Stories Matching 'Health and Wellness' Tag (114 matches)

A Kindness Lesson in Action at Dinner

I love to do the random things like pay for the person behind me in the fast food drive thru....  This week after church we decided to go out to eat with our kids in tow. Our family consists of 6 children, some adopted. We went to a local restaurant. We were seated next to a family of 4 children, and I noticed the young mother had a bandana on her head and appeared to have a hair loss issue, it immediatly touched my heart. I told my husband I want to pay their bill. He looked around, I think he was looking for a lonely person in the corner, then I pointed to the family next to us. When he did a head count I thought he was going to have a heart attack. Our income is stretched as it was and here I am suggesting we pay for another bill. After ... Read Full Story >>

What I'm Doing With Smile Cards

I'm having a lot of fun with my smile cards! Thanks you so much for all that you guys do, it really is awesome!

I just recieved some great news! I recently won the Violet Richardson Award for starting my STARS, a volunteer club, and my club was given a grant and we have already planned our next project! It's called "Operation Bear Hugs!" We are going to purchase a lot of teddy bears for little kids at our local safe house and we are going to attach smile cards on them! We are so excited!

We also are making gifts for a children's hospital that we hope to visit later this summer ... they are called "Smile in a Box." It is a small brown box that has a poem attached and when you open it there is a smiley face tap light that when you push it it lights up! It's for kid's who are scared at the hospital ... they can have a warm smile anytime they need it! Even late at night! And of course, what would the smile be without a smile card!

Again, thanks for all you guys do! I know that it takes a lot of work! Keep it up! And remember, smiles are contagious ...

Act of Kindness in Zimbabwe

I was in the bus in heavy traffic going to an orphanage to visit some children. What I saw brought tears to my eyes.

There had been a terrible accident. The owner of the motorbike laid bleeding, critically injured and dying on the side of the road. Members of a church nearby called an ambulance. They were having a women’s gathering day at the church.

While the man lay helpless and hurt, the women rushed to his side and around him sang beautiful hymns and prayers - some to save his body and some to save his soul. They sang like angels. The music was so sad and beautiful and the gesture was so touching at such sad and tragic moment. I shall not forget the kindness of those women being there in his hour of need.

A Chain of Kind Events, Started By a 3rd Grader

Lucia is 8 years old and in November '05 she wrote a contract for the whole family to sign. "We will all agree to getting a puppy dog on April 15 2006." She had been asking for a puppy for about a year already!  It was inevitable now! We signed, the five of us, but did inform her that she needed to start saving money to be able to buy the puppy and so she did. At least once a week she would sit down to count, penny at a time, how much she had collected. In change she raised about US$80 dollars. April came, we had a few adorable options in mind but on the first week of the month, we received a communication letter from her school about a girl needing multiple organ transplant and this letter made Lucia change her mind. She informed us she was taking her ... Read Full Story >>

An Unforgettable Birthday Gift

My daughter's birthday is May 29. She was 6 by then. As it was Monday, we prefered to celebrate it earlier, i.e. on Saturday 27 May. This was easier for me as I'm free on Saturdays. On Thursday the entire family was busy packing the presents and putting funny pins on them. I promised my litte princess that I would wake her up early in the morning and distribute the presents to her classmates. I woke up at 05:30. After I took a bath, I planned to wake her up ... but.... as I came out from the bathroom, I realized that an earthquake struck. I screamed to wake my husband up and asked him to carry my daughter; and ran out of our house. We were watching our house swaying from outside. It happened for just 3 minutes, but... the piano thumbled down, tiles came down, some cracks appeared ... Read Full Story >>

