| 1 | Who said that [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments the most beautiful moments]] only happen in fiction? This page will probably make you [[TearJerker cry tears of joy]]. |
| 2 | |
| 3 | No personal ones or natter, please. The personal ones are cataloged in your heart already. |
| 4 | |
| 5 | ---- |
| 6 | * [[https://www.boredpanda.com/dad-suspects-son-friend-couple-gay-advice/?fbclid=IwAR0h4YVHxi3wqeBqwfBgel6vHLfZuk-_TZpy3eQgUBnC5S1WvOoskZg030U&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=organic/ A really sweet and cute story]], a man suspects, then confirms, that his son and his friend are a couple and asks on Reddit how to discuss it with his son. |
| 7 | * [[https://www.reddit.com/r/aww/comments/fykc77/two_years_in_a_row_my_dad_has_been_visited_by_a/ Found this]] on Reddit, a man found out that a pair of ducks mate at his fountain, raise the ducklings there, then fly away. Having noticed that they did that already for 2 years, he built them a pathway to make things easier for the ducklings. |
| 8 | * [[https://www.elpasotimes.com/story/news/local/el-paso/2018/02/13/cancer-patient-wedding-dying-wish-el-paso-hospital/331102002/ This story]], it's both heartwarming and a tearjerker. A 19 year old patient with a terminal case of kidney cancer wanted nothing more than to be married. Her best friend proposed and they had the wedding at the hospital with nurses and their families. She died a few days later, on Valentine's day. |
| 9 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxjxSXs0Umc Lisa Wilson's wedding]]. She was very close to her father David and wanted him there for a father-daughter celebration dance. When his fight with cancer took a turn for the worse, Lisa and her fiance Robert Pantoja changed their plans and took their vows in his hospital room. And she and her dad still had their dance.[[note]]Dave Wilson had been a private pilot who often flew and waved his wings over the funerals of friends and family. Robert Pantoja took his first flying lesson and waved his wings over Dave's funeral.[[/note]] |
| 10 | * [[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/15/dads-note-to-son-coming-out_n_2883194.html This]] note a father left to his son when he overheard a phone conversation wherein the son considered coming out. The entire letter itself qualifies, but nothing could be more precious than the last line: "I've known you were gay since you were six. I've loved you since you were born." |
| 11 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwrX-LN9-L0 Britain pays tribute by playing the American National Anthem]] [[http://youtu.be/tV_2P7Z7mOw?t=2m58s outside Buckingham Palace after 9/11.]] This is the only time another country's national anthem has ever been played during the Changing of the Guard in the UK. |
| 12 | ** Further, "The Star Spangled Banner" was composed during the 1812 War ''against Britain.'' [[note]] Specifically, it was adapted from the poem 'Defense of Fort M'Henry' written during the Battle of Baltimore [[/note]] |
| 13 | ** What's more, this was personally ordered by [[UsefulNotes/ElizabethII Queen Elizabeth II herself!]] |
| 14 | * [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Yellow_Ribbon Operation Yellow Ribbon]], in which Transport Canada successfully landed over 200 diverted planes carrying over 14,000 passengers after US airspace was closed. Most famous of all of these was the town of Gander, Newfoundland, which nearly doubled its population when it accepted 38 planes and nearly 7,000 passengers and crew. Entire communities mobilized to house, feed and comfort stranded passengers, some of whom lost loved ones in the terrorist attacks. The passengers and those impacted by their stories have since repaid that kindness several times over, organizing scholarships, writing movies and [[Theatre/ComeFromAway Broadway musicals]], and even gifting Gander a piece of the steel from the World Trade Center--the only location outside of the US to receive that honor. |
| 15 | * [[http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/22/us/georgia-school-shooting-hero/?hpt=us_c1 School]] [[http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2013/08/22/antoinette_tuff_911_call_listen_to_the_full_tape_of_ga_school_clerks_call.html bookkeeper]] [[http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2013/08/23/antoinette_tuff_s_911_call_reveals_a_new_way_for_us_to_engage_the_gun_debate.html Antoinette]] [[http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/08/22/how-to-train-a-hero-what-schools-can-learn-from-antoinette-tuff/ Tuff]]. |
| 16 | ** To clarify, a 20-year-old former student named Michael Hill went onto the grounds of Ronald E. [=McNair=] Discovery Learning Academy armed with an assault rifle and 500 rounds of ammunition. After exchanging shots with police, Hill took Antoinette Tuff hostage... Then she started talking to him, asking him his name, telling him about her failed marriage, telling him she loved him, and empathizing with him to the point where ''she convinced him to set his weapons down and turn himself in peacefully.'' |
| 17 | * After Hurricane Sandy, Mayor Cory Booker of Newark, New Jersey and his family still had power. The Mayor tweeted an open invitation for those in need to visit his house, have a hot meal, and charge their portable devices. |
| 18 | ** A community in New Jersey donating over $60,000 to four kids, one as young as 11 years old, whose parents had been killed in the said hurricane. |
| 19 | *** Even though they had enough dry ice to save most of the food, one supermarket donated their entire stock to an organization that provides food to the poor. When questioned about the loss, which amounted to over $100,000, the owner replied that he was sorry there hadn't been more to donate. |
| 20 | * Christians and Muslims: Two religious groups known for their rather intense disagreement of each other. So when the protests in Egypt leave praying Muslims and Christians vulnerable to violent attacks, what do the two groups do? [[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1353330/Egypt-protests-Christians-join-hands-protect-Muslims-pray-Cairo-protests.html Link arms in a circle and protect those who are praying.]] Despite radicals in both groups constantly stirring up hatred in one another, it is reassuring know that the rest of the faithful truly do want peace between each other. |
| 21 | * A story about a 16-year-old Chinese boy who, despondent over problems in his life (including his parents getting a divorce and his older sister falling ill), went to a train station and tried to commit suicide by jumping off a platform. A 19-year-old girl managed to talk her way through the crowd by claiming to be his girlfriend. She attempted to talk him down, but he told her that she couldn't save him. So she grabbed him and kissed him, which gave rescue workers enough time to pull him to safety. When asked why she did this, the girl explained that she had been through the same kind of thing herself and wanted him to know how foolish suicide is. |
| 22 | * A little girl sends a little message by a balloon so it would get to heaven. [[http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/12/20/a-little-girl-sent-her-dead-grandmother-a-message-in-a-balloon-to-heaven-and-got-a-response/?iid=obnetwork She gets a response.]] |
| 23 | * Similar to the above, a little girl sends a balloon letter to heaven for her daddy. [[http://kfor.com/2015/01/13/young-girls-balloon-letter-to-heaven-for-dad-found-435-miles-away/ It landed over 400 miles away and in the right hands.]] |
| 24 | * Actor Creator/ColinFarrell was once in Toronto shooting a movie when a local radio station held a competition with a prize of $2,000 for anyone who could bring Farrell to the studio. Farrell heard about the competition, and found a homeless guy on the street and brought him into the studio to claim the prize. A few years later, Farrell was in Toronto again and found that the homeless guy (known as "Stress") was still on drugs and on the streets; he [[http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070913/farrell_toronto_070913/20070913?s_name=tiff2007_ads took him shopping]], bought him over $2,000 worth of clothes and household goods, gave him $830 to cover first and last months' rent on an apartment[[note]]One of the factors contributing to homelessness is that even "affordable" and "low income" apartments often require that prospective tenants show proof that their monthly income is ''three times the rent'', and often ask for a damage deposit, first month's rent ''and'' last month's rent.[[/note]], and gave him a heartfelt talk about addiction counselling. [[http://gawker.com/5043924/colin-farrell-hero-of-the-homeless A year later, Stress is still sober and still off the streets.]] |
| 25 | * Nearing the end of ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'' filming, the stuntwoman who played Arwen during the chase scene really loved the horse she had rode, but unfortunately, did not have the money to buy him and someone else wanted the horse as well. Creator/ViggoMortensen (who plays Aragorn) heard about this and told her he would see if he could get it. When he bought the horse and gave it to her, she asked him how much it cost so that she could pay him back. But he gently refused and replied that he simply wanted to give him to her, knowing how much she loved the horse. |
| 26 | ** It wasn't the only crowning moment for Mr Mortensen, either. The story goes that during one of the fights, he missed a strike and cracked another stuntwoman a good one across the head, splitting her helm and doing her an injury. She wound up in hospital as a result. Viggo, in full Aragorn costume no less, showed up the next day at the hospital carrying an armload of beautiful flowers for her. Awwwwwww. |
| 27 | * A dying 10-year-old girl's [[https://www.ocregister.com/2009/06/18/pixar-grants-girls-dying-wish-to-see-up-2/ last wish]] was to see the movie ''WesternAnimation/{{Up}}'', but the hospice didn't send a wheelchair before she became too sick to get out of bed. A family friend managed to contact Pixar and got an employee to fly out with a DVD of the movie, a bag of stuffed toys of the characters and a movie poster. How? Pixar's got an automated telephone answering system; you need to know the name of a specific person to get through. The relative found the phone number then ''guessed a name to get connected,'' and Pixar employees agreed to send someone over the next day. The mother told her that ''Up'' would be coming to her room soon, and the girl said she felt bad, but would hang on. The girl couldn't exactly see the film as she was in so much pain that her eyes were closed, so her mother gave her a play-by-play of the events. Nearly seven hours after watching the film, [[TearJerker the girl died]]. |
| 28 | ** Just to further emphasise this - ''WesternAnimation/{{Up}}'' wasn't out on DVD yet when this happened. It was barely out in cinemas. They specially put the DVD together, which took some effort, just to show it to this one girl. |
| 29 | ** And Pixar never made this into a publicity stunt, either; they've refused to comment. So this is because an employee wanted to give her that last wish. |
| 30 | * One time when the band Music/{{Coldplay}} came to Mexico, they went to one of the poorest communities out there, and with THEIR OWN HANDS helped for a while. They then provided money and other aid to them. Apparently, they came back some time later. Just out of the blue, they decided to help. We need more artists like that. |
