13 Raw Stories That Prove Kindness Isn’t Just Rare, It’s Revolutionary

In a world where sarcasm often gets louder applause than sincerity, small acts of kindness can still shake the ground. These 13 true stories remind us that kindness isn’t weakness, it’s quiet courage that changes everything.

• My great-grandfather lived in Kansas when the dust bowl hit the US. He and his wife lived in a really small town and he owned the grocery store.
  After he passed away, my family was going through the stuff in his house and found a box of letters he had hidden from everyone. Every letter was a thank you from different families he helped during the dust bowl. People would be running from the dust bowl and pass through his town. He would give them free food to last them until they reached their destinations.
  Many of the letters thanked him for saving their lives and stuff like that. He took this secret to the grave — literally. Not even his wife knew. (I’ve heard mention that maybe she wouldn’t have been quite as pleased but I don’t know about that). I just think that’s super cool and I’m very proud if him.
  © TheBumblingBee1 / Reddit
• A few years ago I was working at a pretty miserable place. When I got off work it had begun to rain and I had no umbrella. The crosswalk was red and there wasn’t any shelter from the rain nearby. So I just stood there getting soaked, desperately wishing I could be home.
  A couple of middle aged dudes came up waiting to cross the street. I didn’t look them in case they got rowdy. But one of the men looked at me and handed me his umbrella. I tried to refuse but he said, “Your head is more precious than mine.”
  Then the light turned green and he stumbled along sharing his friends umbrella.
  It was a simple and incredibly kind gesture that made me feel like I mattered. I still have the umbrella and I’ll never forget the moment an old man cheered me up during a dark time. I also hope he didn’t regret losing the umbrella after he sobered up, it was a really nice one.
  © Voxit / Reddit

• This is more just something I wouldn’t say to someone other than my therapist, but I moved back in with my dad (I grew up with my mom in another state), and my half brother walked up to me the other day and gave me a hug. I was super touched but confused. I asked him what that was for and he said “nothing, I just wanted to hug you” and I cried for a good 10 minutes after he walked out of my room.
  Growing up, it wasn’t like I didnt get affection, but it was always a reward. I got good grades, they were proud, but never just because. The idea that someone wanted to hug me just because just hit me in a way I wasn’t expecting. © Bring_Ni_a_Shrubbery / Reddit
• Neighbors asked to borrow my truck. Told them I could not trust my truck because the tires were bad.
  Next day my neighbor called and said he was getting new tires for his suburban and I could have his old ones. Told me to just show up at this certain tire shop and they would put them on.
  Get to tire shop and they put on brand new Goodyear tires. I asked what happened to the old tires I was suppose to receive.
  Shop owner said the “old tires” was just a story to get me in the shop. Mr. Neighbor bought me a full set of new tires instead of the old tires he said I could have. © jorcam / Reddit
• Riding my bike on a long trip through Canada. With about 50 miles to go, I had a major mechanical failure. Stuck on the side of the road in a foreign country within 5 minutes at least 10 cars had stopped to check on me.
  One guy loaded my bike in the back of his truck and drove me 30 miles to the border where I could catch a ferry back to the US. Amazing kindness and generosity toward a stranger. He just asked that I pay it forward and to date I’ve helped 5 cyclists who were broken down in honor of that promise. © countlessbass / Reddit

• It was raining and my umbrella broke. So there I was, sitting at the bus stop, freezing to death. A woman saw me and gave me her coat, saying, “No need to return it.” Once I got home, I was horrified when I noticed a lump in the pocket. Inside was a note that said, “Pass it on when you can,” along with a small bag of candies. At first, I thought she’d left something valuable inside and I wouldn’t know how to return it. Long story short, I donated that coat to a homeless shelter 2 years ago. I just hope it found the right person and that the woman’s kindness carried on through someone else.
• I just had my first baby, and my husband did nothing. I was tired and angry. My MIL came to help. I snapped, “Teach your son first!” She smiled sadly. 3 weeks later, she died of stroke. In her purse, I found a note in my name. I was shocked. She hid from my husband that she had given me a large part of his inheritance. Turned out she accidentally found out 2 months earlier that my husband planned to divorce me to marry his mistress. I accepted the inheritance, divorced him, and moved to another state. I will forever be grateful to her for protecting me and my son and quietly having our backs.

• I was nine years old, waiting for the school bus in Wisconsin winter. I had a thin coat, no hat or gloves. A woman driving past saw me and stopped, giving me a blanket from the back of her car. It was a long skinny one, so she wrapped it around my head and shoulders like a big scarf. I remember thanking her, but being confused. I told her I didn’t know how I would give it back when I was done borrowing it. She hugged me and said not to worry. I still have that blanket.
  © saintdelft / Reddit
• I was out of a job at a time that I had to support my mother. Finally landed one but I had to walk back and forth and I didn’t have any shoes that would hold up on the walk or the work. Went to fb and mom asked around for some hand me downs we could buy from some one. A day later a very kind man showed up with a brand new pair of really nice shoes he had just gone out and bought for me. He left before I could even get any money for him. I cried. © Bubbazord / Reddit
• I recorded a homemade album with my garage band in high school and handed out a few CDs. A few weeks later my English teacher approached me with 5 pages of notes on what he liked and what I could improve on. He apparently got the CD from someone at the high school and listened to it all the way through (it was over an hour long). He didn’t know I was the singer and guitar player until he asked the person who gave him the CD. He said that if I ever got a shot in a studio, I would create something amazing. Thank you to all the teachers out there who believe in their students. It makes all the difference to some of us. © SuperSmokeyBear / Reddit

• I ran out of petrol on my 125 not long after I started riding, didn’t realise I’d go through my reserve as fast as I did. I managed to get a few more miles down the road by laying the bike on its left side to get a few more drops into the carb, but eventually it wouldn’t work any more. I was about to start pushing when a guy pulled up next to me and said “No fuel?”. I said yes and he told me to wait. About ten minutes later he came back with a Jerry can of petrol and poured it in, but before I could offer him anything he said “Happens to the best of us” and drove off. I assume he was a biker a too and had the same happen to him once, he saved me the trouble of pushing the bike or getting recovered. I wish I knew who he was so I could repay him. © kryptopeg / Reddit
• When I was younger, my mum was depressed and we had very little money. It was either heating or eating a lot. An old lady around the corner from us would invite us over for tea sometimes or breakfast before school. She knitted me, my baby sister and my mum cardigans, socks and a blanket each one winter when it was really bad. © deekochana / Reddit
• I was at a terrible time of my life at 17, had a bad day at work, and then my train home was 1 hour+ late. I just started crying at the train station and was really wondering if it was all worth it. A woman just held me for bit while I cried. She was a complete stranger, I’ve never seen her since but I needed her I guess. I think she saved my life that day. © deekochana / Reddit

If these stories touched your heart, you’ll love our next collection of moments that prove kindness can appear when we least expect it, and stay with us forever.
15 Moments That Remind Us Kindness Takes Seconds but Lasts Forever