Driveway Turns Into A Beach

A dear friend was only weeks away from death from cancer. She said she was sorry she wouldn't be able to see the ocean again and get her toes in the sand. We live in Central Virginia and she was unable to travel so the trip to the coast wasn't going to happen. Some of us decided the solution was pretty simple. We would surprise her and bring the beach to her. The beach included three tons of beautiful white sand dumped in her driveway, two cabanas, beach balls, pails, shovels, beach chairs, a variety of decorations and a fire pit for the bonfire on the beach at night. Of course we had s'mores on the beach. We also rented a sno-cone machine since it had gotten to the point where flavored ice was about all she was able to eat. We ... Read Full Story >>

Purple Carnations at the Hospital

"Do you need a vase for your purple carnations? " asked a gentle voice and I woke up in my hospital bed. It was one of those few  rare moments when no one else was in the room with me and I had slipped into slumber. "Yes - these are from a special friend" I managed to say looking at her for the first time. She was a janitor and while clearing the trash can, she had chanced upon the flowers. But why would she care? And she said 'purple carnations' precisely. I asked her if she likes flowers. Her eyes lit up and she spoke in excited bursts. She LOVES flowers and in her garden, every flower that blooms each day gets a special hug and bye from her before she leaves for work. My God! I told her that I've been getting a lot of flowers and after appreciating  the boquets ... Read Full Story >>

Tins of Chocolate with a Smile...

Recently, my Mother underwent a surgery to repair a valve in her heart at UCLA Medical Center.  During the first couple of days she was in the hospital, my Dad was telling me how wonderful the nurses were in the ICU and how they took such great care of my Mom and made sure she was comfortable at all times.  I told him it would be great if we could think of a fun way to show our gratitude -- in the whole process of going through a major surgery, the nurses are often the people who get overlooked the most and aren't thanked enough for the compassion and care they give to each patient.  My Dad had a great idea -- he asked me to bring along some cute decorative tins of chocolate from London for all of them. When I arrived at the hospital, I had my first opportunity to tag Kara, ... Read Full Story >>

Listening Life Raft

She recognized my face, but didn't know my name.  It didn't seem to matter though.  For me, it had been more than two years since I saw her, but my guess was that this had nothing to do with  me.  She had gone through a lot, that much was clear.  In the past, it was tough to tell if her continual distress was a result of on-going chaos or the residual mental effects of prior suffering.  Not only was she not open about this, but found ways to inappropriately interject her own issues into any conversation and lead it down a negative path, which meant that most people would try and end their conversation with her in the first minute. The moment I was free, she rushed over to talk to me.  We moved quickly from the opening pleasantries to heavy issues-- abuse, immigration matters, law suits, discrimination, exploitation-- that had all been a part ... Read Full Story >>

Encounter with an Albino Blind Man

Strolling down the streets of New York can be jarring reflection about the state of humanity -- a business man in suit and tie tries to optimize his time by walking and reading newspapers at the time, a thirty-something waitress zips by with her restaurant apron half off and is intently looking at that handheld blackberry; a high school girl is on her cell phone cussing at someone in her Brooklyn accent. Trying to catch my subway train to Penn Station, I felt the New York Minute rush also. Until I notice an albino man ahead of me, walking very purposefully, taking very small, slow, intentional steps. He was blind. For every step he took, he would swing his stick couple of times to get the lay of the land in front of him. I passed him in no time, like everyone else. But then, ... Read Full Story >>

My Mom's First Truly Anonymous Kind Act

Here's a story my mom recently emailed our family. I thought I'd share with the group! Per your invitation card instructions, I decided to do my first truly anonymous act of kindness as my baby-shower offering. For Junior, I wanted to crochet a receiving blanket and I just learned crocheting. Then I realized what you had asked for was an anonymous act of kindness. I decided to do it for someone unknown. I got white yarn and started crocheting with as much good wishes and blessings as possible for an unknown baby. It came out beautifully with a center area of shaded blue. And I myself felt a little bit attached to it by the time it was completed! But I remembered what you had asked for. So I asked a friend to accompany me. She had no experience of this sort either. First, we decided to ... Read Full Story >>

Kindness for a Cancer Patient

I'm having chemo at the moment and got on the bus feeling rather weak and sick. A little old lady got up to let me sit down saying "I know what it's like." She was glancing at my headscarf which covers my baldy head.  Full marks to her for consideration and KINDNESS  XXX

Your way, right away

The other day, I bought a homeless man lunch at Burger King and sat down and spoke with him while we ate our lunches.  It seemed like he was almost as happy to chat with me as he was to have a free meal.

