Kind sanitation workers surprised a 3-year-old girl who had befriended them by bringing seven of her beloved garbage trucks to her birthday party.
Little Lena Riley loves garbage trucks. Each week, she runs to her window and watches the garbage truck come to her house, and before long, her and her mother were greeting the Republic waste & recycling workers of Henderson, Nevada, with yummy treats and baked goods.
“If she hears the truck outside and we don’t have something to feed them with, she’ll start to cry and say, ‘We have to feed the blue trucks!'” Lena’s mother, Leslie, shared. “We’ve gotten to know them very well.”
On Lena’s 3rd birthday, her beloved sanitation workers brought seven garbage trucks by her house and they all honked their horns as they passed by to wish her a happy birthday. She was overjoyed.
Photo credit: Leslie Riley
The trucks arrived in a line, with the lead truck decorated in flowers, balloons and a large sign which read, “HAPPY BIRTHDAY LENA”. They also gave presents to Lena; coloring books, cups and a hat.
When a kind young man learned that his elderly former substitute teacher was living out of his car, he fundraised enough to give him a $27,000 check on his 77th birthday.
After Steven Nava graduated from high school, he began to notice one of his former substitute teachers in different areas around his neighborhood. Steven had really appreciated this one particular teacher, Jose Villarruel, as he was passionate about the subjects he taught, and he really made sure that everyone in the class received something of value during his lectures.
“He was a pretty cool teacher and like, you know, he wasn’t like those sorts of substitute teachers that would just take attendance and then, you know, just sit and have the whole class go crazy,” Steven said. “He was really passionate about making sure everybody is actually getting something out of the whole lecture.”
Steven remembered how much Mr. V cared about each individual student, including him.
“He really stuck to me just because of the way he was so nice around his students. He’d ask how your day would go, did you eat, just small little details like that. He’d be really, really funny when he took attendance.”
Photo credit: Steven Nava
Steven would often see “Mr. V” at a fast food restaurant in the community, and later, as Steven would head to his job in the mornings, he would often notice Mr. V sitting in his parked car in the neighborhood. He did not know it at the time, but Mr. V had been homeless and living out of his car.
Photo credit: Steven Nava
Steven came and talked to Jose one morning by his car and learned a bit more about his situation. After hearing that Mr. V had been homeless and living out of his car, Steven took the $300 he had out of his wallet and gave it to Mr. V.
“He gave me this big old smile and said, ‘Thank you so much,’” Steven recalled. “He came over to give me a hug, and as he was hugging me, I saw a little tear run down his face.”
Photo credit: Steven Nava
Steven made his beloved 76-year-old teacher a promise; that he would help him get through this situation. Later that day, Steven created a GoFundMe for Mr. V and asked his friends and family to help donate.
“I found out that his birthday was that upcoming Thursday, two days after my birthday, and so when I found that out, I’m like, that leaves me enough time to raise a good amount of money,” Steven said.
Steven posted a picture of him with Mr. V and the following message:
“FRIENDS PLEASE HELP! every morning/ night I’ve always noticed this older man that would stay out in his car constantly at this parking lot near my house even when the weather was bad. He looked familiar and I’m sure a lot of y’all have had him as a substitute in Fontana…”
Photo credit: Steven Nava
Within 24 hours, Steven and his kind community raised more than $4,000 to help Mr. V. By Thursday, Mr. V’s 77th birthday, he had raised a heartwarming $27,000. Various members of the community, and even the mayor of Fontana, planned to meet on Mr. V’s birthday and present him with the $27,000 check.
“The few days before, he kept on saying that he would like me to be at the senior center parking lot in Fontana at a particular time,” Jose “Mr. V” Villarruel later said.
Mr. V was deeply moved and amazed at seeing his smiling community waiting for him when he met with Steven on his birthday.
“I finally kind of understood in a matter of a few seconds, why Steven said it is a surprise for you. It was something extraordinary at that particular occasion, and I felt great,” Mr. V said. “It was extremely exciting… totally unexpected and great.”
Photo credit: Steven Nava
“Mr. V is a prime example of the definition, never give up. He’s lived in his car… He kept going. He never gave up,” Steven shared.
Jose plans to use the funds to find a better living arrangement and to pay off some debt.
“It’s a great feeling to have this change and I still have to adapt to it so I can make the best of it,” he said. “It was unexpected but I accept it with an open heart and I’m ready for whatever comes next. I know good things will come. I’m not lucky, I’m blessed. It’s a different word altogether. I’m not lucky. I’m blessed. I’ve been blessed.”
Kind neighbors came together and bought a new car for a man who had delivered them pizza for more than 30 years, always with a smile.
28-year-old Tanner Langley has seen the same pizza delivery man in Tipton, Indiana, since he was a child. The delivery man, Robert Peters, is known for always having a positive attitude and a smile on his face.
“The town of Tipton calls him Mr. Smiley,” Tanner said. “He makes that impact on everybody and he’s a very kindhearted individual.”
