It’s been a tough few weeks. It’s time to feel better. What better way to do that than by watching a heart-warming movie? Films that will inspire you, move you, or just make you laugh out loud.

Here we have gathered together a selection of movies guaranteed to make you forget your troubles. So just sit back with some popcorn, and a box of tissues, and start to feel better.

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10 Amélie

Probably the happiest film in world, Audrey Tautou plays Amélie, a lonely Parisian waitress who decides that she will make those around her happy. Amélie has a vivid imagination, and manages to find happiness in everything.

When she finds an old box with a child’s treasures in she decides to return it to its owner, and makes herself a promise. If the return of the box makes him happy, she will spend her life bringing happiness to others.

Not only does the box make him happy, though, it makes him want to be a better person and make others happy too. And so the happiness spreads . . . like a virus. (No, we’re not going there.)

Amélie isn’t just a happy film. It’s a beautiful film, too. Watch it.

9 As Good As It Gets

As Good As It Gets stars Jack Nicholson, which is probably reason enough to watch it. He plays Melvin, a curmudgeonly writer with OCD/ASD tendencies, who likes to be served by his regular waitress, Carol, played by Helen Hunt. Is that too much to ask? Well, Carol thinks so. She has other priorities.

As Good As it Gets is essentially a road trip movie, with Jackson as a misanthropic writer who cannot stand change, Hunt as a waitress whose son is chronically ill and Greg Kinnear as Nicholson’s neighbor whose life is falling apart.

The plot, however, is largely immaterial. The joy of this film is in the relationship between Melvin and carol, and in Kinnear’s glorious performance as an artist with money issues (among other things).

The film is funny but also honest. Carol refuses to allow Melvin to hide behind his mental health problems, and insists that he is accountable for his actions, which are usually thoughtless and occasionally cruel. And Nicholson learns to be a better man.

8 Up!

Probably Pixar’s finest film, Up is the story of a friendship between a lonely old man and an eager boy scout. The old man, voiced by Ed Asner, is about to fulfill his dream to visit South America when a boy scout, Jordan Nagai, knocks at his door, eager trying to earn his Assisting the Elderly badge.

Up is too good to be just a kids film. It is a movie about loneliness, unfulfilled dreams, and the paralyzing power of grief, which, on the face of it, doesn’t sound too cheerful. But it is also about love and friendship, and awesome bucket lists. There are more than a few surreal moments, but the themes of friendship and fulfillment are beautifully handled.

Asner’s character is said to be modeled on Spencer Tracy in Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, and he has just the right amount of grumpiness disguising his broken heart. The movie won a well-deserved Oscar for Best Animated Feature, and it remains one of Pixar’s most loved films.

7 Edward Scissorhands

Edward Scissorhands is a Christmas fairy tale, that isn’t just for Christmas. The story of a beautiful relationship between Johnny Depp and Tim Burton—I mean Edward Scissorhands and Kim, as played by Winona Ryder—the movie has a beautiful fairy tale feel to it.

Edward is a kind of Frankenstein creature, made by his creator, played by Vincent Price, who runs out of time before he can make the hands, leaving Edward with only a selection of scissors for hands. Which is the sort of thing that can isolate a kid.

Like all the best fairy tales, Edward Scissorhands is a little bit dark, but it is also beautifully poignant. Depp is fantastic, Ryder is bearable, and Diane West as Kim’s mother is sublime. Edward Scissorhands is a film about belonging, and not belonging, and a cautionary tale that the crazies are not always the ones with scissors for hands.

Best scene in the movie – Diane West, who has a side job as an Avon lady, trying to cover up Edward’s scars with foundation. And we blend and blend and blend.

6 Mrs Doubtfire

A movie about a man losing custody of his children doesn’t sound like a feel-good movie, but it is. Robin Williams stars as the irresponsible father, and Sally Fields plays his wife, who has had enough of being the only adult in the marriage.

The reasons why Robin Williams has to dress as an elderly Scottish (or possibly Irish, the accent wavers a bit) woman are unclear, and who cares anyway. Just be glad that he does, because the film is a joy to watch.

The movie also features Mara Wilson, the child star with the cutest lisp in the world, in her first role, as William’s youngest daughter. The film is about the importance of family, in all its forms, and about taking responsibility. It’s also about Robin Williams doing silly voices in a wig.

Best scene in the movie is, undoubtedly, Williams’ dancing to Dude Looks Like a Lady, but let’s also give a shout out to that time he lobs fruit at the back of Pierce Brosnan’s head. Who hasn’t wanted to do that?

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5 Dead Poets Society

The ultimate sappy teenage movie, Dead Poets Society can still bring a tear to the eye of any adult. You only need to whisper the words, O Captain! My Captain! and strong men, (and stronger women), will weep.

Also starring Robin Williams, Dead Poets Society is a coming of age movie, with added poetry. Who doesn’t want to see that? Thankfully though, it’s not just about the poems. Or the teenagers either. It’s about inspiration. And beauty. And letting yourself feel your emotions. It’s about friendship, and making your lives extraordinary. And, yes, it’s about poetry too.

So, what are you waiting for? Carpe Diem, and watch it now.

4 A Night At the Opera

Guaranteed to cheer you up if you are feeling blue, A Night At the Opera, is a Marx Brothers classic.

If you can’t find this movie, almost any Marx Brothers film will do, but only this movie has the Contracts Scene in it. As far as comedy goes, this scene is pretty much perfection.

The film features all the usual players – not just Groucho, Chico and Harpo, but also Margaret Dumont, who, as usual, bears the brunt of the Groucho’s humour. She is a rich socialite, and Groucho is looking for investors in an opera company. That is all the set up you need. Leave the rest to Groucho, Chico and Harpo.

Groucho Marx is on fine wise-cracking form in this movie, which is often considered one of their best. Though the Contract Scene is worth watching on a continuous loop a special mention should also go to the Stateroom Scene, which is the movie version of the “How Many People Can You Fit in a Mini?” game.

3 Scent Of a Woman

Al Pacino has made a lot of great movies, but this one, from 1992, is a standout. It co-stars a young Chris O’Donnell as a high-school boy who takes a job looking after a blind veteran with anger issues.

Pacino plays Lt Colonel Frank Slade, who is miserable, as well as being blind, and who is on the verge of killing himself. O’Donnell is Charlie, the Good Kid who just can’t catch a break. Frank teaches Charlie about women, and love, and life, and Charlie shows Frank that his life isn’t over just because he can’t see.

