For the Vikings, reputation was the most important thing in life. In their eyes, a person’s deeds were the only thing that survived them long after they were gone, so they loved to celebrate the actions of their ancestors and friends while trying to make a name for themselves personally, whether that be by exploring, conquering, raiding, or patronizing the people who wrote the songs: the skalds.

As such, we thought that a list retelling the grandest deeds of the Viking kings would be a great way to celebrate them (and to bring some entertainment value). After all, it’s what they would have wanted. Here, we learn about ten Viking kings and their epic deeds.

10 Harald Fairhair, The First King Of Norway

Any list covering the greatest achievements of the Viking kings wouldn’t be complete without mentioning Harald Fairhair.^[1] Despite his pseudo-mythical status, most historians now believe that Fairhair did exist but that his exploits were probably not as dramatic as the sagas make them out to be. He was likely a petty king in Southwest Norway who was able to subjugate his neighbors and rule over a large portion of what is now modern Norway.

According to the sagas, the Battle of Hafrsfjord was a crucial moment for Harald’s young kingdom. Dated to sometime between 870 and 900, it was a large battle by contemporary standards and involved many of the petty kings of Norway. The only king mentioned in a source from the time of the battle was Kjovte the Rich, who supposedly fled after Harald’s victory, leaving many of his men to die. The place believed to be the site of the battle is now marked by the Swords in Rock, three 10-meter-tall (33 ft) monuments which represent Harald and the kings he defeated.

Following Hafrsfjord, Harald established the most influential power bloc in Norway, from which he and his successors were able to exert pressure on their neighbors and ultimately form the Kingdom of Norway, which exists to this day.

9 Rurik, The Founder Of Russia

The Rurikid dynasty was one of the longest-reigning lineages in human history: They were kings in Russia from the depths of the Viking age to the reign of Ivan the Terrible centuries later. And it was founded by a Viking.^[2]

The Primary Chronicle of Russia, which was assembled in 1113 from a collection of earlier pieces, tells us the story of Russia’s beginnings. According to the Chronicle, the Slavic people who lived in modern-day Ukraine and Russia invited Rurik and his two brothers to rule over them, thinking they would bring law and order to the tribes. They clearly accepted, but Rurik’s brothers died shortly after, leaving him to rule alone.

In the past, some historians questioned the authenticity of the story told in the Chronicle, but most now accept it as fact. Rurik was a Varangian, warriors who served the Byzantine emperor as their personal bodyguard (and who were nearly all Norse), so he would have been well-respected. There is also evidence of significant Viking influence in the area of modern-day Russia and Ukraine: When Harald Hardrada lost the Battle of Stiklestad in 1030, he fled to stay with family in Kiev. The Vikings also had trade routes across Europe, from Baghdad and beyond to the coast of Spain, so it’s not unreasonable to expect the warriors and traders who crossed from Scandinavia to Greece and the Middle East to settle down along the way. Odinist symbols and Scandinavian blacksmithing tools dating back to the Viking age, among other items, have been found in Lagoda and Novgorod, which suggests there was at least some Norse influence in the region, and the Arab traveler Ahmad ibn Fadlan encountered Viking tribes while journeying through the lands of the Rus.

Either way, Rurik was a member of the Norse Varangian Guard who established a small kingdom in modern-day Russia, and his descendants (who were raised as Slavs) continued his legacy, remaining kings and princes in the area until 1612, which is no mean feat.

8 Eric Bloodaxe, The Last King Of Northumbria

Most of us have heard of Eric Bloodaxe, the last Viking king of Northumbria. Beyond his name, however, most of us know little about him, but we assume he must’ve been a great Viking to have earned the nickname “Bloodaxe.”

In fact, the name more likely comes from the connotation of “blood” meaning “family” or “brotherhood,” so an equally accurate translation could be “brotheraxe” or “familyaxe.” This nickname makes sense when we learn that he killed five of his brothers in order to win the throne of Norway!^[3]

He only ruled in Scandinavia for a short time before he was deposed by his last remaining brother, fleeing to Britain without a fight. Why he gave up his kingdom so easily we’ll probably never know, but it might have been because he saw a brighter future for himself in the British Isles. If he did, he wasn’t wrong, because he was easily able to assert control over the kingdom of Northumbria and rule it undisputed until his death in 954.

7 Sictric Caech And The Battle Of Islandbridge

The Vikings have a long history in Ireland—the city of Dublin was actually founded by Vikings to serve as a commercial center for their slave trade. Their actual influence in Inner Ireland ebbed and flowed over the years, and in 902, they were forced out of Dublin by a united army of several Irish kings. Sictric Caech was one of these Vikings.

