies, and talked about what to do from there. They couldn't get a car to this location - it was too remote. And they certainly couldn't leave the dog where they'd found him.

So Little put the dog on his back and cycled to the nearest town seven miles away. To stabilize the injured dog, he had to do some of the ride without using his hands.

They stopped at the town's bike shop to inquire about where to buy the dog some more food and water. Andrea Shaw, a Maine resident in Georgia for work, happened to be in the shop at the time. She had an instant connection to the dog and set about adopting him and caring for him. She found a vet, paid for the dog's care, and arranged for his transport to her farm in Maine. In honor of the place he was discovered, she named him Columbo and even started a Facebook page to document his adventures.

Columbo now has a forever home with Shaw, thanks to Little's willingness to piggyback him out of the woods. 

Fish seller buys 70-pound octopus just to release it back into the sea

Giovanni DeGarimore, owner of a fish market in Morro Bay, California, got a call from a local fisherman. A 70-pound octopus had been caught in a crab trap and he thought DeGarimore would be interested in buying it. He was indeed interested, and paid the fisherman a couple hundred dollars for it.

Truth is, DeGarimore does not sell octopus at his market. A few years ago, he met an octopus face-to-face while scuba diving in Fiji and was impressed with its playfulness. That led him to read more about the creatures, including research findings which point to their intelligence. They can navigate mazes and solve problems, and are well-known for their skill as escape artists. 

So DeGarimore bought the octopus, named it Fred, and kept it safe at his shop for a day or two. Then he transported Fred to an undisclosed location far from possible predators and released it into the sea. 

“I can’t be a savior to everything, so I had to pick one thing and do what I can," he told local news. And to his followers on Facebook, he said, "It'll hit me in the pocket, but I'd rather stand for something." No doubt Fred appreciates DeGarimore's conscience.

If you're as fascinated with these creatures as I am, you'll enjoy the amazing National Geographic video below.  

This second-grader raises funds to buy rain boots and ponchos for the homeless

While driving with his family through Vancouver, BC on a rainy September day in 2016, six-year-old Ryder Moore noticed something - people wearing ragged clothes and no protective footwear. Ryder asked his parents about this, and a conversation about poverty and homelessness followed. Touched by what he saw and learned, Ryder suggested he give away his own boots. His parents guided him toward a way to make a greater impact. 

Now in its third year, Ryder's Rainboots raises funds to buy Rainy Day Kits containing new rain boots, a poncho or rain suit, gloves, socks, and a hat for men, women, and children. Eight-year-old Ryder adds a personal note to each kit, saying “Hope these boots keep your feet dry. From Ryder’s Rainboots xoxo.” He delivers them himself to the Vancouver area homeless shelters. 

All totaled, Ryder's project has raised over $10,000 since its start in 2016, allowing him to deliver over 200 Rainy Day Kits! His goal for 2018 is to raise $5000 by mid-October to prepare the homeless for the fall rainy season in Vancouver. He says, "I want people to have fun and jump in the puddles, and most of all, feel like someone cares for them."

Small kindness of Waffle House waitress goes viral, lands her a scholarship

Laura Wolf was eating at a Waffle House in La Marque, Texas earlier this month. She overheard an elderly customer on oxygen ask a passing waitress for help. He said his hands weren't working well and needed help cutting his ham. Eighteen-year-old Evoni Williams was that passing waitress, and she did what she always does - stopped and helped. Laura captured the small kindness on her phone and shared it on Facebook. The post went viral.

As word spread locally, Evoni was thrown into the spotlight. The public learned she works at Waffle House to save for her college education where she plans to major in business. Last week, various officials met her at the Waffle House including media to record the event. The mayor issued a proclamation, declaring Thursday Evoni Williams Day. She was given a huge vase of flowers and got to meet Laura, the woman who captured the kindness to begin with. Then, a representative from Texas Southern University came forward. He presented Evoni with a $16,000 scholarship to be used toward four semesters' tuition.