The film certainly has its darker moments, but they just make rest that much more joyful. Charlie and Frank go on a road trip that opens Charlie’s eyes in more ways than one.

Highlight of the movie isn’t Pacino’s tango, although that is great. It is his speech to the school board near the end of the movie. Out of order? I’ll show you out of order.

2 Fermín Glorias del Tango

If you enjoyed Al Pacino’s tango in Scent of a Woman, take a look at The Glories of Tango. Hector Altiero plays Fermin, an 85-year-old mental patient with shell shock who has been locked in a mental institution for decades. Only when a new psychiatrist arrives does anyone wonder why Fermin only communicates through song lyrics from the tango. Fermín Glorias del Tango tells the story of the old man’s life through the tango.

The music transports Fermin back to Buenos Aires in the 1940s and his passion for, among other things, dance. The movie has great music and great cinematography, and is a glorious reminder that the old were not always old. As Fermin’s psychiatrist explores the tango, in order to better understand his patient, he discovers a few things about his own life too.

Not a blockbuster, perhaps, but Fermín Glorias del Tango will certainly warm your heart.

1 Groundhog Day

If you are looking for a heart-warming movie, nothing could be better than Groundhog Day. Even if you’ve seen it a hundred times before. An asshole is doomed to repeat the most boring day ever until he gets it right. It’s a simple concept, but a great one. And Bill Murray makes it brilliant (but let’s face it, Bill Murray could make the phonebook seem brilliant!)

Murray stars as Phil Connors, the full-of-himself weatherman, and Andie McDowell is his naive producer. Quite how long Phil Connors has to relive Groundhog Day before he gets it right is unclear, but it is a long long time – long enough for him to learn to play the piano, speak French and make friends with just about everybody. It’s amazing what a difference a day makes.

+ Little Miss Sunshine

If you have watched all 10 of these movies, and your heart is still a little frosty, have a look at Little Miss Sunshine and its star-studded cast.

Olive is a kid from a pretty dysfunctional family who has won a place in The Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant. The entire family want to support her, so they all climb into in a decrepit yellow camper van to make the 800-mile trip. In some families this would be the hook for a horror movie, but, not here.

During the trip, Olive’s family learn to help each other and rely on each other, which is nice. They learn how to start the van, which is more complicated than you might think. And they learn to celebrate each other’s differences—which is just as well, because they are all pretty different. The road trip is long, but it is worth it because the beauty pageant is pure joy, and Olive’s ‘dancing’ is super freaky.

Oh, and this is a favorite of our dear leader, JFrater, so it must be good!

10 Heart-Warming Tales from the Worst Places on Earth

Animals have an uncanny ability to know when a natural disaster is about to strike. Sometimes, they run away or hide, and their humans have no way of finding them in time to evacuate. More often than not, a pet owner has no choice but to leave their animals behind in order to save themselves.

At the end of every natural disaster – whether it be a flood, earthquake, tsunami, fire, or tornado, local shelters have to gather abandoned pets and attempt to reunite them with their owners. Many pets go unclaimed, and other times, people learn that their pets are not among the survivors. But in these next ten stories, pets are reunited with their owners in the most amazing ways.

10 Cadie the Cat

Judy Pugh was an elderly woman sitting in her home in Tuscaloosa, Alabama when a tornado hit. A wall fell on top of her, which held her body down as the rest of her house was sucked up into the twister. Neighbors called her name and lifted the wall off of her, and the storm continued to move on and ravaged the rest of the town. Pugh had three pet cats, and finding them after the storm was her only concern.^[1]

She managed to find two of the cats soon after. but sadly, she could not find her third cat, Cadie. Her family suspected that the 10-year old feline was carried away in the twister. Despite the fact that over a month had passed since the storm, she did not give up hope. Pugh continued to show up to the wreckage of her home and search for the cat every single day. A local TV station found Ms. Pugh standing by the wreckage and interviewed her. In the middle of the recording, Cadie the cat silently emerged out of the remains of Pugh’s house. He found his way home home after all.

Cadie was skinny, dirty, and could not even muster the strength to meow. Pugh walked over to him, gingerly scooping his tiny body into her arms. “I have everything in the world, now,” Pugh said as she began to cry. She cuddled her pet close to her chest. The TV microphone picked up the loud purring emanating from the tired cat.

9 The Farm in Plum Grove

Lester Morrow had no choice but to abandon his farm animals in Plum Grove, Texas during Hurricane Harvey. He was able to bring his dog with him, but they had no time to hitch a trailer behind their truck, and left behind several horses, donkeys, goats, and a potbelly pig named Patty.^[2]

When Morrow returned to his farm, he was recording the devastation on his cellphone, starting at the end of his long driveway. There was still a lot of water on the property, and he commented about the trash and debris that floated onto his land, when he saw in the distance that Patty the pig was so happy to hear Morrow’s voice, she was wading through the water to greet him. He immediately began sobbing, and recorded the animals who had survived the storm.

Many of his horses had broken legs, and over a dozen animals had died, but several of them managed to break down a fence and stand on the porch of the house in order to survive. He posted the video on YouTube to share with friends and family, and it went viral. He made a GoFundMe campaign to help his animals, and he raised $14,000.

8 Ban

On March 11, 2011, Japan was hit by an 9.0 magnitude earthquake that was followed by a tsunami that hit the northern part of the country. Three weeks after the disaster, the Japanese coast guard was still flying over the ocean to search for bodies that may be floating in the water. A mile away from shore, they spotted a dog walking around on top of the roof of a house that was floating in the water. Somehow, it had survived the tsunami. They lowered a man down from a helicopter to rescue the dog, who was later identified as “Ban”. The dog was wrapped in blankets, given food and water, and the rescue team carried him out on a stretcher.^[3]

Ban was reunited with his owner, who wished to remain anonymous in the media, so she wore a medical mask in the video of when they reunited to conceal her face. Ban still recognized her, and jumped up, wagging his tail and snuggling into her chest as she hugged him. “Thank goodness…I’ll never let him go,” she told the press.