Not An Ordinary World Cup

The soccer ball sounds like the clatter of a rattlesnake's tail, fans are barred from cheering too loudly and the sidelines are clear plastic walls meant to keep the players in-bounds -- clearly not an ordinary World Cup. Save for the goalkeepers, all of the athletes are legally blind.

Welcome to the fourth World Championships of Soccer for the Blind. Spectator Marcelo Gonzalez, who coaches blind teenagers and 20-somethings in Argentina, said he still marvels how sightless players are so attuned to sounds, vibrations and the fast-changing position of their competitors.

Read more at http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/11/24/america/LA_GEN_Argentina_Blind_World_Cup.php

Walkathon for Orphans

$150,000 raised from the Walkathon!

I would like to thank everyone for coming out
today to the Copprome Walkathon. I can't
thank everyone enough! We had over 700 people
attend!

With the combined funds of SHH, CCC, and William and Mary team, at the event we raised at least $150,000!! This is amazing, all the hard work everyone has put in is remarkable! This money will be used to pay off land debts and begin self-sustainable programs at the Copprome orphanage.

Today I saw groups of people coming together for a great cause, to help save orphans. When you are performing a good and just cause help seems to come out of the woodwork and I saw that today.

I thank everyone soo much for donating, walking
and supporting the cause!

"Orphans walk miles a day to search the trash
dumps for leftover food, and rotten cabbage, to
eat and give to their younger siblings, today we
are walking in this walkathon so they dont have
to!" ~strider

~Strider

Mom's Dinners in Sierra Leone

When I was growing up in Sierra Leone, Sunday dinners were special. My mom would spend hours making delicious food for dinner and the mouth-watering aroma would fill the house.

In between games, my siblings and I would anxiously check the kitchen to see if dinner was ready. When dinner was done, my mom filled several baskets of food for various families in the neighborhood.

Of course, we wanted to eat first and then deliver the baskets. But my mom would gently insist that we first deliver the food and when we got back, we could all sit down and eat dinner. She pointed out that if we waited to deliver the food after we had dinner, the food we delivered would be cold.

In a simple way, she taught us that giving is not just for when it’s convenient.

Bracelet From a Child

I was waiting at the doctor’s office with my infant son. A little girl came up several times to talk to me. I looked down and saw that the girl had three bright and shiny bracelets on her. I said, ‘Oh, what lovely bracelets.’ The girl grinned from ear to ear and said they were a birthday present from her mother. She then took one of them off and handed it to me. At first I thought, “Oh, I can’t accept this from such a little girl.” But what would I be saying to the little girl if I refused her generosity? So I took the bracelet, thanking the little girl profusely. The child skipped off, obviously thrilled that her gift had been received with such pleasure. For weeks afterward, I always made sure I had the bracelet on as I left the house, to remind me of the little girl’s ... Read Full Story >>

Thank you for your kindness!

For the past 5 days, I was down with viral flu and I wasn't really feeling well. My father lost his job, I've had trouble in my work and a lot more trouble I can only imagine.I can't help but cry. What keeps my sanity for these agonizing days? You guys in here - people I really don't know personally but by your never ending stories of kindness. I know at one point I'll be able to stand up and gain whatever helplessness I am feeling in my heart now.

I really just want to thank you for letting me feel your kindness here in my heart.

Children of The Lab

I work in a medical building right next door to a lab whose primary mission is to draw blood from all ages of patients.

Our walls are really thin and I can hear babies and young children crying, wailing the most desperate, betrayed kind of wail.  It really gets to me. 

