22 stories about the touching kindness of strangers that’ll make you tear up

The world could use a little more kindness – especially with the year we just had. It’s pretty easy to get caught up in your own routine and everyday personal worries that sometimes we just don’t remember to tune into those around us. It feels great to be kind, so it’s a win-win! Maybe you need a little guidance on random acts of kindness or maybe you need to be inspired with kindness quotes from people you admire, but these stories on kindness will definitely encourage you to pass the compassion on. A little bit will go a long way.

These 19 powerful kindness quotes will stay with you.

When the supermarket clerk tallied up my groceries, I was $12 over what I had on me. I began to remove items from the bags, when another shopper handed me a $20 bill. “Please don’t put yourself out,” I told him. “Let me tell you a story,” he said. “My mother is in the hospital with cancer. I visit her every day and bring her flowers. I went this morning, and she got mad at me for spending my money on more flowers. She demanded that I do something else with that money. So, here, please accept this. It is my mother’s flowers.” — Leslie Wagner

While going through a divorce, my mother fretted over her new worries: no income, the same bills, and no way to afford groceries. It was around this time that she started finding boxes of food outside our door every morning. This went on for months until she was able to land a job. We never did find out who it was who left the groceries for us, but they truly saved our lives. — Jamie Boleyn

Inspired? Here are 14 simple acts of kindness you can do in 2 minutes or less.

I forgot about the rules on liquids in carry-on luggage, so when I hit security at the airport, I had to give up all my painting supplies. When I returned a week later, an attendant was at the baggage area with my paints. Not only had he kept them for me, but he’d looked up my return date and time in order to meet me. —Marilyn Kinsella

Leaving a store, I returned to my car only to find that I’d locked my keys and mobile phone inside. A teenager riding his bike saw me kick a tyre and say a few choice words. “What’s wrong?” he asked. I explained my situation. “But even if I could call my wife,” I said, “she can’t bring me her car key, since this is our only car.” He handed me his mobile phone. “Call your wife and tell her I’m coming to get her key.” “That’s an 11-kilometre round trip.” “Don’t worry about it.” An hour later, he returned with the key. I offered him some money, but he refused. “Let’s just say I needed the exercise,” he said. Then, like a cowboy in the movies, he rode off into the sunset. —Clarence W. Stephens

Read about the benefits of giving.

One evening, I left a restaurant just ahead of a woman assisting her elderly mum. I approached the curb and paused to see if my arthritic knees could climb it. To my right appeared an arm to assist. It was that of the elderly mum. My heart was so touched. —Donna Moerie

I saw a dress in an op shop that I knew my granddaughter would love. But money was tight, so I asked the store owner if she could hold it for me. “May I buy the dress for you?” asked another customer. “Thank you, but I can’t accept such a gracious gift,” I said. Then she told me why it was so important for her to help me. She’d been homeless for three years, she said, and had it not been for the kindness of strangers, she would not have been able to survive. “I’m no longer homeless, and my situation has improved,” she said. “I promised myself that I would repay the kindness so many had shown me.” She paid for the dress, and the only payment she would accept in return was a heartfelt hug. —Stacy Lee

A woman at our garage sale wore a perfume that smelled heavenly and familiar. “What are you wearing?” I asked. “White Shoulders,” she said. Suddenly, I was bowled over by a flood of memories. White Shoulders was the one gift I could count on at Christmas from my late mother. We chatted awhile, and she bought some things and left. A few hours later, she returned holding a new bottle of White Shoulders. I don’t recall which one of us started crying first. —Media Stooksbury

Discover 10 soothing scents that can boost your immune system.

Last December, before work, I stopped at a deli and ordered an everything bagel with cream cheese. It was toasty warm, and I couldn’t wait to dig in. But as I left the store, I noticed an older indigent gentleman sitting at the bus stop. Knowing it would probably be his only warm meal of the day, I gave him the bagel. But all was not lost for me. Another customer from the deli offered me half of her bagel. I was so delighted because I realised that in one way or another, we are all looked after. —Liliana Figueroa

Read about how one woman mastered baking a yeast bread from scratch after years of failure.

As I walked through the car park, all I could think about was the dire diagnosis I had handed my patient Jimmy: pancreatic cancer. Just then, I noticed an elderly gentleman handing tools to someone working under his stalled car. That someone was Jimmy. “Jimmy, what are you doing?” I yelled out. Jimmy dusted off his pants. “My cancer didn’t tell me not to help others, Doc,” he said, before waving at the old man to start the car. The engine roared to life. The old man thanked Jimmy and drove off. Then Jimmy got into his car and took off as well. Take-home message: Kindness has no limits and no restrictions. —Mohammed Basha

Discover 8 things that can happen to your car when you don’t drive it.

When my husband died unexpectedly, a coworker took me under her wing. Every week for an entire year, she would send me a card saying “Just Thinking of You” or “Hang in There.” She saved my life. —Jerilynn Collette

Here are 10 things you should say to someone who is grieving.