At first, he went on to rule a small kingdom in the Danelaw, but the Anglo-Saxons had conquered most of the Danelaw by 918 and driven most of the Vikings out of England. Following this, Sictric returned to Ireland, this time at the head of an army. They won some early battles with the Irish kings and staked out a small claim for themselves, but the war was far from conclusive.

Things came to a head at the Battle of Islandbridge in 919.^[4] The Irish king Niall Glundub led a coalition of Northern Irish kings to drive the Vikings back out. Sictric and his army met them on the way. The battle was a crushing victory for Sictric, with five Irish kings and the High King of Ireland himself meeting their ends in the bloodbath. Sictric reigned as the undisputed king of Dublin for another three years, after which he seems to have returned to England by his own choice.

6 Sweyn Forkbeard And The Conquest Of England

Sweyn Forkbeard became the first Viking king of all England in 1013, though he only reigned for five weeks before his death—not long enough to even be officially crowned.^[5]

But it is the reasoning behind his invasion that makes him a truly respectable Viking king.

By Sweyn’s time, the Vikings had lived in England for nearly 200 years but had never managed to conquer the entire kingdom. They ruled the northeastern half of England as the Danelaw until the end of Eric Bloodaxe’s reign in 954, when they were driven out. People of Viking descent continued to live in England, however, and the Viking kings across the sea continued to have an interest in their people.

So when the English king ordered the mass slaughter of Vikings living in England in 1002, Sweyn planned his revenge. While he’d been raiding the English coast on and off for a decade or so, now he mustered an invasion force. They landed in 1003, causing widespread destruction and pillaging much of the country in revenge. Ethelred the Unready was forced to pay Sweyn a ludicrous amount of silver to stop the latter from burning his kingdom.

But ten years later, Sweyn was back, this time with an army big enough to seize England. They landed in Kent and rampaged through the countryside, soon reaching London. The English earls, fearing another drawn-out war and already skeptical of their own king, drove Ethelred into exile and declared Sweyn king of England.

While Sweyn’s reign didn’t last long, it did pave the way for another Viking invasion, this one much more permanent.

5 King Cnut And The North Sea Empire

With Sweyn’s death, his son Cnut was left in charge of his father’s army in England. The English lords, however, chose to bring Ethelred back, and Cnut fled to Denmark.

He immediately set about raising a larger army and even asked his brother (and rival), the king of Denmark, for warriors to help him. Poles, Swedes, and Norwegians flocked to his banner, drawn by the promise of loot. Cnut landed in Wessex in 1015 at the head of 10,000 men and laid waste to the country, conquering from Cornwall to Northumbria.^[6]

But London remained defiant under the leadership of the newly chosen English king, Edmund Ironside. The armies of the two kings met at the Battle of Assandun (usually accepted to be modern-day Ashington), where Cnut won a close-fought engagement. English resistance crumbled.

By 1018, Cnut was also king of Denmark following the death of his brother, and he finally conquered Norway in 1028, after years of conflict with various Scandinavian lords. Though they’d originally fought against him, the English were remarkably loyal to Cnut during his reign; he spent much of his 20-year tenure putting down rebellions or fighting enemies in his homeland, leaving England to be governed by his allies, and by his death, nearly all the men on his council were English.

Cnut became one of the most powerful kings in Europe, meeting with the pope and the emperor of Germany on several occasions and fostering economic links between his three kingdoms. While his empire broke apart on his death, he seems to have made little effort in his life to see it continue, abandoning Norway to rebels in the final years of his reign and leaving Denmark to his son Harthacnut and England to his other son, Harold Harefoot. The union of the three kingdoms made Cnut the most powerful king in Europe at the time, however, and his descendants would repeatedly try (and fail) to recreate his successes.

4 Harald Bluetooth’s Ring Fortresses

Before Cnut and Sweyn, however, someone had to turn Denmark into the strong, centralized state that it had to be to go toe-to-toe with England. This king was Harald Bluetooth, Sweyn’s father and long-reigning king of Denmark.

Not all Viking strength came from conquest. Over the course of his 30-year reign, Harald transformed Denmark from a political backwater into a strong medieval state. Harald’s plans for creating a centralized government are best summed up by his Trelleborg ring forts: fortresses built across Danish territory, centered at the fort at Aarhus, in the geographical center of the region. Each one was built to exact standards, with four gates (each facing one of the compass points), a tall wall and ditch around the outside, and an open courtyard with administrative buildings in the middle.^[7] These would have served as both tax collection points and places for Danish kings to muster their armies, laying the groundwork for the conquests of his son and grandson.

