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Three inmates could have taken advantage of their security supervisor’s medical emergency – but instead, they stayed by his side and ensured that he was taken care of. The Bladen County inmates from North Carolina were picking up trash on the side of the road as a part of a program that allows them to perform community service in exchange for having their jail time reduced. Their work was interrupted, however, when their supervisor James Smith started to stumble, which led him to fall into a ditch. The inmates immediately rushed to his side. When Smith was unable to answer basic questions, the men used his phone to call for an ambulance before stopping traffic and asking drivers for help, according to the sheriff department Paramedics escorted Smith to the Cape Fear Valley Medical Center where doctors were able to diagnose the episode as a stroke. While the supervisor has been recovering in the hospital, each of the three men were honoured with the sheriff department’s esteemed Life-Saving Award. The awards can dramatically improve their chances of landing employment once they are released from prison, but the men say that they are simply happy that Smith is okay. “At the end of the day, knowing he is OK, that makes you feel better,” one of the inmates told WECT, with another inmate adding: “He’s a good man. He’s more than a police officer. He’s more or less like my friend. He’s just a really good guy all the way around.” Upon presenting the awards, Sheriff Jim McVicker said: “It goes to show, if you treat people right, they’ll return the favour and treat you right, and that’s exactly what these men have done here.” At this point, it is evident that what goes around, comes around. So, let’s keep dishing out kindness.

Truly, Together Everyone Achieves More [TEAM]! This Colorado pair brings new meaning to the word “determination”. When one couldn’t walk and the other couldn’t see, they teamed up to share their love of the great outdoors. Melanie Knecht was born with spina bifida, so she uses a wheelchair to get around. Trevor Hahn only recently became blind after he contracted glaucoma five years ago. Both living in Fort Collins, Colorado, the two met at an adaptive boxing class—and they soon ran into each other again at an adaptive rock-climbing class. They immediately bonded over Knecht’s lifelong hobby of camping and Hahn’s passion for outdoor sports. When she told him about her recent trip to Easter Island, where she got the opportunity to be carried on another person’s back, it was a “eureka” moment. Even though his sight was gone, he’d been able to scale a Himalayan peak, using poles and spoken directions from his companions. They started small, but next month—with her vision and his strength—they will trek to the top of a 14,000-foot mountain. “It just seemed like common sense,” Knecht told Good Morning America. “He’s the legs, I’m the eyes — boom! Together, we’re the dream team.” At the start of each hike, a friend lifts Knecht into a carrier on Hahn’s back. From that point on, she gives him verbal directions to navigate the trail. Since February, they have been sharing their hiking adventures on Instagram. It made me so happy to help someone experience what I’ve been able to experience my whole life,” Hahn stated. “The best part is being able to make her smile—that gives me purpose.” In addition to this sense of purpose, the two share an understanding of how difficult it can be asking able-bodied or sighted people for assistance in everyday life. They get immeasurable satisfaction from being able to do this on their own. That’s the human spirit,” Hahn told Outside magazine. “If you want something bad enough, and you find the right people—who also want what you want—you can do anything. Nothing is impossible for us to achieve, if only we work together in kindness as a team.

When Andrew Levy, a real estate agent in Palm Beach Gardens, learned that over 400 children in the Jupiter area were unable to access a proper lunch due to outstanding debt, he knew he had to act. “These children that were in debt were going to either not eat or they would get just cheese sandwiches and I thought that’s crazy,” Levy said. “I thought you know something? If for a modest sum I could make that change, I’m gonna do it.” Levy promptly paid off the $944.34 debt across all nine Jupiter area public schools, ensuring that no child would go hungry. But his generosity didn’t stop there. After posting about his act of kindness on Facebook, over 200 people commented, many asking how they could help. Levy realized that his single gesture had ignited a chain reaction of compassion within the community. Determined to maintain the momentum, Levy decided to establish a quarterly fundraising initiative to prevent future lunch debt accumulation. His goal is to ensure that children never have to worry about a hot meal and parents never have to stress about the bill. Each of us has a role to play. If we view life through the lens of humanity, we would be creating a world no one has to go hungry. May we embrace kindness this day, all day and every day.

