10 Summer Stories of Kindness From American Communities That Remind Us No One Is Truly Alone

"Everyone at the farmers market said one vendor had the best Georgia peaches. But when I went to buy some, he barely looked at me or answered my thank you. I paid and left, stunned. Suddenly, a woman stopped me: ’Don’t leave yet! I saw him putting three extra peaches in your bag.’ I looked down. Three huge, perfectly ripe peaches were sitting on top.

’I’ve been coming here for years,’ she said. ’His wife usually runs this stand. She’s been in the hospital for weeks.’ She lowered her voice. ’I didn’t want you to leave thinking he was just being rude. He’s been trying to keep the stand open for her.’

I looked back at him. He was quietly arranging peaches, his eyes fixed on the table. Suddenly, I felt bad for being so quick to judge him. He wasn’t ignoring me. He was worried about his wife.

And even then, he had still taken the time to give a stranger three of his best peaches. I thanked the woman and went home. The following Saturday, I came back.

“It was 1991, and a few friends opened an ice cream store on the Ocean City, New Jersey, boardwalk. It was early June on a Saturday and business was not yet summer busy.

Two girls with limited English skills came into my store, showed me a piece of paper with an address, and asked for directions.

They spoke French, I spoke English, but quickly we communicated that they were in trouble. They needed to go to Ocean City, Maryland.

They were cute, I was young and dumb, and at 9:00 I closed up shop and drove them to their destination. I wish I could say that this was the beginning of a wonderful romance, but I got a peck on the cheek and never heard from or saw them again.”

“One summer day during my lunchtime walk about 8 years ago, I saw this homeless man lying on the ground, right in the street. Not on the sidewalk, in the street. I didn’t know what to do, or if I would’ve done anything at all.

I was scared that he’d get run over, but I froze. I was useless. Turns out I didn’t need to do anything. This very assertive woman runs up to him, money in her hand, and tells him to get up out of the street.

’You don’t need to do that. (what I gathered from her comment was that he was begging and was ignored, so he just gave up and lay down in the street). Get up!!’ And he did! Took her money and started to cry.

My heart broke. But she told him: ’It’s ok, it’s ok, ain’t no shame in accepting help, I’ve been where you are.’ I was in awe of that woman.”

"I haven't been using my AC because I think the bills are going to be really high this summer. Last summer, the heat index hit 138F (59C) one day - so hot the AC just quit until nighttime. Our electric bills were enormous just to keep the house in the high 70s (about 25C)!

So we've been putting up with temperatures in the 80s and high humidity, just to offset future bills, but now we're getting into the 90s and it's not getting cool enough at night to cool the house (and everything is damp, bleh!), so I decided it's time. But when I went to turn it on, nothing happened. I figured the strain from last summer had finally broken it. (It's nearly twenty years old.)

When the repairman came, it turned on, but he spent at least an hour and a half getting it all cleaned and tuned up. I was figuring up the bill in my head and it wasn't pretty. But when it came time to pay, he said that since I was already signed up for their semi-annual maintenance plan, he'd just count this trip as my spring visit. He could have billed me several hundred dollars, just on the trip fee and time spent, but instead I paid less than $100.

Was it a good business decision for him? Yes. When I do have to replace my HVAC, this company will get the job. But he has no guarantee of that. Today's bill would've been money in hand, not potential, but he helped me out anyway. I don't have to spend the next few weeks living on a shoestring budget nor the next few months rebuilding my emergency fund. I am so grateful!"

“I was on an empty beach on Lake Michigan last summer. My phone fell out of my purse. I didn’t notice it before my husband’s phone rang. It turned out a lady found my phone and went through the recent call list. We met up a few minutes later and she refused the money we tried to give her.”

“The intersection next to our local membership-based grocery store, famous for its hot dogs, is a hotspot for panhandlers. Usually drive by them in a rush, feeling sad. Figured I’d order some hot dogs and drive around the intersection to drop off lunch. 15 minutes well spent :)”

“My husband left his phone on the beach about 18 months ago. We didn’t have Find My Phone on and he had a password but he DID have lock screen notifications on.

I just texted a message to please call my phone if found and a delightful gaggle of middle-aged ladies called me within 15 minutes. They refused all rewards.”

“I went over to this guy’s house because he was going to replace my lawnmower blade and he works out of his garage. He looked like a good ol’ boy with overalls.

Two dogs came out to greet me. While I was watching him work, I told him about my brother, who is always rescuing dogs who are abandoned near his home.

’I saved that one,’ he said, pointing to a red female pit bull. ’Someone threw her out of the car on the highway and I stopped and gave her mouth-to-mouth until she started breathing again. She hasn’t left my side since.’

I almost broke down in tears. This rough-looking guy gave a random pit bull mouth-to-mouth and took her in. You never know what form angels are going to take.”

“I was coming home from graduation and asked my mom to stop at Taco Bell (because I was hungry and tired). When I walked up to the car, my mom saw that the driver’s side tire was flat... We then drove to a close McDonald’s parking lot (since it was well lit, and there were a ton of people).

My mom was in tears, as we had to drive to the new apartment early the next morning to meet with the air conditioner repairmen. The drive to our new apartment is 2 hours, and there was no way we could make that drive, as we have to fix the car first thing tomorrow morning. We called AAA (car insurance); they instructed a road assistant to be at our location within 2 hours.

In the meantime, I’m texting my uncle (my auntie and uncle were down for the graduation). While we were waiting, this random stranger asked if he could help. And this guy changed our tire to the spare.,I feel very grateful to a stranger for helping my mother and me, since we do not have the skill or strength to remove a car wheel. From his dress, I assume he works with cars or machinery.

I learned that if one person has a skill, he/she should always look to apply that skill and to benefit the world around them. I just realized that my education and experience were not in order to receive a diploma, high test scores, or acceptance to a great college, but to really benefit society through both small and large acts of kindness.

I always had a goal of impacting the world and would always look at things at a macro scale, but now I feel grateful and appreciate the micro and individual acts of helping.”

"In the summer of 2000, I was 18 and housesitting with my sister on Oahu. It was our first time there, and we had an amazing summer riding the bus all over the island and exploring new beaches every day.

A friend of my godmother had a son there, home from college, who had grown up there, and he and his friends wanted to show us girls a good time. They took us to the spitting caves. I am not a strong swimmer and didn’t grow up near the ocean. I was afraid looking down into the melting pot of waves coming in and spitting out from the cave...

I was pressured to jump by the guys who promised to jump first, then help me to swim out. The 3 of us nearly drowned. I never caught a breath after surfacing, being hit by waves in what felt like all directions.

The current was pulling us out, and after panicking, I remember the feeling of succumbing to my fate, looking at the tiny people on top of the cliff and knowing that I would never be on land again. I was worn out, and I couldn’t try anymore; I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t swim. Then I saw what I believe to be a Samoan guy with long hair, in a ponytail with several ties down it, thin, muscular build, jump off the cliff doing flips.

I remember feeling upset by his arrogance at first -we were drowning, and he was showing off lol- then he came to me. He had to hold me and swim to the reef area near the cliff to climb back up, and the waves kept pulling us back out. On the 3rd try, I dug my hands and feet in and held on with everything I had.... My hero was successfully saving the other 2 guys who talked me into jumping and planned to swim me out.

I never got to thank him. I have thought about it many times over the years, and I know without a doubt I owe my life to this mysterious stranger. The last 17 years I have spent on this earth have been bc of him, and I can’t express how much that means. About 2 years ago, I felt a very strong feeling that has been profound to me in a way I can’t fully put into words: that I need to thank this person."