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Dave Bell is the beloved Santa Claus of Powhatan, Virginia. This year he gave a very different kind of gift: he donated one of his kidneys to an anonymous stranger, losing 40 pounds to qualify—and wore his Santa hat as he recovered in the hospital.
A grassroots Montana nonprofit called the Barfairies leaves $5 coffee gift cards on cars left overnight outside bars — a small thank-you to people who made the responsible choice not to drive home drunk. What began as a quiet act of kindness has grown into a viral movement.
In the largest single return of its kind, more than 200 Meskwaki objects — the Mary Alicia Owen Collection — came home to the tribe’s museum in Iowa on April 28, 2026, closing a repatriation effort with the Missouri State Museum that began 33 years earlier.
When ice cream truck owner Madyson Silvagnoli refused to turn away a child with no money, a video of her kindness drew 9 million views—and enough donations to fund a “No More Tears Fund” giving free sweets to kids all summer.
When a Domino’s in Idaho ran out of Diet Coke, 70-year-old driver Dan stopped at a store to buy one himself so a customer’s order would be complete. A Ring video of the small kindness went viral and strangers tipped him more than $129,000.
Students at St. Peter School in Cambridge formed a human chain to pass donated parcels hand to hand for an annual generosity initiative — a tradition that grows in donations every year.
Ireland's €325/week basic income scheme for 2,000 artists has become the world's first permanent program of its kind. A cost-benefit analysis found €1.39 return for every €1 invested.
When 4-year-old Brinley aimed a flashlight at a construction site across from Cleveland Clinic, the workers shone their lights back — sparking a heartwarming friendship of daily messages, gifts, and cheers.
David, a young Nigerian immigrant, volunteered to walk his elderly neighbor Frank's dog — sparking a cross-generational, cross-cultural friendship that evolved into David becoming Frank's caregiver.
On NPR in March 2026, mountaineer Jean Muenchrath shared the story of the stranger who saved her life in 1982 after a catastrophic ski fall in California's Sierra Nevada — a friendship she finally honored 45 years later.
Following a devastating personal loss, a Philadelphia-area teacher has inspired her students to launch a kindness movement that has spread far beyond her classroom walls, demonstrating the transformative power of compassion in education.
The Bronx Zoo has announced the birth of an endangered pygmy slow loris, the first primate born in its new World of Darkness exhibit. The tiny, large-eyed primate is one of only about 50 of its kind in accredited North American zoos, making the birth a valuable contribution to the species’ breeding program.
The UK government and National Literacy Trust launched the National Year of Reading 2026 with a "Go All In" campaign, backed by the Premier League and beloved authors, to reverse a steep decline in reading for pleasure.
When Janae helped a stranger in need, she had no idea the encounter would change her life — the man turned out to be a content creator who rewarded her kindness with a generous cash gift.
The FDA cleared Flow Neuroscience's FL-100, a wearable headset delivering gentle electrical stimulation to treat major depression at home, the first device of its kind authorized in the US as a non-drug therapy.
After facing her darkest hours, one woman's story of recovery — fueled by the kindness of her community — became a powerful testament to how collective compassion can transform lives.
A first-of-its-kind study finds that pupils' grades are significantly better in classrooms that ban smartphones, fueling a global movement to protect childhood from digital distraction.
A Pennsylvania teacher gives each student $20 from money saved from her late sister's purse, challenging them to do something kind and document it.