| 31 | * [[UsefulNotes/HistoricalPeopleToKnowInMLB Roberto Clemente]], one of the first big Hispanic stars in American baseball, routinely visited hospitals and gave big bills to street beggars. He also devoted his off-season time to good deeds. That's what killed him. In 1972 he was on a committee to organize and deliver food and supplies to Managua, Nicaragua after a 6.3 earthquake. The first three shipments had been stolen by local officials. He decided to go along on the fourth one to ensure that it actually got to the victims. The overloaded plane crashed on takeoff. His body was never found. Clemente's Catholic faith was very important to him and there is a movement to have him officially declared a saint. |
| 32 | * [[http://yfrog.com/5a1265003941309j This]] image. ComicBook/WonderWoman and ComicBook/TheFlash in this picture aren't posing with the little boy; he got lost, and they helped him find his father. Rescued by real-life superheroes. |
| 33 | ** Likewise, [[http://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/spider-man-comes-to-8-year-olds-rescue-in-thailand/ this story]] of a fireman who dressed up as ComicBook/SpiderMan to coax an autistic boy from a window ledge. |
| 34 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FPlFt6IU9k Chen Shangyi and Wang, an eighty year old Chinese couple who have picked up and cared for over 40 disabled orphans from the streets.]] |
| 35 | * A group of gamers made a list of every move you need to make in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'' so that [[http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/us/2010/03/03/dnt.blind.gamer.beats.zelda.wis&hpt=P1 a blind person they didn't even know could play through it completely.]] |
| 36 | * ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'': |
| 37 | ** During the Engineer Update, every time someone crafted an item, they had a rare chance to get a Golden Wrench. Only 100 were given out. 14 of the recipients destroyed their wrenches in the "Golden Charity" for [[http://www.childsplaycharity.org/ Child's Play]] to raise over $31,000 USD. |
| 38 | ** When the Tsunami hit Japan, Valve released a bundle of Japanese hats and other items that are specifically only obtainable through purchase, with the proceeds going towards the relief effort. These hats are only available during the donation period and would never be obtainable ever again. One such hat, the Magnanimous Monarch, was up for $100 USD. [[http://stats.teamfortress.org/item/410/Magnanimous_Monarch Over 1,300 copies of this hat exists]]. The event itself earned more than 400,000 USD for the relief effort in total, once again shocking the ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' team. |
| 39 | * Creator/RobertAHeinlein loaning Creator/PhilipKDick money to help with the IRS and phoning to cheer him up during a bout of sickness. Heartwarming because: |
| 40 | ** They'd never met before. |
| 41 | ** Heinlein and Dick disagreed on pretty much everything. |
| 42 | -->'''Dick''': "He knows I'm a flipped-out freak and still he helped me and my wife when we were in trouble. That is the best in humanity, there; that is who and what I love." |
| 43 | * In 2003, in response to the "video games are violent and evil" publicity that came out of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_Coffee_mod the Hot Coffee scandal]], the writers of Webcomic/PennyArcade decided to take things into their own hands. It started with one local hospital asking readers to donate money and toys for one month prior to Christmas. 11 years, over 100 hospitals '''world wide''', and over 33 million dollars later, the charity still only runs that one month every year. The kicker? Every year the amount donated goes up. Even the columnist whose column inspired the charity was taken aback by the original response and was shocked and supportive of the effort. |
| 44 | * Twilightsucks.com is a forum for people who, obviously, think that ''Literature/TheTwilightSaga'' and its fandom sucks, and Nuttymadam is a rather infamous Twilight fan who makes videos about [[ComplainingAboutPeopleNotLikingTheShow how anyone who doesn't enjoy the books/movies is crazy]]. But when the latter fell on financial hard times and made a rather heartrending video about it, the people who run twilightsucks.com set up a fund to bail her out, and Nuttymadam thanked them on her Website/YouTube page. |
| 45 | * The story behind [[http://alicexz.deviantart.com/art/Rapunzel-II-212289901 this picture]] of [[WesternAnimation/{{Tangled}} Rapunzel]]. A girl named [[http://bamiebal.deviantart.com/ Cyril]] blogged about her dreams of being a face actress at a Disney theme park, namely Rapunzel. On her blog, an Anon said that she was too ugly to be a princess. After hearing this, [[http://alicexz.deviantart.com/ Alice]] made a picture of her as Rapunzel. With the picture came overwhelming support and Cyril's page became filled with comments about how beautiful she is. |
| 46 | * Here's another Katrina story: when a group of women living in one of the poorest slums of Uganda heard about Katrina, they raised $1,000 dollars by breaking and selling rocks, then contacted the U.S. Embassy to Uganda, offering the $1,000 as relief money for the victims. |
| 47 | * Yet another Katrina story: In the aftermath of the hurricane, [[http://www.carnival.com/ Carnival Cruise Lines]] [[http://www.vacationstogo.com/katrina.cfm provided three cruise ships to house evacuees and relief workers]]. Canceling of scheduled cruises and pulling those ships from their regular routes undoubtably cost the cruise line millions. |
| 48 | * On January 12, 2010, Haiti was struck by a massive earthquake, described as the strongest quake in that area since 1770. In the (at the time of this edit) two weeks since it happened, people from all over the world have rushed to aid their fellow man, in one of the most astonishing displays of kindness and charity fandom has ever seen. One amazing example came from [=LiveJournal=] fandom when user [[http://pinkfinity.livejournal.com pinkfinity]] decided to organize an informal auction to raise disaster relief funds the day after the earthquake. In less than twenty-four hours, hundreds of LJ users volunteered their time and any skills they had for the donation effort, selling artwork, fanfiction, fanmixes, fanvids, knitting, baked goods, and anything else they could think of. The auction ran for seven days, from January 13th to January 20th, and [[http://community.livejournal.com/help_haiti/12260.html has raised over $50,000]]. During ''an economic depression.'' |
| 49 | ** That, and UsefulNotes/TheRedCross website server was "lagging" because of the sheer volume of donations streaming in through the site. |
| 50 | ** Another story from Haiti: CNN correspondent Anderson Cooper found a young boy who had been beaten with a slab of concrete by looters. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Unh4v1lFU0 He carried the boy to safety,]] dragging him through a crowd as his crew and other Haitians helped to clear a spot for the boy to lay so he could dress his injury. (Warning: ''lots of blood'') |
| 51 | ** [[http://techblips.dailyradar.com/video/seven-year-old-raises-over-100-000-for-haiti/ Seven-year-old raises over 100,000 for Haiti]] |
| 52 | ** [[http://www.euronews.net/2010/01/18/earthquake-in-haiti-palestinians-in-gaza-donate-to-haiti/ Palestinians from Gaza]] sent donations, saying that they understood their suffering. |
| 53 | ** Creator/SeanPenn has effectively moved to Haiti and spends most of his time working there. |
| 54 | * Bungie Studios got one after the Haiti quake. How? First, they made a new $20 shirt where 100% of the profits went to UsefulNotes/TheRedCross. Second, until the end of February, they would give all money made by the Bungie Store to the Red Cross ''and'' they donated $77,000 in advance, all to help Haiti. Did I mention they make only a few bucks from the sale of Halo games, and only new ones, so they were losing thousands in doing this? They gave up all profits for a month and a half and then spent $77,000 more. |
| 55 | ** Blizzard Studios also is a very generous game studio. They have given over a million dollars to the Make-A-Wish foundation. |
| 56 | * In the anthology ''Tell Me No Lies: Investigative Journalism and its Triumphs'', journalist John Pilger describes how, the day after his documentary ''Cambodia: Year Zero'' was broadcast in the UK, the filmmakers were inundated with letters with donations from members of the public who were shocked at the plight of Cambodian orphans depicted in the film. People who wouldn't have been able to find Cambodia on a map the day before sent money to complete strangers so that other complete strangers would have their suffering relieved. Some of the donors sent the equivalent of a month's salary, based on one 50-minute film. |
| 57 | * It's not much compared to the below, but the City of Orlando, FL isn't going to do Christmas decorations this year (09). So, what did Real Radio's "The Buckethead Show" (their midday talk show, after The Monsters in the Morning) do? A volunteer program to decorate Orlando. |
| 58 | * Takumi's Heart, a non-profit organization dedicated to raising money to help a gay boy in Japan who very literally has holes in his heart. His family refused to help pay for his medical bills and even kicked him out of the house, attacking him with a belt. He now lives in an appartment that a friend is helping to pay for. So many people seem to have donated, that the runner of the site has closed donations until further notice so they can figure out exactly what Takumi needs more right now. |
| 59 | * The story of Tetsugen and the three versions of the sutras. ''Sutras'' in this context are Buddhist holy texts. In the 17th century these sacred writings were only available in Chinese. A Japanese Zen Buddhist monk, Tetsugen decided to publish the Sutras in Japanese. He spent ten years traveling Japan collecting the money for this. When he finally had enough there was a massive flood in Uji and he donated the entire amount to help the victims. He then spent another ten years collecting donations, but at the end of that there was a famine in Japan and he again donated the entire amount to help feed the hungry. After a further twenty years he had finally gotten enough money to publish the sutras. Of the three versions of the sutras that Tetsugen made, the first two are said to surpass the last in every respect. |
| 60 | * Speaking of Katrina, the fine folks of [[VideoGame/KingdomOfLoathing Radio KoL]] held a 24-hour telethon (hosted by one guy and a small tropical island's worth of coffee) to raise money for relief charities. Not only did they raise over six grand by themselves, the game designers (two guys who rely on donations themselves to keep the game running) matched the whole pot. End result? '''$26,792''' total. From ''one day''. |
| 61 | * Creator/JamesDoohan, the actor who played Scotty in the original Star Trek, once received a letter from a fan. Reading it, [[http://youtu.be/vsSdLD_YodQ he realized that the letter was unmistakably a suicide note]]. He immediately contacted the letter-writer and asked her to come to a convention he'd be appearing at in two weeks... and at the end of that convention, invited her to another one... and then another one. This went on quite some time, with Doohan personally inviting her to convention after convention, until eventually, she stopped showing up. Doohan had failed to save the envelope from her letter, and heard nothing more of it for eight years. Then, out of the blue, he received another letter from the fan - she'd just received her masters in electrical engineering, and wanted to thank him for the kindness he'd shown. |
