Every now and then people get together to do something nice for strangers and that is a great little departure from the usual doom and gloom stories that dominate the news and everyone constantly talking about Covid.
It happened in a city called Greensboro, which is a medium-sized place that I have been to on a number of occasions due to the fact that one of my college roommates calls this place home now.
A accidental house fire that took place in late December quickly got out of control and the family of 5 lost everything including their dog, in the fire. I'm a little upset about the dog because it seems a little irresponsible that they wouldn't be able to get that thing out in time but I don't know the circumstances so I'll just assume it was really bad luck.
The family was obviously devastated, because Christmas is supposed to be a nice time of year and at especially for children, it is a truly magical time of year filled with gifts. The kids were 3,4, and 12 years old so all of these ages are prime years for Christmas excitement.
src
All of the gifts, as well as nearly everything else in the home, was destroyed in the fire and the firefighters or Greensboro took it upon themselves to do something about it. Through a self-managed fundraiser and through digging through their own pockets for a donation, the firefighters were able to raise $2500 for gift cards and other Christmas goodies, to try to ease the pain for that family from their great loss.
Crystal Givens received the surprise gifts a few days ago and it was a pretty heartwarming moment for anyone that saw the story.
src
So maybe we can all take this story to heart and maybe "pay it forward" a little to those who are less fortunate than ourselves, not just on Christmas but maybe all of the time. I think the world could be a much better place if we were all just a little bit nicer to each other and this example of people being kind, even when they do not know one another, should be a bit of a benchmark for the rest of us.
Being kind is free after all!