So I went to The Dollar Tree store & bought cuddly, soft Teddy Bears in different colors.  When I hear the lab office door open, I walk out and hand the teddy bear to the traumatized baby or child and tell them, "We are so PROUD of you!  What a brave boy/girl you are!" 

Some kids, believe it or not, don't trust another human being coming out of an office so don't want the bear.  Some hug it right away.  Most stop crying...I'm not sure who appreciates it more - the child or the parent!

The gift that continues to give

I have always believed that people come into your life for a reason. With this in mind I met a man at work who had a drug problem. I knew because I used to.

Over the next 2 years we became closer and had long talks about his addiction. I knew I was supposed to help him, but I didn't know how. I had talked him into rehab and even took him to the center but every time he got out he would relapse. I thought long and hard until "IT" came to me.

I had to give more of myself, go on a leap of faith. I convinced him to try rehab one more time and when he got out I moved him into to my apartment, against the advice of those around me. Getting him out of his  earlier environment was the key. He never relapsed again. We just celebrated his 2 year clean date in January, after 23 years of abuse. He is still my roommate and has since helped me more than any friend I have ever had.   

For the Children

My daughter was admitted into the hospital ward for testing.  During her stay, I noticed the very old VCR, movies, broken books, and old game systems with poor controllers. What really broke my heart was when they wheeled the VCR into my daughter's room and some of the videos were missing out of the cases.  The little boy who made friends with my daughter was upset because his favorite movie was missing. The Nurse went to find out if the movies were misplaced.  When she returned, she said the movies were missing. Missing I asked? "Oh yeah," she said "things go missing here all the time.  We just got a couple of new movies and they disappeared with in a couple of days." This made me very sad,  I knew it wasn't children sneaking out VCR tapes.  Parents  and vistors had to be behind it.  The few things they had to entertain the children were given by ... Read Full Story >>

Tedi the Love Clown

I go to the Hospital every Saturday, in my bright costume, and long eyelashes,and an august clown face.  I hand the patient a 4" Love Pillow.. hand made by myself, and a couple of friends.

I say, "This is a Love Pillow, It is to remind you that you have a Heavely Comforter,

God is still in charge, you know,

And He loves you so much,

He knows what your needs are even before you ask.

He will never leave you, He loves you with an Unending Love,  And I love you too !!!"

--Tedi the Love Clown

I have been clowning for 24 years now, and this has been my most important experience.  I see between 80 and 120 patients each week and wouldn't miss it for the life in me.

Three Strings of Itzhak Perlman

Perlman, the violinist, came on stage to give a concert at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center in New York City. If you have ever been to a Perlman concert, you know that getting on stage is no small achievement for him. He was stricken with polio as a child, and so he has braces on both legs and walks with the aid of two crutches. To see him walk across the stage one step at a time, painfully and slowly, is an awesome sight. He walks painfully, yet majestically, until he reaches his chair. Then he sits down, slowly, puts his crutches on the floor, undoes the clasps on his legs, tucks one foot back and extends the other foot forward. Then he bends down and picks up the violin, puts it under his chin, nods to the conductor and proceeds to play. By now, the audience is used to this ... Read Full Story >>

Helping Sally Swim

Each year I volunteer at a camp for children with asthma. Having the condition myself, I went there myself as a camper, then became a counselor when I was of age.  This camp is an wonderful place that I could spend days talking about - it does amazing things to the kids who go through the program. I've met a multitude of unforgettable individuals there, but one child definitely stands out. One year, as a Senior Counselor, I was in charge of one Teams for games and activities. On the first day, the camp director came to talk to me, leading a small girl. For the purposes of this story, I will call her Sally. She was adorable, vivacious, smart, funny, and about 9 years old. And, in additon to asthma, she had sickle cell disease. This meant I had ... Read Full Story >>