The fortresses were all built in locations that were close to the sea, but far enough from it to be safe from sea raids, and alongside Viking land routes, where they would have been both well-connected and highly visible, a powerful symbol of the king’s authority. Their sites seem to have been meticulously chosen to efficiently defend and control the people of Denmark, which was no doubt at the forefront of Bluetooth’s mind after the history of wars in Norway and his father’s difficult reign.

Unfortunately for him, the ultimate threat came from within, when his son Sweyn forcibly deposed him.

3 Harald Hardrada And The Destruction Of Heidaby

Harald Hardrada (Hard-Ruler) is famous in history for being one of the last Viking kings and for unsuccessfully trying to seize the throne of England by force—losing the crucial Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066 to Harold Godwinson, which paved the way for William the Conqueror’s ultimate victory.^[8]

This battle, however, came at the end of a long and distinguished Viking career which had taken Harald all around the known world, from Norway to Sicily and Palestine, over the course of 30 years. Perhaps his greatest (or worst) feat was the destruction of Heidaby. Heidaby was a Norse town at the base of Jutland with trade connections across the northern world: It rose to prominence in the late 700s and became the most important town in the Western Viking world.

Harald, who was king of Norway at the time, was trying to subdue Denmark and add it to his realm, and he sought to weaken Denmark by raiding its coast. His campaign took him to Heidaby, which refused to willingly submit to him. In response, he drove burning ships into the harbor, setting it alight. The flames spread rapidly across the whole town. Snorri Sturlason writes that Harald’s men sang: “All Heidaby is burned down! Strangers will ask where stood the town. In our wild humor up it blazed, and Svein looks round him all amazed,” (albeit in Old Norse, of course).

The town of Heidaby never recovered and fell from importance. It was finally brought to an end by a Slavic raid in 1066, which wiped it off the map for good.

2 Sweyn II Of Denmark And The Last Viking Invasion Of England

The death of Harald Hardrada at the Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066 is usually considered the end of the Viking age, and many people call Hardrada the last Viking king. The truth is hardly ever that simple, however.

Following William’s conquest of England, the Godwin family were deposed but not defeated. They continued to harass the new kingdom from the sea, and in 1069, Sweyn II of Denmark decided to back one of the Anglo-Saxon pretenders.^[9] Why he did so is not 100-percent clear, but it may have been related to his lifelong rivalry with Hardrada. After all, Hardrada had died trying to seize England, so what better way to one-up your rival once and for all than to succeed where he failed?

Sweyn was successful, too, seizing a good portion of Northern England and holding it from William, but in true Viking fashion, he was ready to seize the advantage and turned on his Anglo-Saxon ally when William offered to pay him a large sum of money to go back to Denmark; without Sweyn’s support, the rebellion crumbled, and England remained Norman. The Vikings were never able to conquer England again.

1 Olaf III, The Last Viking King

This brings us to our last epic Viking king, and the man who some consider the real last Viking king, Olaf III—who was known as Olaf the Peaceful. While not as warlike or bloodthirsty as the other Viking leaders on this list, Olaf was a great politician who effectively created the modern state of Norway.^[10]

Olaf may have been swayed by his involvement in his father Harald’s invasion of England in 1066. While he was not present at the battle where his father died—he remained with the ships—he was a great proponent of peace during his reign, and Norway didn’t go to war for a quarter of a century, putting him at stark contrast with his father, who was always either adventuring or trying to expand his domains.

Olaf deliberately transformed Norway into a more “normal” continental European country: he drew the Norwegian church into line with the pope’s teachings and reorganized the dioceses of Norway, and it’s also believed he was the first Viking king who learned to read. He built a European-style court around himself, introducing medieval aristocratic culture to Norway. During his reign, urban growth flourished, and the town of Bergen was founded, which went on to become the capital of medieval Norway. Many Norwegian laws were officially put down in writing for the first time in Olaf’s reign.

Some people go beyond the call of duty to make the world a better place. These generous spirits make incredible sacrifices to help others, thinking nothing of their own interests. From unpaid volunteers to everyday heroes, many within our local communities play a silent, yet indispensable, role in keeping the cogs of society turning. These unsung heroes serve meals in soup kitchens, raise money for charitable causes, and offer support to schools and hospitals.