7 Izzy

In 2017, wildfires spread across Santa Rosa, California, destroying thousands of homes in its path. The Weaver family was forced to evacuate, and they could not find their dog, Izzy, in time to escape. On October 10th, Jack Weaver and his brother-in-law Patrick Widen returned back to Weaver’s property to see if there was anything left. He began recording on this cellphone, and even from far away, he could see that their home was completely burned to the ground. Even though it was a long shot, they began whistling and calling Izzy’s name, in hope that he somehow escaped the flames.

Their disappointment was almost immediately replaced by joy, because Izzy the shaggy Bernese Mountain dog began walking towards them. Not only did he survive, but the loyal dog was waiting in the ashes of his former home for his master to return. It was totally unexpected, and the brothers began screaming out of joy as their reaction was captured on film.^[4]

6 Rica

Charles Trippy gained Internet fame by daily vlogging every single day for several years. He had continued to do this for so long, he even holds a Guinness World Record. When Florida was expected to be hit by Hurricane Irma in 2017, their town was ordered to evacuate. Charles and his family decided to take their chances by staying at home with their dogs and an electric generator. Since vlogging on YouTube is his job, Trippy recorded the experience of living in a town that was almost completely empty before, during, and after the storm.

Just as Charles and his wife Allie were driving home from with supplies from the hardware store to officially hunker down for the night, they spotted a tiny 4-week old kitten standing in the middle of the street. They got out and took her into their car and refused to leave the baby behind. That night, the amount of damage and flooding caused by the storm was worse than they imagined, and they were lucky that their house survived. They knew that if they had not rescued the kitten, there is no doubt that it would have died. They decided to name her Rica, which is short for Hurricane.

5 Junior

A tornado hit Granbury, Texas in 2013. A man named Jerry Shuttlesworth was living in a trailer park. Without a basement or a place to hide, he had no choice but to shut himself in the laundry room with his dog, a pitbull named Junior. The tornado directly hit his trailer, and Shuttlesworth described it like the home was being crushed down, and then sucked up. He flew into the air, and the wind flipped him upside down. He was desperately trying to hold on to Junior, but the tornado ripped the dog out of his arms.

The tornado dropped Shuttlesworth about 20 feet away, but the dog had completely disappeared in the twister. He laid on the ground with broken bones, looking up at the tornado. He described seeing debris circling in slow motion above his head, and it was so surreal, it was unlike anything he had ever seen in his life. After getting rescued and getting Internet access, Shuttlesworth posted a photo of Junior as a missing pet on Facebook.

By no small miracle, the local animal shelter found him. They called the news, and the best friends were reunited on film. He told the reporters that he was going to treat Junior to a meal of Kentucky Fried Chicken. “I think he flew through the air. Y’know, dogs weren’t meant to fly. But he had an angel with him.”

4 Snoopy and Abbey

After Hurricane Harvey, Texas shelters were filled to the brim with pets in cages, waiting for their owners to find them. In August of 2017, reporters rode along with The Humane Society of Dickinson, Texas. They were responding to phone call from people who were displaced from their homes, and pleaded for them to find their missing dog and cat. They arrived to the flooded neighborhood, whistling and calling the names of the pets, and found two dogs.^[5]

They were a poodle named Snoopy and English bulldog, Abbey. A kind stranger saw the two dogs swimming through the water together. She rescued them and brought them to her house, which was above the flood line. A man named Ryan Johnson showed up to claim Abbey and Snoopy from the shelter. He knew that they belonged to his father-in-law, who was having nightmares and losing sleep over the fate of his dogs. “He can finally sleep tonight,” Johnson said.

3 Odin

Ronald Handel lived on a ranch in California. He owned two Great Pyrenees mountain dogs who took care of their 8 goats. It was their job to protect the goats from predators in the California mountains. In 2017, when the wildfires were approaching in the distance, Handel scrambled to get his daughter and the dogs into the car so they could evacuate.^[6]

One of the dogs, Odin, refused to neglect his doggy duty. He laid down with the goats, and stared at Handel, as if to say, “I’m not leaving.” Handel waited as long as he could for Odin to come around, but they had to leave. He describes a horrific scene of the fire being so close behind him and his daughter as they drove, it sounds like a scene out of an action movie. They could see parked cars a few yards behind them filling with flames, and heard explosions from propane tanks, and the shriek of grinding of melting, twisting metal.

After the flames were put out, Handel and his young daughter did not expect to find anything when they returned to their property, but Odin was still there. He and the goats were slightly burned in a few spots, but he had managed to bring them all to safety, despite the fact that everything else around them was burned to the ground. He was limping, and very tired, so Handel knew that Odin had been on an adventure of his own to save his friends. If only dogs could talk.

2 Mei-Chan

After the 2011 tsunami in Japan, Fuji TV was filming the damage from the disaster, and they spotted a Brittany Spaniel. She walked up to them urging them to follow her. She walked over to an English Setter who was laying on the ground, clearly injured and unable to move. While the men sounded sad and concerned for the dogs, and they sent a message to “please help” to the Nippon SPCA, the witnesses failed to do anything to help the pups themselves.^[7]

The video made its way to YouTube, called “Stay together dogs”. It went viral, and people around the world were heartbroken and started sending money to the Nippon SPCA to help their rescue efforts. However, the video started a controversy, and the SPCA began to receive threatening phone calls from people accusing them of not working hard enough to save the dogs. Owners of dog food companies created raising money for their own campaigns to save the “stay together dogs”. People were very invested in the fate of the pups.

The dog’s owner saw the video, and recognized her dog, Mei-chan. The second dog, Lee-chan, also belonged to her. It took eight months for the Nippon SPCA to finally find Mei-chan, and she was reunited with her owner.

1 T2

In 2002, a retired K-9 police officer named Perry Martin adopted a ginger kitten and named it T2. Hurricane Jeanne hit Florida in 2004, and everyone lost their power, and they could not turn on the air conditioning in the summer heat. Martin started leaving his windows open to let some air in. The 2-year old cat climbed through a window and out into the hurricane aftermath. Martin searched for a long time, and notified all of the local shelters, but after enough time passed, Martin accepted that he would never see T2 again.^[8]

In 2018, a local animal shelter found a skinny stray cat and brought him in. The scanned him for a microchip, and called up Perry Martin. When they told him that they had the cat that had gone missing 14 years earlier, he did not believe them, but sure enough, he was reunited with his cat, who was now an elderly 16 year old. They have no idea where T2 was for 14 years, or how he managed to survive, but during media interviews, he looks very content curled up in Perry Martin’s lap.