A woman who once appeared on the ‘Most Wanted List’ in Franklin County, Alabama, is expressing her gratitude to the officer who arrested her by donating a kidney to him. Jocelynn James struggled with opioid addiction and resorted to theft and other crimes to support her habit, leading to multiple arrests by Officer Terrell Potter between 2007 and 2012. Now, she strongly believes and also appreciates the fact that Potter played a crucial role in saving her life by helping her turn her life around. In November, Potter discovered that his kidneys were failing, with doctors estimating a wait of 7-8 years for a transplant. Upon learning about his situation, James felt a divine calling to donate her kidney, and as good graces would have it, they turned out to be a perfect match. The surgery was successful. Today, James leads a non-profit organization that offers drug counseling to women and is celebrating nearly eight years of sobriety. Potter now regards her as a daughter, taking pride in the strong bond that has formed between them. “It’s made a great relationship and a bond between us that can go forever.” He said. When we approach life with compassion and humanity, the Universe has a unique way of showing its gratitude. Hence, we can never overemphasize the importance of weaving kindness into every aspect of our human experience. Let’s stay kind for no reason.

Thirteen truck drivers are being commended for their remarkable teamwork after they banded together to prevent a suicidal man from jumping off a bridge. The Michigan State Police received a call around 1 AM on Tuesday about a man threatening to leap from a bridge over Interstate 696 in Oak Park. As police closed down all highway lanes, they devised a plan to enlist nearby truck drivers to position their semis beneath the bridge, creating a safety net to cushion any potential fall. State police Lt. Michael Shaw noted the selflessness of the truck drivers, stating, “There’re 13 truck drivers that didn’t even know this guy and were willing to slide underneath that overpass to help him.” After about four hours of negotiation, officers successfully persuaded the man to step back from the ledge. In times of crisis, whether it’s a natural disaster, a public health emergency, or a personal tragedy, having a strong support system can make a huge difference. Communities that come together to provide emotional, practical, and financial assistance to those in need encourage resilience, unity, and recovery. The truck drivers’ actions are a litmus indicator to the power of community support and the importance of being there for one another in difficult times. Times are truly daunting so if there’s ever a way you could make stuff soft for another, please don’t hesitate. Be kind for no reason.

There may be a thousand ways to say, ‘Happy Birthday!’ but the sweetest of all may very well be a special chocolate message that was recently served up by an amazingly thoughtful restaurant staff. Creating natal felicitations in warm liquid cocoa was nothing new at London’s Luciano by Gino D’Acampo restaurant, but for birthday girl Natalie Te Paa, who is totally blind, the best wishes were spelled out in Braille. What gave the message an even greater meaning was that there was no advance planning involved. When the restaurant crew learned the dinner Te Paa was sharing with friend Claire Sara was a birthday celebration, they took it upon themselves to find and recreate the Braille translation that summed up their best wishes in well-chilled chocolate. Te Paa could barely believe her fingertips as she traced over the raised confectionary dots. “My mind was blank for a second and then I was like, ‘Is this in Braille?’” Ta Paa told TODAY. “I’ve never had anything happen like that before. It was wild. They just really did go above and beyond.” Dinner companion Sara recorded Te Paa’s delighted reaction to what had become a very different kind of surprise party. While restaurant manager Giovanni Galluccio maintains the impromptu gesture was simply part of the customer service, they strive to extend to all their patrons, clocking in with close to 16 million views to date, the internet judged the extraordinary act of kindness extra special. As Te Paa stated, “The fact that people have responded so much and so well to it just shows how much the world needs kindness right now, how much the world needs a message of hope, needs to see people doing things and going above and beyond for each other.” Despite how broken the world is right now, true kindness still exists.