| 62 | * Another ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' moment, written in the book ''Star Trek Memories'': Creator/NichelleNichols was in a car wreck on her way to the set, and later fainted on set from the anaesthetic. Creator/WilliamShatner promptly pulled rank and brought filming to a screeching halt so he could take her home before they resumed shooting. |
| 63 | * A short while ago, a Metafilter thread was started up by a person who wanted to save their friends from being tricked into a human trafficking scam. The friends had been flown in from Russia by a sponsor who assured them work as [[BlatantLies "hostesses in a lounge"]], a textbook case for eventual prostitution. The lounge, after thorough research, even turned out to be a strip club. Despite repeated attempts by the American friend to reach out to his/her Russian friends and keep them from meeting to sponsor, the girls insisted on going. Cue several hundred members of the Metafilter community offering information, support, and resources to keep the girls from going to meet their "sponsor". The whole thread can be read [[http://ask.metafilter.com/154334/Help-me-help-my-friend-in-DC here]], with the resolution being [[http://ask.metafilter.com/154334/Help-me-help-my-friend-in-DC#2214495 here]]. It's just amazing. |
| 64 | ** One Metafilter member offered to meet them at the bus station and put them up, no questions asked, while they were sorting everything out. Even though she was unemployed, she and her husband lived in a one-bedroom apartment, and she had just had surgery. |
| 65 | * [[http://newsfeed.time.com/2010/06/07/can-post-secret-and-facebook-save-a-life/ Facebook attempts to save a life.]] At the time of this posting, more than 20,000 people posted to beg someone they didn't know not to commit suicide. |
| 66 | ** Just in case the anonymous writer doesn't use Facebook, several members visited the Golden Gate Bridge on 13/06/10 [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9bKeBCBxKs to leave messages begging him/her to live.]] |
| 67 | * During the 1847 Great Potato Famine in Ireland, a group of Native Americans, the Chatah (Choctaw), collected $170 (about $5000 today) and sent it to help starving Irish. The Choctaw Nation was on the other side of the world, and only a few years before that, they'd had to face [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choctaw_Trail_of_Tears the Trail of Tears]], a forced relocation by the USA government in 1831. They were obliged to leave their fertile lands and goods behind, many of them died during the travel, and the community relocated in Oklahoma was very poor, so that the money donated to the Irish was really something. |
| 68 | ** In 2020 the coronavirus pandemic has [[https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/04/24/coronavirus-indian-country-hit-hard-tribes-battle-red-tape/5130415002/ hit Indian reservations]] particularly hard, often [[https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/coronavirus-takes-more-native-americans-lives-killing-our-elderly-erases-ncna1189761 taking the elders on whom traditional culture and identity depends]]. The Navajo and Hopi nations started a [=GoFundMe=] relief fund, and were [[https://www.cbsnews.com/news/coronavirus-irish-food-donations-native-americans-great-hunger-famine/ flooded with donations from Irish people]] in gratitude for their ancestors' help over 170 years ago. |
| 69 | ** In the 19th century, poverty-stricken Irish immigrants looking for work often found their way to mining and railroad jobs near tribal settlements and reservations, where they were accepted and frequently intermarried and adopted. The Choctaw Nation is one of many tribes to welcome the Irish, whose [[https://web.archive.org/web/20160102034300/http://www.angelfire.com/mi4/polcrt/Shamanism.html magickal and sacred traditions]] [[http://www.paganspath.com/magik/similar.htm are strikingly similar]] and who were [[https://indiancountrymedianetwork.com/history/events/10-stunning-similarities-between-irish-and-native-historic-experiences/ treated in much the same way as Native peoples by the British]]. |
| 70 | ** Alex Pentek with assistance from students of the Crawford College of Art and Design made the sculpture [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kindred_Spirits_(sculpture) Kindred Spirits]] to commemorate the 1847 donation. The event that unveiled Kindred Spirits was attended by Chief Gary Batton, Chief of the Choctaw Nation and Councillor Seamus [=McGrath=], County Mayor of Cork. |
| 71 | * Every year, Milwaukee, WI radio station 96.5 WKLH holds their "Miracle Marathon" for the local children's hospital. For 60 straight hours they interview families of the kids who needed or still do need care there, raising for the past 6-7 years over one million dollars, going well over 13 million over the last 13 years they've done it. In 2010, a man walked in and left behind an envelope and said to not open it until they had a "power hour" or when the donations during that hour would have been matched. The man disappeared after leaving behind the envelope. When they finally opened it up, they found three dollars and a letter. In short, the letter said that the man was homeless and that was all the money he had. They had thought he was construction worker from near by. |
| 72 | * All the support that's gone out to [[http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/portrait_of_an_adoption/2010/11/anti-bullying-starts-in-first-grade.html Katie.]] [[http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/portrait_of_an_adoption/2010/11/katie-the-star-wars-girl-part-2.html She's been reading all the comments.]] [[http://twitter.com/DarkHorseComics/status/5406843677442048 This]] [[http://www.toplessrobot.com/2010/11/dear_nerd_girls_a_young_nerd_girl_needs_your_suppo.php#more and this, too.]] |
| 73 | * When filming ''Film/LaraCroftTombRaider'' in Cambodia, Creator/AngelinaJolie saw just how bad some people's lives were. This led her to donate large amounts of money to humanitarian efforts, go on missions to visit refugees, and adopt three children from third-world countries. |
| 74 | * [[http://thebloggess.com/2010/12/my-heart-grew-three-sizes-and-now-i-have-an-enlarged-heart-worth-it/ This post by the Bloggess]]. What initially started as an offer of $30 gift cards to the first 20 comments asking for help with Christmas gifts for their families gradually snowballed into the blog's readers offering to help additional commenters who were struggling to make ends meet for Christmas. Not only was every request for help (from some 450 people) matched with a donor, but the donors sent out a total of over $40,000 worth of donations. |
| 75 | * [[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1259627/Man-golden-arm-James-Harrison-saves-2million-babies-half-century-donating-rare-blood.html James Harrison]] has been donating blood for over 56 years, after he promised to himself that he would after his own life was saved at 14 by the blood of others during chest surgery. The result? Two million saved lives. His blood has a very rare enzyme in it that's the only known treatment for Rhesus disease, which can either result in death or permanent brain damage for the baby diagnosed with it. To this day he's donated over 1000 times (a world record) and has helped make a vaccine with his blood. And to top it all off... his own grandson was saved by his blood. |
| 76 | * [[http://www.thon.org/ The Penn State IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon]]. Hundreds of students dancing for 46 hours to raise money to support children with cancer, in the world's largest student-run philanthropy. Thousands filling the stands to support then and the visiting children, a weekend-long party just for them. Since it began, it's raised nearly $70 million, and inspired similar marathons in other schools. The amount of love and support poured out over the course of those 46 hours is immensely powerful. And then there's the Family Hour, where everyone hears stories from families whose children beat cancer... [[TearJerker and families of the children who didn't]]. The Family Hour starts two hours before the marathon ends, so as everyone recovers from crying, the music is cranked up, and the arena turns into the biggest, most uplifting dance party ''ever'', until the dancers are finally allowed to sit down for the first time in two days, and they announce how much money was raised this year. [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome And the totals have been climbing each year, with the latest marathon raising $7.8 million]]. |
| 77 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jU8zyB3W0pU When a girl's microphone gives out during the American National Anthem]], the crowd helps her finish the song. |
| 78 | * Sometimes, we need to remember that airplane pilots [[http://www.elliott.org/blog/southwest-airlines-pilot-holds-plane-for-murder-victims-family/ are people too...]] |
| 79 | * [[https://www.facebook.com/notes/paz/let-them-eat-cake/10150126218284777 Let Them Eat Cake]]: An aspiring rapper gets randomly invited to Paris Hilton's birthday party, and learns that the huge, expensive, fancy birthday cake won't be eaten, and will probably be thrown out. So, he takes the cake (literally), drives down to LA's infamous skid row (a notoriously poor district full of homeless people), and... serves it to the residents. |
| 80 | * Creator/CatherynneMValente (author of ''Literature/{{Palimpsest}}'', ''Literature/TheOrphansTales'', and several other books) was nominated for a Hugo. In the days before going to the ceremony, she received [[http://yuki-onna.livejournal.com/600934.html something very special in the mail.]] Even though she didn't end up winning the award, the amount of care and love that went into the package more than made up for it. |
| 81 | -->"This is better. This is secret, and magical, and without precedent in my world." |
| 82 | * [[https://66.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lr41ffw0jr1qhxie4o1_r1_1280.jpg This]] 4chan post. An anon goes into [=GameStop=] to trade in his [=PS2=] Slim, and sees a little boy whose family is too poor to buy the game he wants, and makes the boy's Christmas brighter instead of getting a new Xbox game. |
| 83 | --> "...Because Santa sent me." |
| 84 | * Creator/RobertDowneyJr was struggling with alcoholism, down on his luck and unable to get a job. Creator/MelGibson comes to his rescue, keeping a roof over Robert's head and food on the table. The only thing Mel asks of Robert for the lesson in cactus hugging is that Robert some day help the next guy. In the meantime, Mel had a drunken rant about Jews to a Jewish officer, [[NeverLiveItDown and he's been the one who's struggled]]. And so some day became the day Mel presented Robert with an award at the American Cinematheque, and Mel himself was the next man. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AAJuynxnTQ&feature=player_embedded Proof that Tony Stark has a heart!]] |
| 85 | * Autistic 8-year-old Robert Wood, Jr. wandered away from his family and got lost in the woods in Hanover, VA. For nearly a week, ''thousands'' of volunteers came out to assist in the search. On the sixth day, he was [[http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/2011/oct/28/24/hundreds-of-volunteers-turn-out-for-search-despite-ar-1417760/ found alive.]] ManlyTears were shed.[[note]]Given that "he just wandered away" is sometimes used as a cover story by parents who ''killed'' their autistic children, to have this happen in reality was a GMH for autistics and their allies. Statistically, parents and other caregivers pose the greatest threat to autistic lives, one reason the average lifespan of an autistic is ''thirty-five''.[[/note]] |