Shannon Quinn (shannquinn.com) is a writer from the Philadelphia area. You can find her on Twitter @ShannQ

In this day and age, it’s easy to get depressed. Turn on the TV or switch on your iPad and you’ll be bombarded with stories of death, destruction and mayhem. Whether it’s extremists waging brutal war in our streets, the country self-destructing over the rights of gay people, or news of our drones blowing another distant wedding party to pieces; each passing day seems to bring yet more misery. But sometimes, hope can take hold in the most unlikely of places. As an antidote to all the recent nastiness, here are 10 heart-warming stories of humanity from the most-inhuman places on Earth:

Last week a tornado touched down in Oklahoma, reducing the town of Monroe to rubble. Homes were destroyed, families separated and 24 people killed. In other words, it was a catastrophe—and, within hours, news sites were awash with images of misery, devastation and more misery. Because this is the internet after all, the most-shared photo quickly became one of a mournful collie standing watch over a demolished house. The story went that ‘Susie’ was guarding her owner’s body, and our hearts collectively broke like a bunch of hormonal tweens watching the last installment of Twilight. By any sane reckoning, that image was sadness personified: where would the adorable little mutt go now?

How about home to her owner? In the sort of twist that would be mawkish in a Spielberg movie but is awesome in real life, it turned out Susie’s owner was not only alive—he was scouring the devastated town, desperate to find his dog. Because sometimes the internet really does have its uses, his sister spotted Susie’s picture on Facebook and alerted the sheriff’s; leading to a touching reunion. If that wasn’t enough ‘awww’ factor for one entry, here’s proof that Susie and her owner weren’t the only ones.

Of all the unlikely settings for a heart-warming tale, ‘Nazi forced labour camp’ should be pretty high on the list. But try telling that to Luigi Pedutto and Mokryna Yurzuk. In 1944, they were both interred in an Austrian concentration camp—he as an Italian prisoner of war, she because you can add ‘Ukrainians’ to the list of people Hitler hated for no reason. For a year they toiled together in conditions most of us can’t even imagine, until they eventually fell in love—at which point the camp was liberated and the Soviets carted Mokryna back behind the iron curtain. Because 20th century politics sucked, Pedutto was refused a Visa and they remained separated for 60 years.

Then, in 2004, Pedutto decided to try his luck again. In a final argument for reality TV being not totally-awful, he wrote in to a Russian TV show, which tracked down Mokryna and reunited them live on air. The two have now resumed a courtship that survived Hitler, Stalin, the Cold War, reunification and six decades—because sometimes, true love isn’t just a cliché.

North Korea is a dark place; both metaphorically and literally. Satellite images taken at night show an empty space hemmed in by the burning light of a thousand South Korean and Chinese cities. Thanks to an economically incompetent and inhuman regime, the only city in the country that gets electricity is the capital Pyongyang—everywhere else festers in darkness. And, if you’re a dirt-poor adolescent that’s fantastic news.

In her book ‘Nothing to Envy: Real Lives in North Korea’, Barbara Demick reveals how even the most-brutal regime on Earth has failed to quash romance. Across the country, teenagers use the lightless nights to plan trysts, meet partners and generally do what kids across the world do when they’re young and shy and in love. Because there’s no electricity, party snoops who would otherwise stop them are flying blind: meaning the kids have the night to themselves. And boy do they use it well: at the bottom of this page is a heart-warming tale of one girl’s illegal romance with a boy from another village. In other words, even in the most tightly-controlled environment on Earth, love has still managed to find a way.

During the Second World War, the German U-Boat submarines became notorious among sailors. So when a Greek crew realized one was on their tail in 1939, they decided to abandon ship. No sooner were they overboard than it became clear this was a dumb idea: the sea was stormy, there was still a German U-Boat nearby and their lifeboats sucked something bad. How bad? Well, they were barely clear of the doomed ship when one capsized, throwing the sailors into the water. By all rights, this should have been game over for the Greeks—had the U-Boat captain not had a sudden attack of humanity.

Giving orders to surface, he brought the 28 Greeks aboard and had his crew carry them to neutral Ireland. Once there, he deposited them on the beach, before sailing back into the war. Let me repeat that: a Nazi officer in the middle of one of the most brutal wars in history quietly saved 28 lives for no other reason than he was a decent guy. There is a word for people like that, and that word is ‘awesome’.

If you only ever heard about the world through newspapers and blogs, you’d be forgiven for thinking we were at the epicenter of an epic battle between East and West. The idea goes that Islam and Christianity are incompatible and we all just want each other dead. Well, try telling that to Egypt.

In 2011, a bunch of extremists attacked a church in Alexandria, killing 21 Coptic Christians. Upon hearing that it was ‘open season’ on their Christian neighbors, Egypt’s Muslim majority ran out their houses, found the nearest church . . . and acted as human shields. Yeah: they surrounded the churches, risking their own lives to keep their countrymen safe. As fantastic as this is, we’re not done yet—not by a long shot. See, in the midst of a violent revolution, stopping to pray to Mecca five times a day can leave you a little vulnerable. Unless, that is, you have a heck-load of Christians ready to repay a favor and stand guard around you, ready to fight to the death. So yeah, everyone came to each other’s aid when they needed it most. What was that about ‘incompatibility’ again?

In America, if you write a rap ‘dissing’ a politician you’ll either get ignored or become a viral sensation for the wrong reasons. Not so in Somalia. Since the government collapsed in the ’90s, most of the country has been controlled by vicious warlords. In 2006, a terrorist group that took over most of the south even banned listening to music on pain of death. So you can imagine the sort of courage you’d need to insult these guys. Well, meet the man with the largest testicles in the world.

In 2004, Shiine Akhyaar Ali founded Waayaha Cusub a Somali group that made a name for itself singing anti-jihad songs and mocking local warlords. Determined to get their pro-peace message out whatever the cost, they kept on making music even after militants shot Shiine five times in 2007. And guess what? They won: two years ago the militants were driven from the capital, Mogadishu, and Waayaha Cusub got busy organizing music festivals. They’re currently using their music and workshops to give kids who’ve lived all their lives with violence a peaceful outlet, and to sweep away the last traces of extremism. Maybe Kanye should just think about that for a second next time he compares himself to the Messiah.

The Syrian civil war has thrown up its fair share of horrific moments. But, even in the midst of the worst depravity imaginable, good deeds sometimes still happen.