Robert has worked for Pizza Hut for 31 years, but recently had a bit of trouble with his 28-year-old Oldsmobile. After some of his regulars learned about “Mr. Smiley’s” situation, they wanted to help. Tanner let his neighbors know that the smiling man who always delivered them pizza needed a new car, and he setup a GoFundMe with the hopes of raising enough to help Robert.
Within just one week, word spread in the community and kind hearts donated and raised more than $18,000 for their beloved delivery driver. They then purchased Robert a Chevy Malibu, and were able to cover registration, insurance, taxes and had enough left over to give it to Robert as a thank you gift for his many years of serving them with a smile.
“Today, Robert received his new vehicle!” Tanner shared in a post online. “You will be happy to know that he was all smiles when he received his new car, but that is no surprise to any of you since he is always smiling!”
Photo credit: Tanner Langley
“Personally, I would like to thank every single one of you for your contributions, your willingness to spread the word of this fundraiser, and for your incredibly kind hearts. This was all made possible by the amazing people of our community, and I cannot thank you all enough for your participation. After only one week, this community raised over $18,000!”
“Between cash donations and funds donated to the GoFundMe account, we were able to get Robert an awesome car and cover all the fees, taxes, and insurance, while also leaving plenty of money left for his own personal benefit!”
Photo credit: Tanner Langley
“I would like to thank Dan Young in Tipton for working with me to get a great price on a vehicle. They made the transaction extremely easy and affordable! Robert is more than deserving of this car, and I hope that this community continues to “pay it forward” to him every time he comes to your door. Thank you again, everyone.”
Robert was deeply touched and grateful for the new car from his community.
“I just hope that all those who made this happen will be blessed as much as they have blessed me,” Robert said. “This has really been an awesome experience that I’ll remember for the rest of my life.”
A kind woman is making Halloween a little healthier by giving inspiring books to children along with their candy.
Each year on Halloween, Rachel Murphy sets out a table filled with books for children and teenagers. Each trick-or-treater in her neighborhood in Glendora, New Jersey, is able to come by and pick up any book they like.
“Every Halloween I give out books for the neighborhood along with the candy and other goodies, and the teenagers are usually the ones who love it the most,” Rachel shared in a post online.
Rachel didn’t get as many trick-or-treaters as she did the previous year, so she was feeling a little discouraged, as she wanted to give out more books. But she later learned that several teenagers had been sharing how much they loved seeing what books she had to offer each year.
“Two nights ago when packing up feeling a little discouraged as I didn’t get as many kids as I did last year, a family comes up to me and says, “We just got done talking to a pair of teenagers who were so excited about the books they got from you! They said it helped make their Halloween!”‘
Photo credit: Rachel Murphy
Hearing that her books were still inspiring young hearts, Rachel was deeply grateful.
“It made all the work worth it! I plan to continue with this tradition as long as I can!” she shared.
Thousands of gentle hearts online have loved Rachel’s idea of giving out free books as well as candy during Halloween.
“This is amazing! You would’ve been my fav house as a kid too! I’m going to have to [use] this idea once we’re moved and settled for next Halloween! Thank you for keeping kids reading!” commented Melissa O.
“I Love ❤️ this idea better than handing out candy! Keep up this good work ❤️?” wrote Dawn C.
“We raised our daughters around books. Both doctors, I firmly believe that early readers get a jump start on education. One is a vet, one has her PhD. I think they did well because they read well. Thank you,” shared Sarah C.
When a kind bus driver saw a child pushing his bike on the sidewalk while crying, he pulled his bus over, went outside and fixed the child’s bike.
A reddit user was riding on the route 18 OCtranspo bus to St Laurent in Ottawa, Canada, when he noticed a young child crying while pushing his bike across the crosswalk.
“The bus was about to make a right turn when the kid was crossing the street on his bike slowly, visibly crying with no parents nearby,” reddit user riot284 shared in a post online.
As he was turning the bus, the driver opened his window and asked the child if he was okay. He pulled over and stepped outside to make sure the young boy wasn’t hurt, and found that the reason he was upset was that the chain had fallen off of his bicycle. The kind driver then took a moment and fixed the chain on the boy’s bike, and then hopped back on the bus.
“As the driver was turning he asked out the window if he was okay, so he got out of the bus to make sure he wasn’t hurt. All it turned out to be was the chain on the bike appeared to had fallen off, so he hooked it back on for him and got back on the bus.”
Moved by the bus driver’s kindness, the rider took a quick photo and later shared it online.
Photo credit: riot284/reddit
“Gold star to the OCtranspo driver on route 18 to St. Laurent, stopped the bus to run across the street and help a little kid with his bike,” his post read.
“There are still people doing random acts of kindness.”
Thousands of hearts online appreciated the bus driver’s kindness for the young crying child, and the transit company he works for compiled an email consisting of many of the warmhearted comments people left for him from around the world. His wife also later shared that she was very proud of him.
“This makes me happy,” shared one grateful heart.
“Aww I love this ❤️” wrote another.
“I had a private snow plow operator motion to me to move out of the way when I was shoveling the driveway as a kid, then he did it all for me in a couple minutes. Saved me 30 minutes. I’ll never forget that guy,” commented another.