A Car Ride To Remember

A man named Paul received an automobile from his brother as a Christmas present. On Christmas Eve when Paul came out of his office, a street urchin was walking around the shining new car admiring it. "Is this your car, Mister?" he asked. Paul nodded. "My brother gave it to me for Christmas." The boy was astounded. "You mean your brother gave it to you and it didn't cost you nothing? Boy, I wish..." He hesitated. Of course Paul knew what he was going to wish for. He was going to wish he had a brother like that. But what this lad said jarred Paul all the way down to his heels. "I wish," the boy went on, "that I could be a brother like that." Paul looked at the boy in astonishment, then impulsively he added, "Would you like to take a ride in my automobile?" "Oh yes, I'd love that." After a ... Read Full Story >>

Kindness In Grief

A long time ago, I was a waitress in a pancake house that stayed open til midnight. One evening around 11:30, a couple came in. There was no one else in the restaurant, so I started chatting as I poured the coffee. It turns out that the womans mother was in the hospital and it was only a matter of time before she passed. We talked how hard it was to watch a parent die and how we both hoped that she wouldn't be in pain for too much longer. She asked if the restaurant would be open the following evening and I assured her that it would and I would be waiting for them with a hot pot of coffee. For 5 more evenings, they retured. I wouldn't let the cook turn off the grill until they showed up. He wasn't happy about it, but after I told him the ... Read Full Story >>

My Second Chance To Be a Parent

On April 28 2001, my youngest sister was killed in a random drive by shooting.  Her 3 youngest sons went to live with my surviving sister but were never happy there; I wanted to gain the gaurdianship options from my sister but didn't want to risk fracturing our family even more. A couple of weekends ago, though, my sister called and said the boys (17 yrs & 15 yrs) could no longer live with her and that their only options was either foster care or living with me.  There is no way I was going to miss this chance.  Still, my nephews were accustomed to living in the big city and I live in a suburb, 45 minutes from the city and I knew that convincing them was going to take some negotiating.  But I did it. Today, they have been with me going on two weeks and they are more relaxed.  ... Read Full Story >>

He Played His Best

This is the story of Robby. He was a young boy who lived with his elderly mother. His mother wanted him to learn how to play the piano because she longed to hear her son play for her. She sent her son to a piano teacher who took Robby in under her guidance. However, there was one small problem because Robby was not musically inclined and therefore was very slow in learning. The teacher did not have much faith in the boy because of his weakness. The mother was very enthusiastic and every week she would send Robby to the teacher. One day Robby stopped attending the piano lessons. The teacher thought that he had given up and in fact she was quite pleased since she did not give much hope to Robby. Not long after, the piano teacher was given the task to organize a piano concert in town. ... Read Full Story >>

Paid In Full With One Glass of Milk

"One day, a poor boy who was selling goods from door to door to pay his way through school, found he had only one thin dime left, and he was hungry. He decided he would ask for a meal at the next house. However, he lost his nerve when a lovely young woman opened the door. Instead of a meal, he asked for a drink of water. She thought he looked hungry and so she brought him a large glass of milk. He drank it slowly, and then asked, "How much do I owe you?" "You don't owe me anything," she replied. "Mother has taught us never to accept pay for a kindness." He said, "Then I thank you from my heart." As Howard Kelly left that house, he not only felt stronger physically, but his faith in God and man was strengthened also. He had been ready to give up and ... Read Full Story >>

My Nurse's Special Birthday Gift

Last month it was my nurse's birthday. She has been caring for me since August 2006. Through the months, we have built an amazing bond. She has been there for me, and has helped me over so many hurdles its unbelievable. She's my rock in every way. I wanted to do something special for her birthday, to show her how much she means to me. Being confined to my bed, I can't go out shopping for a gift. So I was left to use my imagination and the materials in my room. But I was determined to make an unforgettable gift. I found an old shoe box, and got a bunch of my old girlie magazines, and spent 4 days cutting and pasting carefully selected items onto the box, creating an intricate collage. Each piece reflected in some way or another, our friendship. To finish it off, I put a photo of us ... Read Full Story >>