After a rocket attack left his younger brother Abdulrahman in need of an amputation, 24 year old Omar decided no relative was going to die on his watch. Only problem being: they were in the middle of a warzone, with his brother now incapable of walking. How the hell was he going to get him to safety?

Simple: acting like the older brother we all wish we’d had, Omar strapped his younger sibling to his back and literally walked to Turkey. Chew on that for a second. In recent weeks, the conflict has spilled over into Turkish towns; the border has become effectively lawless and crossing it more dangerous than juggling hand grenades. Yet Omar not only crossed it, he did it with his injured brother strapped to his back. So, in short, 11 year old Abdulrahman is now alive, thanks to his big brother being the humanitarian equivalent of the Terminator.

In the 1990s, Rwanda suffered one of the worst genocides in modern history. Over the course of 100 days, the country lost nearly 20 percent of its population—thanks to a murderous rampage by Hutu extremists. In the middle of all this barbarity, Rwanburindi Enoch and his wife took one look and said ‘not today’.

First, they refused to partake in the violence—at a time when moderate Hutus were getting murdered as much as the Tutsis. Second, Enoch opened the doors of their house to injured Tutsis, giving them shelter even as local Hutu Power types threatened him with death. Third—and most-awesomely of all—when he ran out of his space in his house, he built another one on his property specifically for Tutsis to hide in. When asked why he was endangering himself and his family, he said he couldn’t turn his back on a fellow Christian. In the end, Enoch saved many lives, despite it costing him his reputation, his money and nearly everything. Because sometimes, you just gotta do the right thing and consequences be damned.

You may have heard of the Sarajevo siege. For four years, Serb forces kept the Muslim-majority city pinned down under sniper fire. But for Enver Imamovic, the biggest worry wasn’t that he’d lose his life. It was that a single book might be destroyed by the invading forces.

Let’s back up a little: Imamovic was the director of the national museum—the most prized possession of which is the 660 year old Haggadah, a medieval book telling the Jewish story of Exodus. It’s currently insured for a billion dollars, but that evidently didn’t matter much in the midst of genocide. Fearing the Yugoslav’s People’s army would wipe out the oldest tangible trace of Bosnian Jewish culture, Imamovic literally risked his life to save it. And it was a risk: his story involves bribing police officers, dodging bullets and nearly being obliterated by a mortar. Yet he managed it: thanks to his efforts, this fragment of his city’s past survived the longest siege in modern history. The best part? Imamovic wasn’t even Jewish—he was Muslim. That’s right: even as his entire country was splitting along ethnic lines, Imamovic still gave enough of a damn about solidarity to risk his life for a symbol of their shared heritage.

Simply put, there has never been anywhere as horrific as Auschwitz. All the cruelty, sadism, indifference and psychopathy that our species is capable of reached its fullest expression between its walls, where 1.5 million people died pointlessly. Yet, even in the midst of this inferno, there were moments of humanity.

In 1941, three prisoners managed to escape the camp and consequently the deputy commander ordered ten prisoners to be starved to death in retaliation. When one of the randomly-selected men began to cry for his wife and children, another prisoner called Maximilian Kolbe stepped forward and offered to take his place.

Read that sentence again: in the middle of the most-notorious murder machine that’s ever existed, Kolbe was so moved by pity he volunteered to die in place of another man. And when the Nazis acquiesced and sent him into a bunker with the nine others, his spirit didn’t break. By all accounts, he spent the last two weeks of his life comforting the others with his Catholic faith and accepted his end with a dignity that should have been impossible in the circumstances. Nor was it a useless gesture: the man whose place he took—Franciszek Gajowniczek—lived another 53 years.

In this day and age, it’s easy to get depressed. Turn on the TV or switch on your iPad and you’ll be bombarded with stories of death, destruction and mayhem. Whether it’s extremists waging brutal war in our streets, the country self-destructing over the rights of gay people, or news of our drones blowing another distant wedding party to pieces; each passing day seems to bring yet more misery. But sometimes, hope can take hold in the most unlikely of places. As an antidote to all the recent nastiness, here are 10 heart-warming stories of humanity from the most-inhuman places on Earth:

Last week a tornado touched down in Oklahoma, reducing the town of Monroe to rubble. Homes were destroyed, families separated and 24 people killed. In other words, it was a catastrophe—and, within hours, news sites were awash with images of misery, devastation and more misery. Because this is the internet after all, the most-shared photo quickly became one of a mournful collie standing watch over a demolished house. The story went that ‘Susie’ was guarding her owner’s body, and our hearts collectively broke like a bunch of hormonal tweens watching the last installment of Twilight. By any sane reckoning, that image was sadness personified: where would the adorable little mutt go now?

How about home to her owner? In the sort of twist that would be mawkish in a Spielberg movie but is awesome in real life, it turned out Susie’s owner was not only alive—he was scouring the devastated town, desperate to find his dog. Because sometimes the internet really does have its uses, his sister spotted Susie’s picture on Facebook and alerted the sheriff’s; leading to a touching reunion. If that wasn’t enough ‘awww’ factor for one entry, here’s proof that Susie and her owner weren’t the only ones.

Of all the unlikely settings for a heart-warming tale, ‘Nazi forced labour camp’ should be pretty high on the list. But try telling that to Luigi Pedutto and Mokryna Yurzuk. In 1944, they were both interred in an Austrian concentration camp—he as an Italian prisoner of war, she because you can add ‘Ukrainians’ to the list of people Hitler hated for no reason. For a year they toiled together in conditions most of us can’t even imagine, until they eventually fell in love—at which point the camp was liberated and the Soviets carted Mokryna back behind the iron curtain. Because 20th century politics sucked, Pedutto was refused a Visa and they remained separated for 60 years.

Then, in 2004, Pedutto decided to try his luck again. In a final argument for reality TV being not totally-awful, he wrote in to a Russian TV show, which tracked down Mokryna and reunited them live on air. The two have now resumed a courtship that survived Hitler, Stalin, the Cold War, reunification and six decades—because sometimes, true love isn’t just a cliché.

North Korea is a dark place; both metaphorically and literally. Satellite images taken at night show an empty space hemmed in by the burning light of a thousand South Korean and Chinese cities. Thanks to an economically incompetent and inhuman regime, the only city in the country that gets electricity is the capital Pyongyang—everywhere else festers in darkness. And, if you’re a dirt-poor adolescent that’s fantastic news.

