Secret Santa - Reaching out to others

Post Reply New Topic

Anybody have any stories about random acts of kindness and generosity ?

Secret Santa

Last edited by cosmiccat on 23 Dec 2007, 1:19 pm, edited 3 times in total.

i used to do it in schools. but not anymore

A six year old girl was given a hundred dollar bill for Christmas by her grandmother. She was planning to spend it at Borders, as she was an avid reader and books were her favorite things to buy with any money she received. She wasn't really aware of the actual value of money, she knew that $100.00 was alot, but in her mind, $5.00 was alot too. She wasn't aware either, of the concept of stealing, so she left her $100.00 lying in various places throughout the house, or in a pocket, or a toy, until she was ready for her trip to the bookstore. During this time, the little girl's mother invited a family member who was homeless to come and live with them for a week or so, until he could find a place of his own. This family member, a young adult, had a troubled life in many ways. He had Tourette's and Aspergers. The only friends he had also had troubled lives, but they accepted him and so he called them friends. Many other family members were not so accepting of him because he kept making the same mistakes over and over again and their patience with him had worn thin.

One day, while the troubled youth was staying with the family who had taken him in, the little girl's $100.00 could not be found. Her mother combed the house looking for it to no avail. It was decided that the "house guest" must have stolen it and even though he appeared shocked by the accusation and denied that he would do such a thing, he was asked to leave.

The little girl had another grandmother, who was not nearly as financially well off as the granny who had given the girl the $100.00. When she heard what had happened she was very upset, not only that the young man was accused of something he may not have done and out on the street again, but also, that her little granddaughter had now learned the concept of stealing and might lose her trust in people. It occurred to this grandmother, that the little girl and her mother had treated the $100.00 carelessly by letting it lay about. Any number of things could have happened to it. And it could have been stolen by someone other than the young man. So she devised a secret plan to set things straight for the little girl and the young man.

She managed to scraped up $100.00, went to the bank and had it converted to a hundred dollar bill and wrapped it in a typewritten letter that said: To whom it may concern: While walking my dog I noticed this hundred dollar bill stuck in the branches of the firethorn bush outside your front door. I knocked several times, and rang your bell, but no one answered so I decided to mail it to you. Merry Christmas. And then she went to the post office and mailed it. The little girl was over joyed, the mother was puzzled, and the young man was off the hook. His old friends had taken him in again, they were a lot like him and had nothing worth stealing. Did he take the $100.00? Nobody knows - but him.

Post a heart warming or funny story about an act of kindness or generosity that you know about or have heard about. Surely, there's more stories like this out there.

This has nothing to do with secret santa but thought I would share it anyway...

I was just coming out of an appointment with a lady from an employment centre one day last year when I saw an obviously homeless man pushing a trolley full of little bits-n'-bobs he had found and an old blanket.
I approached him and told him about the employment center and that they could help him find a job. He yelled at me and told me to leave him alone...but I sure hope he took my advice and went there. If not, atleast I tried.

Not much of a story...but hey, it was a random act of kindness I think.

in my experiance people throw my kindness back in my face so I don't much give anymore...
I do feel worse because of it though

Brittany2907 said:

A nice story. Yes it was kindness, especially when you think of how many people completely ignore the homeless and cross the street in order to avoid them.

Kilroy said:


Do it anyway, if it makes you feel bad not to. If being kind to someone makes you feel better, you should keep trying I think.

How about one that happened to me.

About 10 years back my car ran out of gas. It was old and the gas gauge didn't work, so I couldn't tell.

It was Christmas Eve (cliche I know).

We were near my mothers apartment, but we were stalled in a narrow pass with a concrete gaurdrailing so no one could pass. My mom got out and pushed (yes I know, but she can't drive). We moved over to the side. A lady stopped and asked if we needed help. I asked her if she could drive me to the gas station so I can get gas. The station was about a mile away. She said she'd go for me. Before I could give her some money she was off. She came back with a gas can and all and even put it in my tank. When I offered her the money, she said

"No worries, Merry Christmas"

Gave me the gas can and left.



There still are some decent regular people out there, that give w/o expecting anything in return.

Great story, Busy91

I have another story that happened to my daughter. She and her husband were out on their way to do some Christmas shopping about two weeks ago. At an intersection a pickup truck made a left turn and crashed into another pickup truck, sending the truck careening towards my daughter's car. It just missed her car, and instead plowed into a telephone pole. All traffic was stopped as the intersection was blocked by the two trucks. My daughter and her husband got out of their car. In the truck that slammed into the pole was an 18 yr old girl, crying hysterically. In the other truck was a young man, who was not injured, as his truck stopped dead when it hit the other. My daughter wrapped her arms around the young girl, who had gotten out of the truck, was comforting her and trying to assess if she had been injured and if so how badly. The girl kept crying and saying "It's my father's truck. He's going to kill me. He's going to kill me for smashing his truck." My daughter said "Your father's not going to kill you, he's going to be thankful that you are alive." The girl started to turn ashen and started to complain that she couldn't breathe and that her ribs hurt. She went limp and collapsed in my daughter's arms. My daughter laid the girl down on the side of the road and my son in law put his jacket under her head. They had already called 911 and the ambulance was on it's way. My daughter found the girls cell phone, called the first number in the directory (It was the girl's cousin) and explained the situation, telling the cousin which hospital that ambulance would be taking the girl to.

Out of all the cars that were stopped along the road, my daughter and her husband were the only ones to get out of their car and help the victims. They didn't have to think twice, but acted immediately. Tragically, their own 21 yr old son had died in an automobile accident just seven months ago, alone on a deserted road with no one to hold him or comfort him, Thoughts of him flooded their minds as they did what they could to help another person's child.

My daughter called the hospital the next day and was happy to learn that the girl was going to be okay.