There's a lot of bad news out there. You don't have to look too far to find stories that make you want to cry or hide under your blanket or throw up your hands and shout, "what is WRONG with everyone?" It's sometimes too easy to forget that really good people exist everywhere and are doing things, as I write this, to make the lives of others better. Instead of dwelling on the bad, we want to take a few minutes to recognize 10 of the sweetest, most generous acts of kindness we've witnessed this holiday season that are making us feel really good about humankind.
1. A mystery man poses as a homeless person in Vancouver and rewards those who give him money. Although he refuses to reveal his identity, the Canadian begs for change on the street each Christmas and then provides those who donate with a monetary gift.
2. In Colorado each year, a man buys out the toy section of a Goodwill. Children who visit the charity organization with their parents then get a huge surprise: They are allowed to pick out one free toy. The man behind this act has chosen to remain anonymous and doesn't want to disclose how much he pays Goodwill.
3. Amazing reports surface of Salvation Army sites receiving gold coin donations. Officials say various Salvation Army drop-offs in Chicago have collected more than $11,000 in gold coins by anonymous donors.
4. An anonymous donor in Ohio known as "Secret Santa" gave a Walmart $25,000 in gift cards to pay off about 100 layaway accounts.
5. Secret Santas seem to be everywhere! Another anonymous donor secretly paid off $2,000 in layaway bills at a Walmart in Central Texas.
6. Adults aren't the only ones who are in the giving spirit. Three young boys found $100 while playing at a park. Instead of running to the video game shop, they asked one of their grandmothers to help them return the money to a church.
7. In order to encourage an elderly woman to drink her medicine, a registered nurse from Michigan offered her a beautiful bracelet. She literally removed the jewlery from her wrist and handed it to the woman in order to get her to take the meds she desperately needed.
8. Single mom Danielle Dubois from Connecticut was told by a Walmart rep that a "Christmas angel" had paid off her layaway bill for a Lego set she had purchased for her son. After losing her mom a few months earlier, this random act of kindness was just what mom needed.
9. Reddit is being used as a tool in which charitable people can play Secret Santa and give to complete strangers. Who would have thought that one of those donors would be Bill Gates, who donated a cow in a young woman's name to Heifer International, which gives the animals to needy people so they can eat and make a living.
10. Dad of four receives the most amazing Christmas gift: a letter from his late wife, who died of cancer and penned the note two years ago. In it, she reminds her husband of the great love she has for him and even asks him to pamper his new girlfriend and take the family on a big trip. Heartbreaking and beautiful.
What's the most touching act of random kindness you've witnessed this year?
Image via David Lienhard/Flickr