In her book ‘Nothing to Envy: Real Lives in North Korea’, Barbara Demick reveals how even the most-brutal regime on Earth has failed to quash romance. Across the country, teenagers use the lightless nights to plan trysts, meet partners and generally do what kids across the world do when they’re young and shy and in love. Because there’s no electricity, party snoops who would otherwise stop them are flying blind: meaning the kids have the night to themselves. And boy do they use it well: at the bottom of this page is a heart-warming tale of one girl’s illegal romance with a boy from another village. In other words, even in the most tightly-controlled environment on Earth, love has still managed to find a way.

During the Second World War, the German U-Boat submarines became notorious among sailors. So when a Greek crew realized one was on their tail in 1939, they decided to abandon ship. No sooner were they overboard than it became clear this was a dumb idea: the sea was stormy, there was still a German U-Boat nearby and their lifeboats sucked something bad. How bad? Well, they were barely clear of the doomed ship when one capsized, throwing the sailors into the water. By all rights, this should have been game over for the Greeks—had the U-Boat captain not had a sudden attack of humanity.

Giving orders to surface, he brought the 28 Greeks aboard and had his crew carry them to neutral Ireland. Once there, he deposited them on the beach, before sailing back into the war. Let me repeat that: a Nazi officer in the middle of one of the most brutal wars in history quietly saved 28 lives for no other reason than he was a decent guy. There is a word for people like that, and that word is ‘awesome’.

If you only ever heard about the world through newspapers and blogs, you’d be forgiven for thinking we were at the epicenter of an epic battle between East and West. The idea goes that Islam and Christianity are incompatible and we all just want each other dead. Well, try telling that to Egypt.

In 2011, a bunch of extremists attacked a church in Alexandria, killing 21 Coptic Christians. Upon hearing that it was ‘open season’ on their Christian neighbors, Egypt’s Muslim majority ran out their houses, found the nearest church . . . and acted as human shields. Yeah: they surrounded the churches, risking their own lives to keep their countrymen safe. As fantastic as this is, we’re not done yet—not by a long shot. See, in the midst of a violent revolution, stopping to pray to Mecca five times a day can leave you a little vulnerable. Unless, that is, you have a heck-load of Christians ready to repay a favor and stand guard around you, ready to fight to the death. So yeah, everyone came to each other’s aid when they needed it most. What was that about ‘incompatibility’ again?

In America, if you write a rap ‘dissing’ a politician you’ll either get ignored or become a viral sensation for the wrong reasons. Not so in Somalia. Since the government collapsed in the ’90s, most of the country has been controlled by vicious warlords. In 2006, a terrorist group that took over most of the south even banned listening to music on pain of death. So you can imagine the sort of courage you’d need to insult these guys. Well, meet the man with the largest testicles in the world.

In 2004, Shiine Akhyaar Ali founded Waayaha Cusub a Somali group that made a name for itself singing anti-jihad songs and mocking local warlords. Determined to get their pro-peace message out whatever the cost, they kept on making music even after militants shot Shiine five times in 2007. And guess what? They won: two years ago the militants were driven from the capital, Mogadishu, and Waayaha Cusub got busy organizing music festivals. They’re currently using their music and workshops to give kids who’ve lived all their lives with violence a peaceful outlet, and to sweep away the last traces of extremism. Maybe Kanye should just think about that for a second next time he compares himself to the Messiah.

The Syrian civil war has thrown up its fair share of horrific moments. But, even in the midst of the worst depravity imaginable, good deeds sometimes still happen.

After a rocket attack left his younger brother Abdulrahman in need of an amputation, 24 year old Omar decided no relative was going to die on his watch. Only problem being: they were in the middle of a warzone, with his brother now incapable of walking. How the hell was he going to get him to safety?

Simple: acting like the older brother we all wish we’d had, Omar strapped his younger sibling to his back and literally walked to Turkey. Chew on that for a second. In recent weeks, the conflict has spilled over into Turkish towns; the border has become effectively lawless and crossing it more dangerous than juggling hand grenades. Yet Omar not only crossed it, he did it with his injured brother strapped to his back. So, in short, 11 year old Abdulrahman is now alive, thanks to his big brother being the humanitarian equivalent of the Terminator.

In the 1990s, Rwanda suffered one of the worst genocides in modern history. Over the course of 100 days, the country lost nearly 20 percent of its population—thanks to a murderous rampage by Hutu extremists. In the middle of all this barbarity, Rwanburindi Enoch and his wife took one look and said ‘not today’.

First, they refused to partake in the violence—at a time when moderate Hutus were getting murdered as much as the Tutsis. Second, Enoch opened the doors of their house to injured Tutsis, giving them shelter even as local Hutu Power types threatened him with death. Third—and most-awesomely of all—when he ran out of his space in his house, he built another one on his property specifically for Tutsis to hide in. When asked why he was endangering himself and his family, he said he couldn’t turn his back on a fellow Christian. In the end, Enoch saved many lives, despite it costing him his reputation, his money and nearly everything. Because sometimes, you just gotta do the right thing and consequences be damned.

You may have heard of the Sarajevo siege. For four years, Serb forces kept the Muslim-majority city pinned down under sniper fire. But for Enver Imamovic, the biggest worry wasn’t that he’d lose his life. It was that a single book might be destroyed by the invading forces.

Let’s back up a little: Imamovic was the director of the national museum—the most prized possession of which is the 660 year old Haggadah, a medieval book telling the Jewish story of Exodus. It’s currently insured for a billion dollars, but that evidently didn’t matter much in the midst of genocide. Fearing the Yugoslav’s People’s army would wipe out the oldest tangible trace of Bosnian Jewish culture, Imamovic literally risked his life to save it. And it was a risk: his story involves bribing police officers, dodging bullets and nearly being obliterated by a mortar. Yet he managed it: thanks to his efforts, this fragment of his city’s past survived the longest siege in modern history. The best part? Imamovic wasn’t even Jewish—he was Muslim. That’s right: even as his entire country was splitting along ethnic lines, Imamovic still gave enough of a damn about solidarity to risk his life for a symbol of their shared heritage.

Simply put, there has never been anywhere as horrific as Auschwitz. All the cruelty, sadism, indifference and psychopathy that our species is capable of reached its fullest expression between its walls, where 1.5 million people died pointlessly. Yet, even in the midst of this inferno, there were moments of humanity.