The 24-hour news cycle has a tendency to focus on dramatic, headline-grabbing stories. Oftentimes, this means a lot of Good Samaritans do not get the recognition they deserve. So, with that in mind, let’s focus on a few heartwarming acts that will restore your faith in humanity.

10 Heartwarming Stories Of Last Wishes Being Fulfilled

10 The 70-Year-Old Who Sailed the Ocean

On February 6, Frank Rothwell completed a staggering 3,000-mile voyage across the Atlantic Ocean. The 70-year-old grandfather organized the journey to raise money for Alzheimer’s Research UK, after his brother-in-law was diagnosed with the condition. His JustGiving page attracted considerable attention, raking in an impressive $1.5 million. Frank faced a number of ordeals aboard his small vessel, the aptly-named Never Too Old. He was forced to contend with choppy waters, a broken oar, and hours of isolation. Making matters worse, he also received news that his brother-in-law, Roger, had passed away.

Against all odds, Frank pressed forward and made it to the finish line. “Having received hundreds of messages from people who, like me, have witnessed the heartbreak of dementia, I am proud to have raised such an incredible amount in honor of Roger, and everyone else who has experienced the devastation it causes.”

Frank started the row – known as the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge – back in December last year. The annual event kicks off in the Canary Islands and ends in Antigua and Barbuda, with participants battling 20-foot waves, sleep deprivation, and salt sores. Rothwell took 56 days to complete the challenge, meaning he is now the oldest person to make the crossing completely unassisted. “You’re never too old,” Frank reminded his loyal supporters.

9 Giving Kids a Place to Sleep

Eight years ago, an Idaho man started looking at ways to help his community over the festive season. While hosting a Church event, Luke Mickelson discovered that one underprivileged family couldn’t even afford to buy beds for their children. The father of three decided to get members of his local youth group engaged in the local community by building the bed as a team. Using his daughter’s bunk bed as a template, Luke set to work. He then started making a second bed out of the leftover wood, recruiting his wife and children to help with the build.

The family made their first delivery over the Christmas holidays – a decision that would change their lives forever. The Mickelsons gave the bed to a single mother who was struggling to put food on the table. The woman had only just found a place to live following a period of homelessness, and her six-year-old daughter had never slept in a real bed before. “She showed us her room where we put the bed and there was nothing more in it except for a few beat-up toys and clothes piled in a corner where she slept,” Luke explained. “I was shocked. She was so happy and excited and couldn’t quit hugging it.”

Since that day, Luke has made it his life’s mission to give every child a place to sleep at night. In 2012, he launched a bed-making charity from his own garage. His non-profit, Sleep in Heavenly Peace, has gone from strength to strength, with over 130 trained chapters dotted across the globe. Luke’s organization has now delivered 60,000 beds worldwide, helping those affected by poverty, domestic violence, and natural disasters.

The 43-year-old has sacrificed much in the pursuit of his ideals. He has since quit his job as an executive at a local water treatment facility, taking a massive pay cut to focus on his charity work. Although Luke’s salary has been slashed in half, he says he couldn’t be happier. His mantra is simple: “No kid is going to sleep on the floor in my town.”

8 The Rescue Dog Who Paid it Forward

A rescue dog recently saved her owner, Brian Myers, after he experienced a medical emergency at his home in New Jersey. The 59-year-old collapsed in the corner of his room after suffering a stroke. His loyal companion, a German shepherd named Sadie, sprung into action. “She came to my side and she lied down next to me, licking my face to keep me alert,” Brian said. He then held onto Sadie’s collar as she pulled him towards the telephone. “I don’t know how she knew to do it.”

Sadie’s intervention gave her owner the opportunity to call 911. Emergency medical assistance quickly arrived on scene and took Brian to the hospital. He is now recuperating at home, with Sadie by his side, following a stint at the Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation.

Brian found Sadie at the Ramapo-Bergen Animal Refuge in Oakland. Although the 6-year-old pup was initially anxious around the company of men, she soon grew fond of Brian’s cheerful nature. Now that Brian is on disability, one of his main priorities is looking after Sadie. But help was at hand. After learning of the Jersey man’s plight, the rescue shelter is now seeking donations to cover the cost of Sadie’s veterinary bills.

7 The Boy Who Saved his Family from Poisoning

Just before midnight on February 4, Michael Martinez heard a loud beeping noise coming from downstairs. The 7-year-old knew he had to alert his parents to the commotion. Martinez, who has limited mobility owing to his cerebral palsy, was forced to slowly slide along the floor to his parents’ bedroom. After getting over the rude awakening, his mother and father went to check out the noise. The couple initially assumed it was just a smoke detector that needed replacement batteries. They were stunned when it turned out to be a carbon monoxide detector.