In the real world, falling in love isn’t usually an adventure that literally begins with a daring ocean rescue—but sometimes that’s exactly how a story unfolds. In February 2019, yoga instructor Nupur Gupta was swimming in the waters off a beach in Goa when the current got the better of her. While a strong swimmer, she feared she’d be unable to make it back to shore. Hope came in the form of Hungarian-born financial adviser Attila Bosnyak, who’d spied his soon-true-love-to-be in trouble and was swimming to her aid. Though a capable swimmer, once he reached Gupta, Bosnyak realized he wouldn’t be able to get both of them to safety on his own. Rather than towing Gupta in, he swam toward a nearby rock formation. After several attempts in which he was pounded by fierce waves and smashed against the rocks, he was able to climb up and signal to the lifeguards on shore for help. Once he saw a guard making a beeline for Gupta, a bleeding Bosnyak, who’d suffered numerous scrapes and bruises, swam back to shore and collapsed on a beach chair. A grateful Gupta, who’d quickly bounced back from her own ordeal, felt compelled to help the stranger who’d saved her life. Swiftly procuring first-aid supplies—and chocolate ice-cream as a thank you—she returned to her hero’s side. After tending to his injuries, she tendered him the ice cream. Some might blame it on the chocolate, but in that instant, Gupta’s emotional landscape underwent a sea change—and she wasn’t the only one. Bosnyak felt the “magic” surge of attraction, too. Gupta and Bosnyak were both staying at the same yoga resort; she, as a teacher and he, as a student (though not in any of her advanced classes). Over the course of the next few days, the promising relationship began taking shape. However, since the retreat was soon to end and each was scheduled to go back to their respective lives—for Bosnyak, that meant his job in the Netherlands and for Gupta, home to Kerala—it looked as if the budding romance might never get a chance to blossom. But the pair of them decided to take a chance on love. Putting their real lives on hold for another week, the couple spent Valentine’s Day together. In the coming months, thanks to social media, their bond continued to grow, albeit long distance. After a month of back and forth, Bosnyak knew he wanted to see where the relationship could go. He asked Gupta how she felt. She too wanted to move ahead. “I immediately agreed without any second thoughts, despite knowing that it’s a huge distance, different cultures, continents, countries, cities,” she confessed. “I wanted to do this. I mean, I wanted to have this experience. I loved his vibe for that time when I was around him and I was very happy.” While the sweethearts hoped to meet in person for some quality couple time, plans for a vacation had to be put on hold when it was learned Gupta’s mother required emergency surgery for a brain tumor. After Gupta explained why she had to cancel their plans, without missing a beat, Bosnyak offered to fly there to be with her. Once Gupta’s mother recovered, the pair embarked on a series of meet-ups in Dubai, Serbia, and eventually, Thailand. The sites weren’t chosen for their romantic potential but by what their travel visas would allow. In September 2019, Gupta was granted a Dutch visa. She joined Bosnyak in the Netherlands and traveled with him to meet his family in Hungary. While it took her time to adapt to both the culture and the climate, in her heart, she knew the move might prove to be a permanent one—and it did. Bosnyak and Gupta were wed on March 21, 2020, at Trouwlocatie Groenmarkt which once served as city hall to The Hague. In fact, they were the last couple to marry at the prestigious site prior to the pandemic lockdown. The newlyweds spent the next few months pretty much exclusively in one another’s company. “It’s the acid test, I think, for a relationship,” Bosnyak told CNN. “That you can live with that person for months and months and months with no events around, no places to visit, no fun activities apart from the ones you can invent inside your apartment—or during your short walks in the next one and a half, two kilometers in your neighborhood. So if you can make it, and keep on your happiness, then that relationship is rock solid.” The couple’s road to a fairytale ending hasn’t been without its bumps, with Gupta recently contracting coronavirus. But she’s now on the mend, and she and Bosnyak are currently doing what they can to help friends and family as the pandemic continues to rage in India. Next summer, Gupta and Bosnyak, along with their dog, Sukhi Ram, should be moving to Athens where Bosynak has been offered a job. If all goes according to plan, it looks as if an addition to the family might be in the cards as well. And while “happily ever after” is never guaranteed, we think that for a real-life romantic tale that started out with soggy Prince Charming and a damsel in distress, that sounds pretty darn close.