In 1941, three prisoners managed to escape the camp and consequently the deputy commander ordered ten prisoners to be starved to death in retaliation. When one of the randomly-selected men began to cry for his wife and children, another prisoner called Maximilian Kolbe stepped forward and offered to take his place.

Read that sentence again: in the middle of the most-notorious murder machine that’s ever existed, Kolbe was so moved by pity he volunteered to die in place of another man. And when the Nazis acquiesced and sent him into a bunker with the nine others, his spirit didn’t break. By all accounts, he spent the last two weeks of his life comforting the others with his Catholic faith and accepted his end with a dignity that should have been impossible in the circumstances. Nor was it a useless gesture: the man whose place he took—Franciszek Gajowniczek—lived another 53 years.

In this day and age, it’s easy to get depressed. Turn on the TV or switch on your iPad and you’ll be bombarded with stories of death, destruction and mayhem. Whether it’s extremists waging brutal war in our streets, the country self-destructing over the rights of gay people, or news of our drones blowing another distant wedding party to pieces; each passing day seems to bring yet more misery. But sometimes, hope can take hold in the most unlikely of places. As an antidote to all the recent nastiness, here are 10 heart-warming stories of humanity from the most-inhuman places on Earth:

Last week a tornado touched down in Oklahoma, reducing the town of Monroe to rubble. Homes were destroyed, families separated and 24 people killed. In other words, it was a catastrophe—and, within hours, news sites were awash with images of misery, devastation and more misery. Because this is the internet after all, the most-shared photo quickly became one of a mournful collie standing watch over a demolished house. The story went that ‘Susie’ was guarding her owner’s body, and our hearts collectively broke like a bunch of hormonal tweens watching the last installment of Twilight. By any sane reckoning, that image was sadness personified: where would the adorable little mutt go now?

How about home to her owner? In the sort of twist that would be mawkish in a Spielberg movie but is awesome in real life, it turned out Susie’s owner was not only alive—he was scouring the devastated town, desperate to find his dog. Because sometimes the internet really does have its uses, his sister spotted Susie’s picture on Facebook and alerted the sheriff’s; leading to a touching reunion. If that wasn’t enough ‘awww’ factor for one entry, here’s proof that Susie and her owner weren’t the only ones.

Of all the unlikely settings for a heart-warming tale, ‘Nazi forced labour camp’ should be pretty high on the list. But try telling that to Luigi Pedutto and Mokryna Yurzuk. In 1944, they were both interred in an Austrian concentration camp—he as an Italian prisoner of war, she because you can add ‘Ukrainians’ to the list of people Hitler hated for no reason. For a year they toiled together in conditions most of us can’t even imagine, until they eventually fell in love—at which point the camp was liberated and the Soviets carted Mokryna back behind the iron curtain. Because 20th century politics sucked, Pedutto was refused a Visa and they remained separated for 60 years.

Then, in 2004, Pedutto decided to try his luck again. In a final argument for reality TV being not totally-awful, he wrote in to a Russian TV show, which tracked down Mokryna and reunited them live on air. The two have now resumed a courtship that survived Hitler, Stalin, the Cold War, reunification and six decades—because sometimes, true love isn’t just a cliché.

North Korea is a dark place; both metaphorically and literally. Satellite images taken at night show an empty space hemmed in by the burning light of a thousand South Korean and Chinese cities. Thanks to an economically incompetent and inhuman regime, the only city in the country that gets electricity is the capital Pyongyang—everywhere else festers in darkness. And, if you’re a dirt-poor adolescent that’s fantastic news.

In her book ‘Nothing to Envy: Real Lives in North Korea’, Barbara Demick reveals how even the most-brutal regime on Earth has failed to quash romance. Across the country, teenagers use the lightless nights to plan trysts, meet partners and generally do what kids across the world do when they’re young and shy and in love. Because there’s no electricity, party snoops who would otherwise stop them are flying blind: meaning the kids have the night to themselves. And boy do they use it well: at the bottom of this page is a heart-warming tale of one girl’s illegal romance with a boy from another village. In other words, even in the most tightly-controlled environment on Earth, love has still managed to find a way.

During the Second World War, the German U-Boat submarines became notorious among sailors. So when a Greek crew realized one was on their tail in 1939, they decided to abandon ship. No sooner were they overboard than it became clear this was a dumb idea: the sea was stormy, there was still a German U-Boat nearby and their lifeboats sucked something bad. How bad? Well, they were barely clear of the doomed ship when one capsized, throwing the sailors into the water. By all rights, this should have been game over for the Greeks—had the U-Boat captain not had a sudden attack of humanity.

Giving orders to surface, he brought the 28 Greeks aboard and had his crew carry them to neutral Ireland. Once there, he deposited them on the beach, before sailing back into the war. Let me repeat that: a Nazi officer in the middle of one of the most brutal wars in history quietly saved 28 lives for no other reason than he was a decent guy. There is a word for people like that, and that word is ‘awesome’.

If you only ever heard about the world through newspapers and blogs, you’d be forgiven for thinking we were at the epicenter of an epic battle between East and West. The idea goes that Islam and Christianity are incompatible and we all just want each other dead. Well, try telling that to Egypt.

In 2011, a bunch of extremists attacked a church in Alexandria, killing 21 Coptic Christians. Upon hearing that it was ‘open season’ on their Christian neighbors, Egypt’s Muslim majority ran out their houses, found the nearest church . . . and acted as human shields. Yeah: they surrounded the churches, risking their own lives to keep their countrymen safe. As fantastic as this is, we’re not done yet—not by a long shot. See, in the midst of a violent revolution, stopping to pray to Mecca five times a day can leave you a little vulnerable. Unless, that is, you have a heck-load of Christians ready to repay a favor and stand guard around you, ready to fight to the death. So yeah, everyone came to each other’s aid when they needed it most. What was that about ‘incompatibility’ again?

In America, if you write a rap ‘dissing’ a politician you’ll either get ignored or become a viral sensation for the wrong reasons. Not so in Somalia. Since the government collapsed in the ’90s, most of the country has been controlled by vicious warlords. In 2006, a terrorist group that took over most of the south even banned listening to music on pain of death. So you can imagine the sort of courage you’d need to insult these guys. Well, meet the man with the largest testicles in the world.