The family quickly opened all of the windows and rushed outside. At the time of the alarm, six other people were sound asleep in the house: Michael’s parents, aunt, and three cousins. Without his timely intervention, it is possible the entire family would have died in their sleep.

Carbon monoxide is formed by the incomplete combustion of certain fuels, including oil, gas, and coal. It can result from faulty household appliances (cookers, boilers, etc.), poorly ventilated households, or blocked chimneys. In this instance, investigators believe the leak originated from the family’s stove. Carbon monoxide binds to the oxygen-carrying pigment of red blood cells, thereby reducing the bloodstream’s ability to transport oxygen around the body. Exposure to the odorless gas can kill within mere hours.

Various members of the Martinez household were already starting to experience the symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning as they fled the home, including nausea and chest pain. Michael’s mother, Angie, believes her son is a hero. “If it wasn’t for him, we probably never would have woken up,” she explained.

6 Haihuwa Lafiya Saves a Village

The Nigerian state of Jigawa is currently going through great economic hardship, a situation that has endangered the lives of many pregnant women. Limited access to healthcare has resulted in high levels of infant mortality. Malnutrition is widespread. And the road network has fallen into disrepair, making hospital trips a perilous ordeal.

For years, a small village called Bardo has been without any proper means of emergency transportation. And with the nearest hospital over 18 miles away, childbirth comes with significant risks. Eighteen pregnant villagers died in the space of just two years. Halima Adamu decided enough was enough, after seeing so many of her friends losing their unborn children. She set aside funds from a government allowance scheme to buy the village its own emergency car. The vehicle, dubbed Haihuwa Lafiya (Safe Motherhood), has already benefited hundreds of villagers.

News of Bardo’s actions soon hit the headlines, prompting the government to launch a review into the transport crisis. Jigawa’s leaders have since put in place a private fleet of cars to transport pregnant women to and from hospital. Meanwhile, a local businessman, Nasiru Danu, has donated a vehicle to help with the effort, along with money to pay for replacement tires and fuel.

5 The Dolphin Ambulance Charity

The Massachusetts coast is a hotspot for dolphin and whale strandings. Every year, hundreds of dolphins end up on the beaches around Cape Cod. It’s not unusual, then, to see a crack team of dolphin rescuers running down the beaches, armed with specialist medical equipment and giant stretchers. When a member of the public reports a stranding, the IFAW’s Marine Mammal Rescue team is usually the first to arrive on scene. It used to be that most of the stranded dolphins were beyond saving. Now, with advances in tech and treatment, the release rate has soared from 15 percent to around 80 percent.

Saving stranded dolphins is a race against time. Stress, sun burn, and dehydration can trigger a muscle-wasting condition known as capture myopathy syndrome. The creature’s fragile heart is often one of the first muscles to fail. After the rescue team arrives, the dolphin is stretchered onto an awaiting ambulance. The unit is stocked with ultrasound equipment, intravenous drips, and various testing facilities. Here, the team monitors the patient’s heart rate and tries to keep them hydrated. Blood analysis is then used to search for signs of infection or organ damage. As dolphins use echolocation to help navigate their surroundings, the team must also test the dolphin’s sense of “hearing.”

The charity has saved thousands of dolphins since its founding. Back in August 2020, the crew responded to a mass 45-dolphin stranding event. “[It] was the first time my jaw physically dropped when manning the hotline,” explained one of the attending technicians. Volunteers poured onto the beaches to keep the creatures alive, making sure to keep their blowholes clear of the rising water. A dozen of the most critically ill dolphins were hauled away into ambulances, while the rest were coaxed back into deeper waters. Astonishingly, after hours of intense work, all but four of the dolphins survived.

4 Turning a Furniture Store into a Giant Shelter

Jim McIngvale, also known as “Mattress Mack,” is well known for his charitable deeds. In 2017, the Texas legend used his furniture store to shelter the victims of Hurricane Harvey. He also dispatched delivery trucks to rescue residents stranded in the flood waters, before giving them food, water, and a place to sleep. When Tropical Storm Imelda hit, dumping over 40 inches of water in many parts of the state, the businessman opened his doors once again. His other achievements include funding a mobile stroke unit, organizing a 6,000-meal banquet for residents on Thanksgiving Day, and donating pieces of furniture to local schools.

