Category: Random Acts of Kindness

My friend Mavis looked out her window the other morning to find her unruly rose bushes had been expertly pruned. It turned out the phantom pruner was Margaret Liddell, who writes the gardening column for Urban Country. Margaret keeps an eye on a number of elderly people’s gardens, and when she sees they need some […]

September 1st is Random Acts of Kindness Day! This is a wonderful excuse to be kind to a stranger or do some unexpected favour for a neighbour, friend or workmate. RAK day was started in New Zealand in 2004 when Josh de Jong sat in a cafe watching an incident of road rage and thought […]

Have you ever lost a wallet and then had it returned, complete with contents? It happened to me a few years ago while Christmas shopping. I went back to the shop where I thought I’d left it and was told a high school boy had taken it, leaving his name and phone number at the […]

Recently I’ve heard of two families where certain members had the misfortune to have their cars out of action for a few weeks. In both cases it was cheering to see how other family members put themselves out to share their own vehicles, co-ordinating with one another and catching rides with friends in order to […]

Some government departments have a reputation for ignoring hardship, as they turn down applications for assistance. But sometimes staff members go the extra mile to try to help. In one case I know of, staff in a government department did all they could to find ways to help a young couple expecting a baby, but […]

Doing my bungy jump three months ago, I met a young woman named Lara. Lara had her father’s high-speed camera and took a multitude of action shots, which she promised to email me afterwards. When I didn’t hear from her, I presumed she’d lost my address. It seems she had, but she must’ve remembered my […]

Recently a student friend of mine was devastated when her partner, who lives in another town, was diagnosed with a life-threatening illness. The ensuing few weeks have necessitated a lot of travelling back and forth to be by his side, as well as many phone calls and texts to let people know of his progress. […]

Let’s not forget to notice the little things that people do for one another every day. Here are a few things I’ve witnessed people doing for each other recently: Buying lunch as a thank you Making coffees for workmates Baking a birthday cake Preparing a meal for friends Organising a farewell party Giving away fruit […]

Walking through the car park at Chartwell last week, a friend came across a set of car keys. Although she was late for a meeting, she insisted on turning around and taking the keys back inside to the information desk. It turns out a relative of hers had lost a wallet at Chartwell some time […]

A group of enthusiastic young girls approached me in Jansen Park recently. They were picking up rubbish, in the hope of encouraging others to “pay it forward” by doing something similar. I was happy to take home the recyclable items they’d collected and put them in my bin. Well done girls – great community spirit.