| 86 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bK9EIsRrFc This video]] from Russia Today. It really brings a smile seeing Greek civilians rushing to help the poor girl... |
| 87 | * After the horrible bombing of the governmental area and shooting at a youth political camp in Norway, the main hospital of Norway called for people with the O- blood type to give blood to the victims. Only hours later, the hospital announced that it couldn't take any more blood. So many people were willing to give. |
| 88 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikGeQrBLsrg&NR=1 This]] video of bystanders lifting a burning car to save a motorcyclist. |
| 89 | * [[http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/18/world/asia/18japan.html?_r=1 Yukio Shige, a 65-year-old former policeman, has spent his retirement on a mission to stop those who go to the cliffs of Tojimbo from jumping.]] |
| 90 | * On August 17, 1999, a major earthquake struck Turkey, killing 17,000 to 35,000 Turks. Greece, which was not known to be a friend of Turkey, immediately mustered a comprehensive relief effort from all levels of government, [=NGOs=], and individual citizens. The Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs were in constant contact with its Turkish counterpart. The five largest cities of Greece sent a joint aid convoy. Universities sent medical supplies. Blood banks were swamped with people wanting to send blood to Turkey. Turkish newspapers had headlines containing words like "neighbor" and "true friend." |
| 91 | ** Then, on September 7, Athens was hit by a powerful earthquake that killed 143 people. The Greek embassy and consulates in Turkey were flooded with calls by Turks wanted to find out where to donate blood-and one man offered to donate his kidney to "a Greek in need." |
| 92 | ** [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek-Turkish_earthquake_diplomacy Greek-Turkish earthquake diplomacy]] was then revived decades later after major quakes struck Turkey in 2020 and 2023. In the latter case, "Teşekkürler komşu" (Turkish for "thank you, neighbor") was seen trending on Website/{{Twitter}} thanks to Greece's especially swift response to one of Turkey's worst modern disasters. |
| 93 | * Series/ChildrenInNeed, there's something incredibly lifting about an entire nation coming together and donating to a charity that helps children. |
| 94 | * The British documentary series ''Secret Millionaire'' (in which millionaires merge into struggling communities to provide not only one-off financial contributions, but continual aid). |
| 95 | ** It gives some of the recipients their own crowning moments. One in particular which stands out is the instance where an older couple realised the man from, as far as they knew a documentary of sorts, was living in a trailer for the duration of his stay, immediately invited him to stay in their home. They had absolutely no idea who this man really was, and the wife was currently recieving treatment for cancer, yet they still invited this complete stranger into their homes. |
| 96 | ** The American version is shaping up to do just the same. |
| 97 | * The day after the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami, the United States Armed Services launched an assistance operation called 'Operation Tomodachi', or Operation Friend. |
| 98 | * In late 2011 (so close to Thanksgiving) Creator/DanGreen's wife [[DeathByChildbirth passed away after giving birth to twins]] leaving him to raise them alone. His fans would have none of that, [[https://sites.google.com/site/thedangreenguestbook/ naturally]]. Creator/LittleKuriboh got involved [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjg2EaWY-jk as well]]. |
| 99 | ** Creator/MikePollock also got involved to help his friend in a time of need. |
| 100 | ** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GSaqbVybQI In fact,]] a lot of Dan's friends decided to help out. |
| 101 | * On the site Tumblr, a post of a man searching for his daughter Haley who ran away on December 26, 2011 was being spread around. Around twelve hours later, that number had risen to over one-hundred thousand reblogs. Ten hours later, another seventy-five thousand people had reposted it. His daughter was found safe and well in California and is back home. ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVIPQUmaDS4 Story.]]) |
| 102 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0m8sp7lYsuo One guy wrapped a series of Christmas presents]] like a Matryoshka doll, at the center of all this was [[spoiler: an engagement ring]]. |
| 103 | * The music festival Film/{{Woodstock}} had its own: The band Music/CreedenceClearwaterRevival was booked at a rather poor time (1:00 AM in the morning) where pretty much everyone was asleep. The band thought about leaving the stage since no one would really listen to them, until they saw a lone light made by a lighter in the distance -- and heard the owner call out "Don't worry, John, we're with you!". [[note]]This was before the days of audiences raising their lighters ''en masse'' to encourage a band, and John says this guy was just probably lighting a cigarette. The lighting tradition, though, did originate at Woodstock, with the thousands of candles that accompanied Melanie Safka's rain-drenched midnight set August 15-16. Her well-known song "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gixuWS0bb3Q Lay Down/Candles in the Rain]]" is about this moment.[[/note]] They stayed and played their entire set just for that one light. Peace and love, man. |
| 104 | * When Hurricane Gustav threatened Texas in 2008, the [[UsefulNotes/BarackObama Obama campaign]] essentially said, "Hey, we'll get our donors to donate to the Red Cross. You might want to ramp up your servers, our guys can be a little intense." "Sure," thought the Red Cross, "we've been through Katrina, September 11th, we can handle it." The surge of Obama dollars ''crashed the Red Cross website in under ten minutes.'' |
| 105 | * Here's [[http://web.archive.org/web/20140228032519/http://open.salon.com/blog/floor_pie/2011/11/22/a_very_aclu_christmas A Very ACLU Christmas]]. "And with all due respect to Mr. Schulz, I’d like to suggest that that’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown." |
| 106 | * There's a small story of of a boy in Los Angeles named Caine and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=faIFNkdq96U#! how he created a arcade out of cardboard boxes.]] The little kid waits for people to come, waiting for just that one customer to just join in and have some fun. So a film director happens to stop by for a replacement door handle, and sees it. The father sees it through the security camera and couldn't believes his eyes. Then the film director decides to invite people into the area and soon enough NBC got wind and the rest was history. |
| 107 | -->'''Youtube Comment''': "This video didn't make my day, but it made his day and that's what it's all about. :)" |
| 108 | * The white members of The Rat Pack once forced a hotel to desegregate by announcing that either they would allow Music/SammyDavisJr. (and other black people) to stay there, or Music/FrankSinatra and a number of other members of the Rat Pack would not only not stay there, they wouldn't perform there, either! The pressure applied by him and his fellow Rat Packers was instrumental in causing Las Vegas to become one of the first cities to fully desegregate. |
| 109 | * In 1951, actress Creator/GraceKelly took a bold stand against a racist incident involving Black American expatriate singer/dancer Creator/JosephineBaker, when Sherman Billingsley's Stork Club in New York refused Baker as a customer. Kelly, who was dining at the club when this happened, was so disgusted that she rushed over to Baker (whom she had never met), took her by the arm, and stormed out with her entire party, vowing never to return (and she never did). They later became close friends after that night. Later, when Baker was near bankruptcy Kelly (who by that time had become The Princess of Monaco) and her husband Rainier III of Monaco offered her financial assistance. |
| 110 | * Music/EllaFitzgerald was already a well-known jazz singer when her manager wanted to arrange for her to sing at the renowned Mocambo jazz club in Hollywood. Unfortunately, the club turned her down. [[note]]Insert comment here on the irony of refusing to allow an Afro-American performer to sing in a ''jazz'' club -- with a name like Mocambo, for crying out loud.[[/note]] One of Ella's biggest fans, who'd schooled her own stage voice by listening to Ella's records, then stepped in and telephoned Mocambo's manager to demand Ella be allowed to appear. The fan promised she herself would sit at a front table every night, attracting beaucoups attention and lots of press publicity for the club. The manager agreed, and the rest is history. Ella's fan was Creator/MarilynMonroe. |
| 111 | * [[https://youtu.be/TPgnj5upihQ Lena Horne]] technically was not allowed to live in Hollywood because she was black. A white man signed the lease on a Hollywood house so Lena could live there. Lena was, sad to say, not welcomed with open arms by her white neighbors. In fact a petition went around to get rid of her. Creator/HumphreyBogart, who lived across the street, was outraged. He told Lena to notify him if anybody bothered her. |
| 112 | * Metropolitan Opera general manager [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf_Bing Sir Rudolf Bing]] was politely informed that ballerina [[https://youtu.be/3YILsJ9Rbwk Janet Collins]] would not be welcome at a cast party held for the touring company in a certain exclusive club in Washington, D.C. Bing sent word that he would not be attending either, and threw his own party. When the company toured in the South, Bing got similar flak about [[https://youtu.be/gwU-L-5uS-4 Leontyne Price]], and took her to fancy restaurants just to piss people off. Bing, an aristocratic Austrian Jew, had escaped Nazi Germany and despised the idea of racial superiority. |
| 113 | * There is an article about a young girl named [[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/21/winter-slade-raises-thousands_n_1443129.html Winter Slade]], who wanted to raise money for Bring Back The Wild to help out an animal called the Pine Marten[[note]]a kind of weasel, they are not endangered globally but were threatened with extinction [[https://ptes.org/grants/uk-mammal-projects/pine-marten-recovery-project/ in some parts of England]]. In America, they're a "sensitive" species.[[/note]] for her 7th birthday. Unfortunately, when she told her friends about this, the parents go out and say "Oh, isn't that such a ''stupid'' idea, wouldn't you say?" all within earshot of the little girl ''and'' her mother. The mother goes into full MamaBear mode and gives the following retort to the harsh parents, "Well, I guess your child won't be invited to the party then." She then made a Reddit account, with one simple wish: "Make my daughter believe in humanity again." And those people did. |
| 114 | * A woman who was running in the 2012 London Marathon, to raise money for the Samaritans after her brother's suicide, tragically collapsed and died only a mile from the finish line. When the news broke worldwide, the world responded. At the time of writing, '''£600,000''' has been donated and the Samaritans have put it in a special fund in her name, to go specifically to projects her family feel she would have liked. |