Evoni is understandably delighted with the accolades, but doesn't quite see what all the fuss is about. She says, "I was just doing what I do every day."

Auto repair staff fixes cars after hours, then gives them away

Several months ago, a customer came into Knibbe Automotive Repair in Calgary with a problem. Her van needed some expensive brake work, and since her husband had recently left her and their three children, she was unsure how she'd pay for it. Compassion for the young mother's situation tugged at the hearts of several of the shop's mechanics. They volunteered their own money for parts and their own time after hours to implement the repairs.  

Since then, the shop has launched a unique give-back-to-the-community program. When a customer sells them a car cheaply, the mechanics work their magic. They donate their time and energy to do body work, tune-ups, and whatever repairs are needed to ensure the car is in good working condition. Then they post pictures of the car on their company Facebook page, and take nominations for folks who really need wheels but can't afford to buy a car. Once chosen, the lucky recipient gets a fully serviced car, free of charge, no strings attached. The shop even throws in a free year of routine maintenance and repairs!


What do the mechanics and the shop get out of it? "It really just has to do with helping people out that just don't have the means to do it themselves either through money or time," managing partner Joe Kirk says. "If you can do that kind of thing, it's what you have to do as a decent human being."

400,000 people applaud this young man's small kindness

With the divisive atmosphere in our country and our media's focus on bad news and sensationalism, human decency seems in short supply. In fact, bad behavior seems more common than ever. As headlines and 24-hour news channels broadcast more and more stories of worthy of a dystopian novel, I ask myself - is the escalation in bad behavior a matter of garbage in, garbage out?

Call me callous, but I limit my intake of news. I can't spend my life's energy fretting about other people's bad behavior. I'm on the lookout for good news, hoping to fill my mind with examples of goodness and decency so my heart will absorb the message and my actions will reflect that. Goodness in/ goodness out.

That's the purpose of this blog. It's my way of calling attention to kindness, a chance to spread some decency, share some small reminders that people who behave with respect for themselves and others still exist. I believe their stories should be broadcast far and wide. Their behaviors are the ones which can and should be emulated.

Take this story for example. At a busy Massachusetts shopping mall, an 83-year-old man hesitated at the top of an escalator. A few people walked around him and still the man stood in place. Several paces back, a woman named Paula witnessed a young man later identified as 23-year-old Alonzo Johnson approach the elderly man. "Do you need help, sir?" he asked. The man explained that he'd once been caught by an escalator and still had a phobia about them. Johnson offered an outstretched arm and said he'd ride with him to the bottom. The man accepted the offer and did just fine.

Paula captured the kindness on her cell phone and posted the act of decency to Facebook. The shot has gone viral, which surprised both Paula and Mr. Johnson.

Apparently I'm one of over 400,000 people who like hearing good news. Here's hoping each of those 400,000 people spread some kindness of their own.

When he saw the customer's breakfast go cold, he offered to help

For Joe Thomas, it was a typical day as wait staff at IHOP in Springfield Illinois. A couple of regulars came in, Dale and 'Ma', and Thomas did what he's been doing for the last five years - he pulled up a chair to help feed Ma.

She has Huntington's Disease, a progressive neurological impairment, and she needs help to use utensils. Since the pair has come to IHOP weekly for years, Thomas had noticed Dale's breakfast often went cold while he fed his wife. One day about five years ago, he offered to help feed her so Dale could enjoy his meal too. The couple accepted his offer, and the routine was established.

Last weekend, a customer snapped a photo of this arrangement and posted it on Facebook. The photo and the accompanying story went viral, touching millions of people with its simple kindness.

Thomas has received an offer to go for training in nursing. He hasn't made any decisions, but thinks he might like to return to a job he once had as a rehab tech in a residence for adults with disabilities. He was also quick to praise his supervisor and his fellow wait staff, since they pick up the slack at his other tables while he helps Ma with her meal.