It’s been a rough few days in the United States with mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, that collectively, claimed 31 lives. Those tragedies magnifying some of the enormous problems to be reckoned with can dim a basic truth: Most people are inherently good.
Some of these stories may have been overshadowed in the breaking-news cycle. Here are a few of them:
These Kind Kindergartners Are Leading The Way
Some kindergartners in Merritt Island, Florida, put together a kindness symbol they think is a good model of behavior, showing that what goes around, comes around in a positive way. It’s a heart inside a circle, with arrows that show “kindness all around, ongoing, never-ending, north/south/east/west, everywhere!”
They’re petitioning members of Congress to adopt their kindness symbol after determining that “we, as a class, school, community and nation need to do more to show kindness in our everyday lives,” according to a Change.org petition.
They make a strong case in their petition: “Having a recognizable, easy to recreate symbol will remind people to be kind. We already have and use symbols for love, peace, and happiness, and a kindness symbol will add to our national focus of being kind.”
A Together Kind website tells more about the campaign and includes a formatted letter people can send to their lawmakers. The young lobbyists have taken their proposal to dozens of school boards, city councils and municipalities, and some organizations have already agreed to adopt their symbol.
In July, New Jersey Assemblyman Ron Dancer, a Republican from Ocean, introduced a resolution that urged Congress to adopt the kindness symbol.
“Kindness is contagious,” Dancer said, according to an account of the children’s efforts by the Good News Network. “People who benefit from acts of kindness are more likely to act graciousely towards others. The circle of kindness is embodied in the symbol.
“It’s always the right time for kindness. Sometimes it feels like our nation is more divided than it is united. Declaring a national symbol of kindness is a small, but not insignificant step toward civility.”
33 Of ‘Dale’s Kids’ Get Full-Ride Scholarships
A humble — and frugal — bachelor carpenter from Iowa squirreled away $3 million for a scholarship fund that is making it possible for 33 people to attend college. As CNN reported, Dale Schroeder, of Ames, never had the chance to go to college, but wanted others to have the opportunity. He made sure they would in his will.
“He was that kind of blue-collar, lunch pail kind of guy,” Steve Nielsen, Schroeder’s lawyer, told CNN. “Went to work every day, worked really hard, was frugal like a lot of Iowans.”
The full-ride scholarship recipients are collectively known as “Dale’s Kids.”
One of them, Kira Conrad, grew up in a single-parent household and had three older sisters.
“Paying for all four of us [to go to college] was never an option,” she told CNN. “For a man that would never meet me, to give me basically a full ride to college, that’s incredible. That doesn’t happen.”
A Sanitation Worker Made This Kid’s Day
Every Thursday morning, whether it’s 30 degrees or 100 degrees, 3-year-old Myles Henrichs waits patiently at the curb at his home in Jenks, Oklahoma, for his friend to arrive. Their friendship began casually with a wave, but evolved into a friendship with Myles’ entire family.
Myles’ new friend is Aaron Mitchell, a driver for American Waste Control who picks up trash at the Henrichs home.
Last week, Mitchell surprised the little boy with a toy recycling truck much like the version he drives.
“This was done by Mr. Mitchell’s own generosity,” the city of Jenks posted on its Facebook page. “Thank you Mr. Mitchell, and the whole crew from American Waste Control, for making this little boy’s day and keeping our community clean!”
Amanda Henrichs, the boy’s mother, told news station KJRH her son “absolutely loved” the gift from the trash pickup driver.
“It was kind of above and beyond any expectations that I’ve ever had,” Henrichs told the news outlet.
‘Old Coots’ Give Perhaps Bad, But Free Advice
What’s not to love about a group of old-timers who call themselves “old coots” and hand out advice at at a local farmers market in Salt Lake City?
Tony Caputo, the leader of the group of senior citizens, told CBS News he and his buddies have been gathering for years to “solve the problems of the world,” but decided to take their coffee klatch to a larger audience.
The booth at the farmers market reads: “Old Coots Giving Advice: It’s probably bad advice, but it’s free.”
They didn’t expect to have many takers, but as Caputo explained to Steve Hartman for his “On the Road” segment on CBS last month, their booth has become one of the most popular at the farmers market with people standing in line to hear what they have to say.
One surprise is the number of young people who ask advice. One new mom wondered how she could best avoid messing up her little one’s life.
Their advice?
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“You’re going to mess him up a little bit and that’s how they grow.”
Neighbors Respond To Rude Letter With Kindness
After a neighbor sent a vile note about her “eyesore” house, others in Pinson, Alabama, rallied to the defense of Randa Ragland, a mother of five whose 3-year-old son, Jaxen, is battling Stage 4 neuroblastoma, a type of cancer.
Ragland initially was just going to absorb the hateful letter that said the condition of her home was limiting neighbors’ ability to sell theirs, just as she has everything else that’s been going on since her son, who also is on the autism spectrum, was diagnosed in October.
But Ragland told Yahoo Lifestyle she went ahead posted the anonymous letter on Facebook to show “anyone and everyone” because “you never know what is going on with the next person.”
Since the diagnosis, her free time has been consumed by medical appointments for her son, who she told the news outlet “has literally been fighting for his life.”
In the post, she asked people to simply be kind:
“Try being kind to your neighbor or the stranger you let in when there’s traffic. Say hello to people. Just kindness. It’s crazy how things like this can truly change a person. Because just a year ago. I would [have] been so angry from this note. But I truly don’t have the energy for that kind of negativity. Maybe the owner of this note might see this. And maybe not. But either way I feel this might touch someone and that is enough in itself.”
The “Jaxen’s Army for Justice” Facebook group sprang out of Ragland’s post. Community members are not only collecting donations to offset the family’s medical expenses, but about 30 people showed up at her house to mow the lawn and pitch in to help with household chores and maintenance.
“They started this group for my son,” Ragland told Yahoo Lifestyle. “It is wonderful knowing people do still care, and that not everyone is self-absorbed.”