| 115 | * Don Ritchie, an ex-salesman and soldier, spent fifty years living next to one of Australia's most notorious suicide spots, [[http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australasia/suicide-watchman-saves-scores-at-death-spot-1999360.html The Gap]]. He and his wife have spent most of that time stopping hundreds of potential suicides from jumping. [[TearJerker He passed away in early May 2012.]] |
| 116 | * After Creator/TaraStrong, the voice actress of Twilight Sparkle from ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', [[http://www.themarysue.com/tara-strong-contacts-fan/ had to cancel a Con appearance, one mother posted on the con's Facebook page how sad her autistic son was going to be to miss meeting "Twilight". Tara contacted her, got her phone number and CALLED to speak to the boy personally.]] |
| 117 | -->'''Tara''': (in Twilight’s voice) I love you, Dragon. |
| 118 | -->'''Dragon''': (stunned, muttering) ...love you, too, Twilight. |
| 119 | * Fernando's, a restaurant in Pittsburgh with a long history of treating [[UsefulNotes/FurryFandom furries]] at Anthrocon well was experiencing serious financial trouble. The organisers of Anthrocon and, indeed, the fandom in general decided that they couldn't bear the thought of an Anthrocon without Fernando's. Fernando himself said he required about $4,000 to stay in business. The fandom raised '''over $21,000''' in donations, and Uncle Kage himself [[http://youtu.be/ez3uoOpDveM presented it to Fernando]] at an event held at the restaurant in April 2012. |
| 120 | * Another furry example: Midwest Fur Fest 2015 in Chicago selected as its charity an animal rescue organization that cares for former police and military dogs. At the closing ceremonies, it was announced that con-goers (about 5,600 in total) had raised '''nearly $60,000''' for the charity. Cue con-goers rushing to the foot of the stage to give enough to make it an even sixty (and in the end they exceeded it!). |
| 121 | * And yet another one for the furries. The Canadian government put some Syrian refugees up in a Vancouver hotel. Vancouver's [[https://www.facebook.com/VancouFurCon VancouFurCon]] was being held in that hotel the weekend the refugees arrived. The government and convention held their breath and expected the worst. They said refugees ''"likely will not want to interact with you and consent is important for everyone."'' But when the [[https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2016/03/10/furries-convention-syrian-refugee-kids-vancouver_n_9432534.html two groups came into contact?]] The small kids were ''delighted'' by all the FunnyAnimal costumes, like seeing cartoons come to life. The convention-goers behaved themselves and went out of their way to play with the kids. |
| 122 | * A 13-year-old girl began a petition to Seventeen Magazine to stop digitally retouching their models. In response, [[http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/03/after-petition-drive-seventeen-magazine-commits-to-show-girls-as-they-really-are/ Seventeen Magazine pledged]] not to use retouching to alter models' face or body shapes, to portray a diverse range of models, and to post candid behind-the-scenes pictures of their photo shoots on their Tumblr. |
| 123 | * Creator/RonPerlman [[http://nerdbastards.com/2012/07/06/basically-ron-perlmans-the-greatest-guy-ever-becomes-hellboy-again-to-grant-kids-wish/ puts on the Hellboy makeup to grant a sick kid's wish]]. |
| 124 | ** For the record, it takes four hours to apply the Hellboy makeup and prosthetics. Totally worth it. |
| 125 | * After the tragic shooting at the midnight premiere of ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'' in Aurora, Colorado, Creator/ChristianBale [[http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/batman-actor-christian-bale-in-colorado-to-visit-people-wounded-in-movie-theater-shooting/2012/07/24/gJQA8uhc7W_story.html paid the town a surprise visit, leaving flowers at a memorial for the deceased and visiting injured victims at the hospital]]. The best part? He went there representing himself, not the movie studio. |
| 126 | ** Music/HansZimmer (the one who made music for the trilogy) composed a track called "Aurora". |
| 127 | ** "Anyone can be a hero". |
| 128 | ** [[http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/nailbiter111/news/?a=66919 Bale made it a twofer by visiting a five-year-old cancer patient whose dying wish was to meet Batman.]] |
| 129 | * [[http://www.azfamily.com/news/local/Queen-Creek-football-players-stand-up-for-bullied-special-needs-student-175920391.html This news story]]: a girl born with a brain disorder was being bullied at school. Her mother contacted a family friend who was a student at the same school, hoping he would be able to tell her what was going on and who was involved. The family friend? The starting quarterback on the football team. When he realized the extent of what was going on, he and the rest of the football team sat with the girl at lunch, walked her to class, and spent time with her after school. |
| 130 | * [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zablon_Simintov Zablon Simintov]]. The last Jew in Afghanistan, he refuses to leave because, well, it's his home. He regularly receives care packages of kosher food for holidays from total strangers living in New York, and Jews from other countries visit to celebrate the High Holidays with him. He actually receives enough donations from Jewish organizations abroad and Muslims at home to live on even when the government confiscated his store. |
| 131 | * [[http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/29/nyregion/photo-of-officer-giving-boots-to-barefoot-man-warms-hearts-online.html A homeless man now has a pair of warm shoes thanks to a kindly officer in New York City.]] |
| 132 | * An unknown man was spotted this Christmas Eve handing out iPads to the sick children of St John's Ward, in England. Within five minutes of arriving, he left. No-one knew who he was or his name. Merry Christmas, kids. |
| 133 | * In 2012, a man had planned to open his restaurant to feed the homeless on Christmas Day. He died in August without being able to, so [[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-20853572 his 10 year old daughter stepped in to take care of it.]] |
| 134 | * Much like the ''Up'' example above, recently, a 41-year-old man and Trekkie dying of cancer expressed regret to friends about not being able to see ''Film/StarTrekIntoDarkness'', as he only had two months to live. They posted on Reddit about it, and soon a small viral campaign on the site was started, asking Bad Robot to help. a few days later, Bad Robot put together a rough cut of the still unfinished film, and screened it for the man. As with Pixar, Bad Robot has said not a word about this -- the only message came through the man's family to reassure the Redditors who campaigned for it that he was able to see the film. |
| 135 | * On Website/{{Facebook}}, there is a humor page called "Awesome Shit My Drill Sergeant Said". Normally it's just crude military humor, but one day, [[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/08/how-dan-founder-of-a-mili_n_2090026.html this update went up:]] |
| 136 | -->'''[[GondorCallsForAid TROOP IN TROUBLE]]''. We just received a request for help from a troop that turned to us in desperation because it is the middle of the night and no one in the chain of command is picking up the phone and he sincerely believes his battle [buddy] is planning to [[DrivenToSuicide take his own life tonight]]. |
| 137 | ** The update was shared across Facebook, with military personnel and veterans working together to figure out where the distressed troop lived, contact the authorities, and after several hours managed to track him down to where he was locked in an apartment [[DrowningMySorrows drinking alone.]] Finally, another update went out on the Facebook page: |
| 138 | --->[[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome We picked him up. The soldier is safe.]] |
| 139 | * A rather surprising and especially touching example, courtesy of the Website/NotAlwaysRight people: Who knew that [[http://notalwaysright.com/this-boss-gets-more-than-just-the-check/26377 when a gay man ran into his boss]] at a restaurant while said gay man was out with his boyfriend, that it would end this poignantly? |
| 140 | * At the close of the American Civil War, BadassBookworm turned Brigadier General [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joshua_Chamberlain Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain]] was chosen to accept the Confederate surrender. In a move that proved unpopular with many in the north, [[OfficerAndAGentleman he ordered his men]] [[WorthyOpponent to salute the Confederate soldiers]]. General Gordon, who gave the surrender, later described Chamberlain as "one of the knightliest soldiers of the Federal Army." Although he is best remembered (and received a Medal of Honor) for his actions at Gettysburg, ,many believe it was this moment of graceful forgiveness - at a time when ''many'' in the north were intent on punishing the south - that cemented Chamberlain's status in history as a certifiable hero. |
| 141 | * A seven-year-old autistic girl and her family go to a restaurant to eat. The girl's cheeseburger is cut in half before being served to her; she, in turn, ignores it because the burger is "broken" and she doesn't want it as a result. [[http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/autistic-girls-broken-cheeseburger-story-goes-viral-234305060--abc-news-topstories.html The staff and management give her another one, whole and on the house]]. |
| 142 | ** To many autistics, this kind of thing is as significant as being addressed in one's native language. |
| 143 | * Creator/HeathLedger died during the filming of ''Film/TheImaginariumOfDoctorParnassus'', with little in the way of savings for his newborn daughter. Creator/JohnnyDepp, Creator/ColinFarrell, and Creator/JudeLaw filmed his remaining scenes, and donated their salary to Ledger's daughter. They'd never so much as met Ledger. |
| 144 | * 15th of March in Hungary is a national holiday. In 2013 it was a Friday, so people were going home en-masse on the 14th for a 3-day weekend. Then a snowstorm hit. Thousands of people were stuck on highways for almost a whole day thanks to the incompetence of the disaster response officials. The civilians, however, helped by giving food, drinks, medicine and shelter to the people stuck in their cars. The people's response on Facebook was 10 times faster than the disaster response center's. Also, the Austrians have sent their snow plows to help the Hungarian people stuck on the highways. 15th of March is the anniversary of a Hungarian revolution against the Austrians. |
| 145 | * Two words: [[http://www.bendigoadvertiser.com.au/story/1418809/have-a-coffee-and-buy-one-for-the-needy/?cs=24 Suspended Coffee]]. |
| 146 | * After the Boston Marathon bombings struck, the Internet sprung into action, seeking to help the people in need in any way. [[http://www.dailydot.com/news/boston-marathon-acts-of-kindness-internet/ This page]] lists off many of them. Some of them include: |
| 147 | ** Redditors ordering pizza to those in hospitals. When the hospitals had to turn them away, they sent them to anyone in Boston. |
| 148 | ** People offering their flyer miles, car miles and ''their homes'' to people who needed to get to Boston. |
| 149 | ** A restaurant offering a complimentary meal to first responders and emergency personnel for their work. |