Driving home in a blizzard, I noticed a vehicle trailing close behind me. Suddenly, my tyre blew! I pulled off the road, and so did the other car. A man jumped out from behind the wheel and without hesitation changed the flat. “I was going to get off two kilometres back,” he said. “But I didn’t think that tyre looked good.” —Marilyn Attebery

When my grandson Max told his mother, Andrea, to donate any check she would give him for his 21st birthday, Andrea got an idea. She handed Max’s brother Charlie a video camera. Then she took out 21 $10 bills from the bank and bought 21 apples at the supermarket. When they spotted a homeless man, Andrea told him, “Today is my son Max’s 21st birthday, and he asked me to give a gift to someone to help him celebrate.” She handed the man a $10 bill and an apple. The man smiled into the camera and announced, “Happy birthday, Max!” Soon, they passed out their booty to men and women waiting in line at a soup kitchen. In a unified chorus, they wished Max, “Happy birthday!” At a pizza parlour, Andrea left $50 and told the owners to feed the hungry. “Happy birthday, Max!” they shouted. With one last $10 bill and apple, they stopped at Andrea’s sister’s office. Unable to contain her laughter or her tears, she bellowed into the camera, “Happy birthday, Max!” —Dr Donald Stoltz

I was driving cross-country to start a new job. What began as a fun adventure turned into a nightmare when I realised I had run through most of my money and still had a long distance to go. I pulled over and let the tears flow. That’s when I noticed the unopened farewell card my neighbour had shoved in my hand as I left. I pulled the card out of the envelope, and $100 dropped out – just enough to get me through the remainder of my trip. Later, I asked my neighbour why she had enclosed the money. She said, “I had a feeling it would help.” —Nadine Chandler

Children were playing at the recreation area of an IKEA store when my five-year-old granddaughter motioned for a small boy to stop. She knelt down before him and retied his flopping shoelaces – she had only just learned to tie her own. No words were spoken, but after she finished, both smiled shyly, then turned to race off in different directions. —Sheela Mayes

Discover 17 forgotten manners every parent should teach their child.

When I was seven, my family took a road trip. At one point, my favourite blanket flew out the window and was gone. I was devastated. Soon after, we stopped at a service station. Moping, I found a bench and was about to eat my sandwich when a biker gang pulled into the station. “Is that your blue Ford?” a huge, frightening man with a grey-and-black beard asked. Mum nodded reticently. The man pulled my blanket from his jacket pocket and handed it to her. He then returned to his motorcycle. I repaid him the only way I knew how: I ran up to him and gave him my sandwich. —Zena Hamilton

When my friend and I were injured in a car accident, a family from out of state stopped to help. Seeing we were hurt, they drove us to the hospital and stayed there until we were released. They then took us home, got us food, and made sure we were settled in. Amazingly, they interrupted their holiday to help us. —Cindy Earls

I was four months pregnant with our first child when our baby’s heart stopped beating. I was devastated. As the days went on, I was nervous about returning to work. I’m a teacher and didn’t know how I could face kids. After four weeks of recovering, I walked into my empty classroom and turned on the lights. Glued to the wall were a hundred coloured paper butterflies, each with a handwritten message on it from current and past students. All of them had encouraging messages: “Keep moving forward,” “Don’t give up on God,” and “Know that we love you.” It was exactly what I needed. — Jennifer Garcia-Esquivel

Two firefighters were waiting in line at a fast-food restaurant when the siren sounded on their fire truck parked outside. As they turned to leave, a couple who had just received their order handed their food to the firefighters. The couple then got back in line to reorder. Doubling down on their selfless act, the manager refused to take their money. — JoAnn Sanderson

I’d pulled over onto the side of a road and was suffering a panic attack when a minivan full of kids pulled over. A woman got out and asked if I was OK. “No,” I said. Then I laid out what had happened: I was delivering books for a publishing company. My next stop was way, way up this long and winding and, to me, very treacherous road. I couldn’t do it. “I’ll deliver the books for you,” she said. She was a local, and the roads were nothing for her. I took her up on the offer and never forgot the simple kindness of a stranger. —Doreen Frick

Discover 18 everyday things that could trigger anxiety.

In January 2006, a fire destroyed a family’s home. In that fire were all the belongings of a six-year-old boy, including his Christmas presents. A classmate from his school who had a birthday around then asked her parents if she could give all her gifts to the boy. That act of kindness will forever warm my heart because the boy is my grandson. —Donna Kachnowski

My neighbours, Jay and Treva, have been the best since we moved in. When my husband got brain cancer, they helped with garden work. When Jim passed away, they were always helping me, anything they could. Meals, yard work, snow removal, putting my garbage bin away when I would forget. They still continue to care for me and if they don’t see me outside in a while they text to make sure I am alright and not down or anything. I know I can always count on them to be there for me no matter what happens! —Shelly Golay

During COVID, there are orphans whose birthdays are not getting celebrated or they are not getting any gifts from their well-wishers. At this hard time, my wife (Neelam Singhal) collected birthday boxes, gifts and birthday crowns and started calling various organisations that could accept them. She was able to connect with one and drove there to donate. She felt so happy doing something for them that she almost cried when she returned. I am lucky to have such a kind-hearted better half. —Manuj Singhal

Sign up here to have Reader’s Digest’s favourite stories straight to your inbox.

Source: RD.com