Mack’s incredible generosity was also on full display in the aftermath of Winter Storm Uri. An intense blizzard from the North Pole recently took the state by surprise, taking down powerlines and crippling hundreds of generators. Suddenly, millions of residents found themselves with no heating, electricity, or water. A statewide emergency was declared, and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas introduced rolling blackouts to ration the supply of electricity.

Mattress Mack responded to the catastrophe with his trademark kindness, opening all of his stores across the Houston area and ordering truck loads of food. To keep the lights on, he purchased 10,000 gallons of diesel to power his stores’ backup generators. Volunteers worked around the clock to serve meals and entertain children. The Texas tycoon, who recently celebrated his 70th birthday, explained his selfless actions: “[W]hat we can’t afford is to cause these people to lose hope, we got to give them hope.”

3 Transforming the Beach from Hell

As a young boy, Afroz Shah would spend hours playing on Versova Beach in northern Mumbai. But as the years rolled on, the entire area became a dumping ground for refuse. Plastic waste washed ashore, covering the sandy shoreline in mountains of bags, bottles, and clothing. In 2015, Shah started spending his weekends picking up the trash by hand. The 34-year-old lawyer’s deeds did not go unnoticed, and he was soon joined by an army of fellow environmentalists.

Now, after more than 200 weekends of painstaking work, the beach is completely trash-free. It is estimated that Shah has inspired more than 200,000 people to join his cause, cleaning beaches not just in India but around the world. The ambitious cleanup operation has seen the removal of over 20 million kilograms of waste from Versova Beach alone. Wildlife has now returned to the area, including nests of baby turtles.

Shah has spread his message around the world, sprucing up beaches in America, Japan, Norway, and Malta. “See, the idea is to go clean and provoke others to do the same, [because] I’m not going to be there permanently,” he explains. In 2016, the UN Environment Programme handed Shah the prestigious Champions of the Earth award.

2 The Sanitation Workers Who Thwarted a Kidnapping

On February 7, a 10-year-old girl disappeared from a relative’s home in New Iberia, Louisiana. According to witnesses, the youngster was last seen getting into a silver Nissan Altima. The local police department was quick to react, issuing an Amber Alert and providing details of the vehicle. Fortunately, two sanitation workers were paying close attention to the news. On their regular pickup route, workers with the Pelican Waste & Debris company spotted a vehicle conspicuously parked in the middle of a field. “I didn’t second guess it,” explained Dion Merrick. “I said, ‘for that car to be parked in this location, and it matches the description on the Amber Alert, something is not right.’”

With that, the two used their garbage truck to block the driver’s escape. They then called the police and, within mere minutes, the vehicle was surrounded by officers. The driver was hauled from the car and handcuffed. As the girl was taken away to undergo medical examination, she thanked her rescuers for their heroic efforts. The sanitation workers have since received praise from the entire community, including the victim’s father.

It turns out the suspect, Michael Sereal, was a family acquaintance. The 33-year-old is now charged with aggravated kidnapping. He is also accused of not registering as a sex offender. In 2006, the 16th Judicial District Court sentenced Sereal to hard labor for carnal knowledge of a juvenile.

1 Planting a Food Forest Full of Free Food

In 2006, Ruby and Willie Morgan sold their farm in southeast Atlanta to a building developer. While the plot was initially earmarked for the construction of a townhouse complex, the 2008 recession quashed these plans. Eight years on, the place was overrun with several invasive species of plant life, including English vines and Chinese privet. The city took control and restored the land to its former glory.

Over the years, Ruby and Willie would leave spare fruit and vegetables out for their neighbors. City officials took inspiration from the couple’s giving attitude, working with volunteers to plant a community food forest and orchard. After years of hard work, the garden is now teeming with life. Residents are free to pick what they need, including cucumbers, watermelons, tomatoes and peppers. The orchard also contains a variety of nut trees, fruit trees, berry bushes, and herbs.

Atlanta officials funded the initiative using a grant from the U.S. Forest Service. The goal is to reduce food poverty in the area, ensuring as many Atlantans have access to fresh produce as possible. The area was once classified as a “food desert,” meaning local residents had limited access to affordable fruit and vegetables. Carla Smith, one of the councilors who oversaw the project’s ordinance, recently spoke about what the forest means to the community: “More than just getting food there, and maybe helping with the food-desert situation, it’s actually a place where people are making friends.”

10 Heartwarming Acts Of Kindness Done By The Poor