| 150 | ** Google launching the Person Finder tool to help those separated in the confusion. |
| 151 | ** Realizing the many idiots who'd come up with stupid conspiracies about the bombings, one person bought the website bostonmarathonconspiracy.com and left a message about it. |
| 152 | --->'''I BOUGHT THIS DOMAIN TO KEEP SOME CONSPIRACY THEORY KOOK FROM OWNING IT. PLEASE KEEP THE THE VICTIMS OF THIS EVENT AND THEIR FAMILIES IN YOUR THOUGHTS. THANK YOU. (It's been shortened down to the last two sentences.) |
| 153 | * After an explosion at a fertilizer plant devestated the small town of West, Texas[[note]]Located in North-Central Texas and not West Texas as the name might imply[[/note]], the Czech Republic elected to [[http://news.yahoo.com/czechs-send-funds-blast-hit-texas-town-181551812.html send $200,000 in aid money]] to help pay for the rebuilding of the town, many of whose population are descendants of Czech settlers. |
| 154 | * [[http://knowyourmeme.com/videos/65235-reddit When Reddit restores a WWII vet's Navy photo.]] |
| 155 | * During the Civil War, 257 captured Union soldiers had been buried in a mass grave in Charleston, South Carolina. After the war ended, their bodies were dug up and given proper funerals... by 10,000 black men, women, and children who wanted to show their gratitude to these soldiers who had fought for their freedom. So began the [[http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20090524/PC1602/305249938 first Memorial Day-like ceremony in American history.]] |
| 156 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60J_nDaksEQ This video]] of a reality show examining how people in public will react to kids harassing a planted actress depicting a girl with a stutter. It's heartwarming enough to see a young woman defending the stuttering stranger to the point that she's in tears. Then you find out that the actress actually has a stutter. Crowning moment of Heartwarming indeed. |
| 157 | * The mother of a two year old being treated for cancer jokingly put up tape on her hospital window saying "Please Send Pizza". [[http://www.uproxx.com/webculture/2013/07/hazel-hammersley-cancer-patient-requests-pizza/ The Internet took it seriously.]] |
| 158 | * Bernard Lee, the actor who played M in early ''Film/JamesBond'' films, lost his wife Gladys in a house fire in 1972 and soon lost most of his money in a mugging. By friends' accounts, he became suicidally depressed and took to drinking. By chance, he met Creator/RichardBurton in a pub shortly thereafter. After hearing of his troubles, Burton wrote Lee a check for $6,000 on the spot. Lee snapped out of his depression, cleared his debts, remarried and continued working up till his death in 1981. |
| 159 | * Education is very important, but for some people it is a luxury not affordable because of poverty. That's why people who help finance others' tuition despite their own condition have my deepest thanks, without strings attached. I present to you the story of trishaw peddler Mr. Bai Fang Li, [[http://paulocoelhoblog.com/2012/10/29/the-virtuous-mr-bai-fang-li/ who helped 300 poor students complete their education.]] |
| 160 | * The story of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7s22HX18wDY Prajak Arunthong]], showing why it sometimes pays to have an open hand. |
| 161 | * [[http://peeking.in/post/70400404569/this-is-one-reason-why-i-love-the-internet The internet reuniting a lost teddy bear with the young girl that owns it.]] The sweetness of the picture at the end is just palpable. |
| 162 | * At the age of 20, Jonny Benjamin was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder. Distressed to the extreme, he came to Waterloo Bridge in London on 14 January 2008 with the intention of jumping off and taking his life. [[GoodSamaritan He was stopped by a complete stranger]] who talked him out of doing it. On the sixth anniversary of his suicide attempt, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JUPQVYpBME he launched an appeal to find the man who saved his life]]. The campaign went viral and two weeks later, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IG-NnvPyEaw he succeeded]]. |
| 163 | * When police officer Vicki Thomas caught impoverished single mother Jessica Robles shoplifting groceries, she [[http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/22/us/cop-helps-shoplifter/ bought $100 worth of groceries for her family]]. |
| 164 | * The [[http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/missing-malaysia-airlines-plane-daughter-of-chief-steward-shares-grief-on-twitter series of tweets]] from Maira Nari, Twitter handle @Gorgxous_ , daughter of the chief steward on the missing Malaysian Airlines plane in the South China Sea like "Daddy. It's almost 24 hours. When will you be back home? I'll be waiting, all of us are. Goodnight, daddy. :')" |
| 165 | * An old lady in Comox, British Columbia has been waving at local high school students who pass her house on the way to and from Highland Secondary School since 2007. On Valentines Day 2014, [[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/18/tinney-davidson_n_4809229.html Highland invited her to an assembly to thank her.]] The entire student body stood and clapped when she entered the gym. |
| 166 | ** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22W0msBF_EQ Another lady who gets up early to wave to the school bus every day gets a special surprise on her birthday.]] |
| 167 | * Website/YouTube the phrase “Restore Faith in Humanity” or "Real Life Heroes". Some examples: |
| 168 | ** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_2040175627&feature=iv&src_vid=7STf81P5lYE&v=-GT774fTkpA Here]]. |
| 169 | ** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMYrIi_Mt8A Three]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_1893475&feature=iv&src_vid=KMYrIi_Mt8A&v=AmEWsU-C1a8 parts]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7STf81P5lYE here]]. |
| 170 | ** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iumXOn_CMvY Here]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hChmclrOA4 here]]. |
| 171 | ** Think of all the amazing super-deeds by ordinary people that ''didn't'' happen to get filmed on somebody's phone or camera (or did, but aren't on youtube). |
| 172 | * People rewarding someone who stopped a [[http://www.buzzfeed.com/jimdalrympleii/hero-who-stopped-seattle-shooter-has-his-wedding-registry-an school shooter]] |
| 173 | * On May 31, 2014, [[http://autos.aol.com/article/truck-deliberately-crashes-into-joy-riding-teen/ a man deliberately crashed his truck]] into a car that was rampaging through a park to save the people there. In return, [[http://autos.aol.com/article/hero-gets-his-crashed-truck-back-better-than-new/?ncid=webmail1 his community pitched in to repair the truck]] as thanks for his heroism. |
| 174 | * In July 2014, the small college town of Rexburg, Idaho flooded. Within hours, hundreds of volunteers, mostly broke college students, were bailing out basement apartments and comforting those who had lost everything. This was Finals week for the spring session of the local college, but volunteers were out as late as 2 AM, singing as they worked. Hundreds more folk got together to help the students who had lived in basement apartments, and donations from across the state poured in over the next week. |
| 175 | * Back in 1955 at the height of the Cold War, the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NORAD_Tracks_Santa#History_and_overview NORAD headquarters in Colorado started getting phone calls]] on a secured hot line on Christmas Eve. It turns out a local Sears store had misprinted the phone number for a promotion where kids could call in and find out where SantaClaus was during the big night. The commanding officer, Harry Shoup, realized the poor kids would get upset about dialing a wrong number and so decided to have himself and the office workers act as Santa. They even started "tracking" the sleigh and calling the local radio stations to report Santa's current location. [[http://www.noradsanta.org/ To this day, NORAD has a Santa Tracker]] -- you've probably seen coverage by local TV stations during the evening and late night news Dec. 24. |
| 176 | * The "Manga/TigerMask Movement", in which anonymous donors give various school supplies to needy children, signing notes under the name of various famous anime, manga and ''tokusatsu'' heroes and heroines. It started back in 2010 with an anonymous donor who had dropped off ten of backpacks, valued at 30,000 yen ($360 USD) at a child guidance center in Maebashi City, asking for them to be given to the children in a letter signed "Naoto Date", Tiger Mask's secret identity. Since then, many other anonymous offerings have been made, using various famed characters such as [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Rei Ayanami]], Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya and Franchise/KamenRider. In March, August and September 2014, [[http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2015-01-05/precure-characters-donate-school-supplies-to-needy-children/.82927 various school items were donated to various wards]] equally anonymously, the letters to them signed by the main heroines of ''Anime/SmilePrettyCure''. |
| 177 | * The HBO documentary "A Small Act" tells the story of Chris Mburu, a kid in Kenya who could not afford tuition for secondary school. He found out that a Swedish woman named Hilde Back had donated his secondary school tuition. He graduated secondary school, and got a full scholarship to Harvard, and got a job at the United Nations fighting genocide, and had started a charity called the Hilde Back Foundation that funded hundreds of other Kenyan kids' tuitions. He eventually found out that Ms. Back, who he assumed had to be rich, was a kindergarten teacher living a modest life, who had survived the Holocaust. They met, after Chris came to Sweden, and tracked her down. Her 80th birthday party raised money for the foundation. |
| 178 | * In the 2000s Flemish radio presenter Peter Van De Veire from station ''Studio Brussel'' had a caller on air who wanted to request a song for his girlfriend. He told him that he wanted to hear "Bitch" by Meredith Brooks to let her know that their relationship was through and that she was a bitch too. Van De Veire lost his patience live on air, told the jerk his behaviour was low and said: "For you I only play [[Music/{{Odelay}} "Loser"]] by Music/{{Beck|Musician}}. Goodbye and get lost!" This incident has become infamous in Van De Veire's career and may be his SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome. |
| 179 | * During the Vietnam War, Frederick Whitehurst's unit was cleaning up in a neutralized Viet Cong field hospital. They were burning unnecessary documents left in the building when their translator, Sergeant Nguyễn Trung Hiếu, came up and told Whitehurst, "Fred, don't burn this. There is already fire inside these.", handing him a small notebook. It turned out to be the diary of the Viet Cong doctor, Đặng Thùy Trâm, who was in charge of the hospital and had been killed in the ambush, defending her patients. Whitehurst eventually found another diary of hers, kept the two books for 35 years, and in 2005 managed to locate Dr. Trâm's surviving family to return the diaries. They were eventually edited and published under the name of "Nhật ký Đặng Thùy Trâm" (The Diary of Đặng Thùy Trâm), and has been translated into at least sixteen languages, including English, as "Last Night I Dreamed of Peace". They are considered Vietnam's answer to The Diary of Anne Frank. |
| 180 | ** Another heartwarming moment: Vietnam's cinema is generally terrible, wartime movies even more so. But the movie about Dr. Trâm's life, entitled "Đừng Đốt" ("Don't Burn It"), received standing ovations for a good ten minutes when it premiered on 30 April , the anniversary of the Fall of Saigon - the end to the war Dr. Trâm and company fought for - by a room full of people who have lived through said war (and possibly the conflict with the French and Japanese as well). |
| 181 | * Mulberry School in Tower Hamlets, one of the most deprived boroughs in London, received a visit in person from the First Lady of America Michelle Obama. At the assembly she told the girls at the school that "You have everything you need to rise above the noise and fulfil every one of your dreams... I am looking at you, and I see surgeons, barristers... women who will inspire, not just in Tower Hamlets, but around the world'. Once the standing ovation died down she went into the audience offering hugs and kisses on the cheek. |
| 182 | * The Bronies, of the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' fandom, came together to help Keyframe, a girl who was stuck in an abusive home for over eight years. After he situation went public, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckMptZcoAWw her friends issued a distress call]], asking for donations over Paypal and Go Fund Me. Together, the Bronies raised over TWENTY THOUSAND dollars to help Keyframe out of her abuse. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7vnXgTL5sw Their gratitude is heart wrenching.]] |
| 183 | * One Christmas, a little girl told Santa Claus that she wanted his dad to return from Iraq, but she didn't know [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JPu7VJJuhc that her dad was dressed as Santa.]] ''Even the anchorman shed tears.'' |
| 184 | * The Blog/MarkDoesStuff review site is one of the safest spots on the Internet, where all bigoted language is banned and the fan communities tend to get along very well, particularly in the Discword, princess Tutu, and Tortall/Emelan fandoms. A few shining moments, though, really stand out. [[http://markreads.net/reviews/2014/12/mark-reads-triss-book-chapter-12/ During his read of Tris's Book]] by Tamora Pierce, one user commented about needing support after a hard break up. Not only did other fans offer kind words and sympathy, but Pierce herself left a message. "Whenever the ferociously bad things happen to me, I end my night's cry into my pillow by saying, over and over until I fall asleep, "It will hurt less tomorrow." It doesn't always work the first day, or the first week, but there will be a day it works, and a couple of days later it will work another day, and so on, until there are clusters of days when it works, until eventually I will have a week when it works, and then clusters of weeks, and the pain has eased enough that I don't need to say it unless I have a bad day again. When something like this happens, Time is our friend. Reason isn't. There's no rational explanation for someone's death, or when a friend turns on you without warning, or a lover drops you without explanation. We can consult with everyone who knows us, or knows the lover, or knows us both, and reason fails utterly. Then we have to cling to time and wait somehow for it to pass." |
| 185 | * The story of Lee Hyeon-seo. She fled [[PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny North Korea]] in the late '90s to live with distant relatives in China. 10 years later, she left for South Korea and tried to adjust to her new life. Later, she learned her mother and brother were in danger because of her defection. Lee took a plane back to China, returned to North Korea, found her family and guided them out of the country. In their 2000 mile trek, they almost got caught several times. Unfortunately, her mother and brother were arrested in Laos, just a few meters short of the South Korean embassy. Lee didn't have enough bribe money and began crying out of despair. An Australian tourist was passing by and saw her crying. After understanding her broken English, the tourist used an ATM machine and gave her the money needed to bail her family. Lee asked why he was helping her. The tourist replied: "I'm not helping you....I'm helping the North Korean people." Lee succeeded in bringing her family to South Korea, and has said this act of kindness from a complete stranger has brought hope for all North Koreans and herself. |
| 186 | * An Air Canada pilot was flying a plane from Tel Aviv to Toronto. [[http://www.cbc.ca/m/news/canada/toronto/air-canada-pilot-diverts-tel-aviv-to-toronto-flight-to-ensure-dog-s-safety-1.3230576 He diverted the plane to Frankfurt.]] Why? Because the cargo hold's heater malfunctioned, [[PetTheDog and he was concerned for the safety of a dog traveling within]]. The dog was put in a different plane headed to Toronto, and the original plane arrived just over an hour behind schedule. The passengers were largely understanding. |
| 187 | ** Rules for pets on planes are changing a lot and [[https://www.bustle.com/p/how-to-take-your-cat-on-airplane-if-you-need-to-travel-with-your-furry-friend-9000913 some airlines are now making a real effort to help pets travel safely.]] |
| 188 | * A girl with progeria which causes premature aging, not only lived to high school prom, but was voted Prom Queen. |
| 189 | * For their Holiday 2015 promotional campaign, ''TabletopGame/CardsAgainstHumanity'' gave the employees of the Chinese factories that make their products [[http://www.cardsagainsthumanity.com/china/ a week of paid vacation]]. Since no procedures for doing this existed, they paid the factory to make absolutely nothing for one week. |
| 190 | * Students surprise their math teacher with [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNROMm9w02I two kittens]] after her 16-year-old cat passed away. |
| 191 | * A grandson in Omaha, Nebraska was worried about the safety of his grandmother over in Daytona Beach after Hurricane Matthew tore through. Since he couldn't get a hold of her normally, he went the extra mile - ordering a pizza at a nearby Papa John's with instructions for the delivery boy to call him up to make sure she was okay. |
| 192 | * Recently Canada made a twitter feed called [[https://mobile.twitter.com/hashtag/TellAmericaItsGreat?src=hash #TellAmericaItsGreat]] where various Canadians cheered up the Americans. In return, the Americans made a twitter feed called [[https://mobile.twitter.com/hashtag/TellCanadaThankYou?src=hash #TellCanadaThankYou]] While they both like to jab at each other, there's no denying that there's a close brotherhood between the United States and Canada. |
| 193 | * [[https://twitter.com/MrKenShabby/status/867036448037511169 This]] tale of the late {{Creator/Roger Moore}} meeting a young fan. |
| 194 | * It's fair to say that England and France have a turbulent history, what with countless wars, mutual invasions, and unbridled piss-taking over the centuries, a rivalry that extends onto the football pitch. However, when England were scheduled to play France in a friendly mere days after the Bataclan Attack in 2015, arriving French fans and players found Wembley, historic home of English football, lit up in the colours of the French Tricolore. Then followed a minute's silence, which was impeccably observed, and finally, with the aid of the words on the big screen, the English fans joined their French counterparts in singing the French national anthem. And when French midfielder, Lassana Diarra, whose cousin had been killed in the attack, was substituted onto the pitch, he received a universal round of applause from the entire stadium. |
| 195 | ** Two years later, Britain was hit by two attacks in less than two weeks, the Manchester Bombing and the London Bridge attack, themselves less than three months after the Westminster Attack. England and France played another friendly, this time in the Stade de France in Paris, and this time, the French fans joined their English counterparts to sing God Save the Queen. |
| 196 | * After the bombing of an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, UK, ''[[UsefulNotes/ElizabethII Queen Elizabeth herself]]'' went to visit injured survivors at the local hospital. |
| 197 | ** Also, after 'Don't Look Back In Anger' became the unofficial anthem of the response to the Manchester Bombing, Noel Gallagher donated all the sales to the We Love Manchester fund. |
| 198 | * Donations to a community effort to help survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire grew so numerous that ''volunteers had to stop accepting donations at one point''. |
| 199 | * In 2016, Marc Carter of Devon, England, sparked a global search for a light blue (officially "pearlized green") two-handled Tommee Tippee cup for his autistic son, Ben, then 13, who since age 2 has never drunk out of anything else. Literally. He uses it for medicinal drinks as well as ordinary beverages. He once lost it and was hospitalized with dehydration. The cup was starting to fall apart, but Tommee Tippee had redesigned all their cups. Marc used social media, created the twitter tag [=#CupForBen=], and a Youtube channel, [[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDtU7kYG78GQW0Ug_zuOUYw Grumpy Dad]]. Soon tons of people sent cups that resembled the original. Ben only took those that were identical to his (only the UK market had ever had that style in Pearlized Green).[[note]]Ben was able to use some of them to "transition" to get used to the idea of drinking from slightly different cups. Autistics and facilitators take note.[[/note]] He and Marc were at a loss -- until Tommee Tippee found out about the search. Their Careline team actually ''reopened the factory'' in Dongguan, China, and ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuwBQUwyW3k found the mould for the original cup]]''. No leftover sample in the exact color was found, but the manufacturing tools were! To get the color exactly right, they made several and sent them to Ben so he could choose the right shade. Did they then make him one? Not even close -- they made ''[[https://www.cnn.com/2016/12/08/health/tommee-tippee-sippy-cup-solution-trnd/index.html one thousand cups]]'' for Ben! ''Free of charge, for life''. To say Ben was happy is an understatement. And if you're autistic reading this, you know the feeling. Marc is crowdfunding a documentary film and has various "littlebluecup" web presences, still helping autistics and their families search for particular items. He discusses services for autistic adults [[https://storiesaboutautism.com/podcast-season-2-episode-3-marc-carter-little-blue-cup/ in this podcast]]. |
| 200 | * [[https://www.arktimes.com/arkansas/ruth-coker-burks-the-cemetery-angel/Content?oid=3602959 Ruth Coker Burks]]. Starting in 1984 when AIDS was seen as a gay disease in which anyone can get it from casual contact, Ruth, who is not a practitioner of medicine in any shape or form, took in hundreds of AIDS sufferers and cared for them like they were her own children. These men where disowned by their families for being gay, treated inhumanely by hospitals, and feared by the general public, and yet she cared for them without any prejudice or fear. She even touched them without gloves which was unheard of back in the day. When they died, she held a funeral and buried them herself with her daughter because churches refused on the account of the dead being gay. It's no wonder why she's called a saint and the Cemetery Angel. |
| 201 | * After seeing their best friend get bullied, two girls planned to give the title of homecoming queen to her should one of them win as they were both in the running. [[https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/18/homecoming-queen-gives-bullied-friend-crown_n_5845644.html And that's just what the one who won did]] |
| 202 | * [[Creator/RoosterTeeth Rooster Teeth, LLc.]] hosts an annual 24-hour livestream to support Extra Life, with all proceeds going towards the Dell Children's Hospital in Austin. In 2017, they were able to well surpass '''one million dollars''' in donations. Just, ''damn'', that's a lot of people who want to see good in the world. The amount was so high that The hospital has been able to build an entire mental health wing and healing garden thanks to their support. It's incredible to see how the employees are willing to take so much punishment (being shot with paintballs, eating ridiculously spicy food, and generally humiliating themselves) to support the kids. |
| 203 | * At an airport, Ivelise Hernandez and her fiancé witness a man tearfully throwing something away after being ordered to do so by airport security. Curious, the fiancé retrieves the item and finds just ''why'' the item meant so much to the man.[[https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-airport-snow-globe-returned-20160428-story.html The couple then seek to return the item to its rightful owner.]] |
| 204 | * On September 21, 2018, Creator/TelltaleGames suddenly and inexplicably shut down, tossing out over 200 employees without even Severence. That very day, many video game studios sent out tweets to help out these people, including Sony's Santa Monica Studios (creators of ''VideoGame/GodOfWar2018''), Gearbox, Iron Galaxy, Zenimax Online Studios (creators of ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsOnline'') and 2K Games, if not with new jobs then certainly with a helping hand of some sort. |
| 205 | * In March 2019, musher [[https://twitter.com/BlairBraverman Blair Braverman]] took part in the Iditarod, a thousand-mile long dogsledding race in Alaska. Blair became a minor celebrity on Twitter for chronicling her training and providing entertaining stories of her sled dogs, earning a fan following that named themselves "Ugly Dogs" after a snide remark from a troll. While following Blair's progress in the race, a number of her fans were inspired to start raising money to give to school fundraisers along the race route. By the time Blair crossed the finish line, they had raised over ''[[https://twitter.com/BlairBraverman/status/1107392981403734016 eighty thousand dollars]]'' - a total that well exceeded $100,000 by the time the last musher finished. As she progressed from station to station, she was met by one grateful teacher after another, and, in her words, "happy cried all the way up the Yukon". |
| 206 | * In France, [[https://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-hero/france-offers-citizenship-to-malian-immigrant-who-scaled-building-to-save-child-idUSKCN1IS0UF a Malian immigrant saved a dangling boy who was about to fall off the balcony.]] Despite being an illegal immigrant, he was later offered French citizenship for his heroism. |
| 207 | * [[https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7074829/Hero-biker-saves-girl-8-rushing-hospital-passed-traffic-jam.html A motorcyclist in Thailand saved a girl who had a seizure.]] The family was driving a car stuck during a bad traffic jam, and the daughter needed to go to a hospital quickly; the motorcycle would be able to go through the traffic jam more quickly as it is much narrower. The family arrived at the emergency ward within four minutes, much faster than if they had stayed in the car. |
| 208 | * Creator/DebbieReynolds was not a dancer at the time she made ''Film/SinginInTheRain'', and notorious perfectionist Creator/GeneKelly worked her so hard, she began having breakdowns during rehearsal. Creator/FredAstaire was hanging around the studio and found Reynolds crying under a piano. Hearing what had happened, Astaire let her witness one of ''his'' rehearsal sessions--normally he ''never'' let ''anyone'' watch him rehearse--in order to help her understand that dancing can be ''very'' hard work, even for the best performers, but that hard work is necessary and, in the end, worth it. |
| 209 | ** Creator/GeneKelly was apparently a rather tyrannical director, and neither Creator/DebbieReynolds nor Donald O'Connor enjoyed working with him because of his perfectionism and tendency to yell at people. Reynolds never did another movie with Kelly, but she ''did'' do another one with O'Connor the following year, ''I Love Melvin,'' because he treated her better. |
| 210 | ** O'Connor would also deliberately miss steps when Reynolds did so that Kelly would yell at him instead. |
| 211 | * On July 18, 2019, when Creator/KyotoAnimation's Studio 1 building was destroyed by a vengeful arsonist, killing 33 employees in the attack, anime fans began to rally around to try and help the company. One of those was Creator/SentaiFilmworks, their American distributor, who set up a [=GoFundMe=] page to help out. They set up a goal of $500,000; they got a million in under a day. Other fans were also directed to purchase their stuff directly. Either way, fans were letting the company know they were backing them 100%. |
| 212 | * [[https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2019/06/rise-facebook-blessings-groups/591307/ Facebook blessings groups.]] One of the biggest, as mentioned in the article, is "give me your money" [sic][[note]]there has been a copycat group with the same name, but capitalized[[/note]], created and maintained by activists John Ford, Lauren Chalas, and a team of moderators. Funded requests in the group range from pizza for someone having a bad day, to over $1500 raised for a terminally ill man to go to the beach for the first time and meet his best friend[[note]]tragically, for the last time, as he died on his return trip[[/note]], and clean water filters for a village in the Philippines. Offers of free items, resources, and non-monetary help also abound. |
| 213 | ** Members can pay to ban people, and while the system can be misused, the community are as quick to rally together and raise funds to ban trolls and bigots as they are to support people in need. The group is also home to several funds run by admins, such as the S. A. F. E. (Sick Animal Friends Effort) fund, the Franklin Fund for trans apparel (binders and such), and the Flo Fund for menstrual supplies, which are disbursed at the discretion of the fund hosts. |
| 214 | ** The group also gives back by tipping the mods 10% of money raised per request - either individually (typically, the mod local to the requester, or the mod who approved the Facebook post) or a shared "mod hat" -, as managing a large group with conflicts occurring often is considered a difficult job. It's not a rule, but people will be frowned upon for not tipping. Members in financial difficulties can increase the amount of their request in order to cover the mod tip, so as not to have to pay out of their own pocket. Some users have funded others' mod tips as well. |
| 215 | ** The "John Ford universe" has also expanded to non-monetary groups, such as "Cheer Me Up With Cards and Memes", and "let people be sad". There was previously a self-harm prevention group, which was shut down by Facebook. |
| 216 | * Oswald Laurence provided the original "Mind the Gap" warning on the London Underground. After Oswald passed away, his wife Margaret often used to listen to his announcements at the station on the way to work, even staying there longer than she needed to so she could hear his voice a bit longer. Eventually, the entire network was updated with new digital automated announcements. Margaret went to the station staff to ask if it were possible to get a recording of her husband's voice. The staff promised to help but made clear that realistically there was not much they could do. Margaret accepted this and got on with her life, until one day she was waiting for a train, [[https://www.stylist.co.uk/life/embankment-tube-mind-the-gap-voice-oswald-laurence-restored-wife-plea-twitter/335851 and heard her husband delivering his famous message]]. The kindness and hard work of strangers allowed one grieving woman to hear her beloved once again. To this day, the northbound platform of the northern line at Embankment station still feature's Oswald's voice, the only place on the entire London Underground system to feature a different announcement. Also, they recorded his message so she could listen to his voice without needing to physically be at a station. |
| 217 | * In March 2020, Chinese tech and consumer company Xiaomi donated [[https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202003/10/WS5e673eb0a31012821727dddd.html tens of thousands of masks to Italy]] to help them combat UsefulNotes/COVID19. On the shipment, they wrote a quote from a Roman poem: ''We are waves from the same sea, leaves from the same tree, flowers from the same garden''. Earlier, Japan had [[http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020-02/13/c_138779612.htm donated over a million masks to China]], with a quote from a Chinese poem: ''Although we are in different places, we are under the same sky.'' |
| 218 | * In 2017, a London man named James Dutton started a search for an out-of-print ''WesternAnimation/PostmanPat'' VHS tape as a Christmas present for his autistic son Thomas. It went viral on social media, and Jill Hulme saw the post after Brendan Cole, a star on the series, "Strictly Come Dancing," shared Dutton's tweet. She happened to have a copy of that very same ''Postman Pat'' tape that she had planned to donate to charity. Thomas got a great surprise on Christmas morning. This shows how social media can be used for good. |
| 219 | * In January 2019, Creator/PattonOswalt got into a Twitter feud with a supporter of UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump. He then [[https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2019/01/25/patton-oswalt-got-into-twitter-war-with-trump-supporter-then-helped-pay-his-medical-bills/ donated]] $2000 to the man's [=GoFundMe=] created to help cover his medical expenses, and encouraged his followers to do likewise. The man's [[https://twitter.com/MichaelBeatty/status/1088505597442572289 reaction]] is incredibly touching. |
| 220 | * [[https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/netanyahu-says-syria-requests-quake-relief-israel-ready-send-it-2023-02-06/ Israel]] sending humanitarian aid to Syria after the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_Turkey%E2%80%93Syria_earthquakes devastating 2023 earthquake]]. While it's very common for Israel to send humanitarian aid to various countries after natural disasters, it should be noted that Israel and Syria are in a state of war, and have never really gotten along. They're ''still'' willing to send aid and even take in refugees! |
| 221 | * In 2017, [[https://www.nj.com/union/2017/02/st_johns_cyo_girls_cant_play_with_boys_basketball.html A fifth grade basketball team]] was told that their lineup, which included two girls due to the lack of a separate girl's team, was illegal, and were given an ultimatum to either remove them, or forfeit the rest of the season. The team unanimously chose to forfeit, eventually [[http://www.nj.com/union/index.ssf/2017/02/new_archbishop_says_girls_can_play_ball_in_coed_co.html getting their way]], and [[http://www.nj.com/union/index.ssf/2017/03/champs_coed_cyo_hoops_team_wins_finals_after_fight.html going on to win the season.]] |
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