In 2004, Shiine Akhyaar Ali founded Waayaha Cusub a Somali group that made a name for itself singing anti-jihad songs and mocking local warlords. Determined to get their pro-peace message out whatever the cost, they kept on making music even after militants shot Shiine five times in 2007. And guess what? They won: two years ago the militants were driven from the capital, Mogadishu, and Waayaha Cusub got busy organizing music festivals. They’re currently using their music and workshops to give kids who’ve lived all their lives with violence a peaceful outlet, and to sweep away the last traces of extremism. Maybe Kanye should just think about that for a second next time he compares himself to the Messiah.

The Syrian civil war has thrown up its fair share of horrific moments. But, even in the midst of the worst depravity imaginable, good deeds sometimes still happen.

After a rocket attack left his younger brother Abdulrahman in need of an amputation, 24 year old Omar decided no relative was going to die on his watch. Only problem being: they were in the middle of a warzone, with his brother now incapable of walking. How the hell was he going to get him to safety?

Simple: acting like the older brother we all wish we’d had, Omar strapped his younger sibling to his back and literally walked to Turkey. Chew on that for a second. In recent weeks, the conflict has spilled over into Turkish towns; the border has become effectively lawless and crossing it more dangerous than juggling hand grenades. Yet Omar not only crossed it, he did it with his injured brother strapped to his back. So, in short, 11 year old Abdulrahman is now alive, thanks to his big brother being the humanitarian equivalent of the Terminator.

In the 1990s, Rwanda suffered one of the worst genocides in modern history. Over the course of 100 days, the country lost nearly 20 percent of its population—thanks to a murderous rampage by Hutu extremists. In the middle of all this barbarity, Rwanburindi Enoch and his wife took one look and said ‘not today’.

First, they refused to partake in the violence—at a time when moderate Hutus were getting murdered as much as the Tutsis. Second, Enoch opened the doors of their house to injured Tutsis, giving them shelter even as local Hutu Power types threatened him with death. Third—and most-awesomely of all—when he ran out of his space in his house, he built another one on his property specifically for Tutsis to hide in. When asked why he was endangering himself and his family, he said he couldn’t turn his back on a fellow Christian. In the end, Enoch saved many lives, despite it costing him his reputation, his money and nearly everything. Because sometimes, you just gotta do the right thing and consequences be damned.

You may have heard of the Sarajevo siege. For four years, Serb forces kept the Muslim-majority city pinned down under sniper fire. But for Enver Imamovic, the biggest worry wasn’t that he’d lose his life. It was that a single book might be destroyed by the invading forces.

Let’s back up a little: Imamovic was the director of the national museum—the most prized possession of which is the 660 year old Haggadah, a medieval book telling the Jewish story of Exodus. It’s currently insured for a billion dollars, but that evidently didn’t matter much in the midst of genocide. Fearing the Yugoslav’s People’s army would wipe out the oldest tangible trace of Bosnian Jewish culture, Imamovic literally risked his life to save it. And it was a risk: his story involves bribing police officers, dodging bullets and nearly being obliterated by a mortar. Yet he managed it: thanks to his efforts, this fragment of his city’s past survived the longest siege in modern history. The best part? Imamovic wasn’t even Jewish—he was Muslim. That’s right: even as his entire country was splitting along ethnic lines, Imamovic still gave enough of a damn about solidarity to risk his life for a symbol of their shared heritage.

Simply put, there has never been anywhere as horrific as Auschwitz. All the cruelty, sadism, indifference and psychopathy that our species is capable of reached its fullest expression between its walls, where 1.5 million people died pointlessly. Yet, even in the midst of this inferno, there were moments of humanity.

In 1941, three prisoners managed to escape the camp and consequently the deputy commander ordered ten prisoners to be starved to death in retaliation. When one of the randomly-selected men began to cry for his wife and children, another prisoner called Maximilian Kolbe stepped forward and offered to take his place.

Read that sentence again: in the middle of the most-notorious murder machine that’s ever existed, Kolbe was so moved by pity he volunteered to die in place of another man. And when the Nazis acquiesced and sent him into a bunker with the nine others, his spirit didn’t break. By all accounts, he spent the last two weeks of his life comforting the others with his Catholic faith and accepted his end with a dignity that should have been impossible in the circumstances. Nor was it a useless gesture: the man whose place he took—Franciszek Gajowniczek—lived another 53 years.

Thanksgiving is usually a time for watching parades and stuffing one’s face with turkey and cranberry sauce. But the United States has always taken pride in celebrating the very essence of this holiday. Thanksgiving is a time to help others, to embrace that community spirit and give a little back. Shelters provide warm places for the homeless. Charities raise money for many important causes. And families gather round the table to give thanks. Thanksgiving reminds us that the United States is a truly warm and welcoming place.

From emergency service workers to the volunteers who man the food banks, many ordinary men and women will spend this Thanksgiving helping others. So let’s take some time to celebrate just some of these wonderful people and their sacrifices.

See Also: 10 Ways The History Of Thanksgiving Is Nothing Like You Imagined

10 Saving a Baby’s Life

On Thanksgiving in 2011, firefighters arrived at the scene of a Brooklyn apartment that was engulfed in flames. The fire began when a careless smoker dropped a lit cigarette on a mattress. In a frantic bid to douse the fire, one of the residents attempted to move the mattress into the bathroom. =The plan failed spectacularly, causing the fire to spread even faster.

The New York City Fire Department arrived within less than three minutes. One of the teams set about extinguishing the fire, while the others started to pull survivors from the smoke-filled building. One of the occupants leapt from a third-story window onto the awning of the adjacent building. The man was trapped and covered in blood. Firefighter Matthew Hanley, of Ladder 122, retrieved the man.

Meanwhile, firefighters David Newberry and Richard Myers rushed into the apartment to rescue the remaining residents. Myers successfully extracted a man and a woman. Amid the ruins, Newberry discovered a young baby who was no longer breathing. Firefighters Andrew Hartshorne and Neil Malone worked with the EMT crew to administer CPR. The youngster, Josiah Alexis, remained lifeless for almost six nerve-racking minutes. Thankfully, the crew managed to bring Josiah back. “It’s like a song to your ears to hear that baby get its breath on its own,” said Malone.

It took the firefighters an hour to control the blaze. The entire family was taken to hospital and placed on ventilators. “Make no mistake about it, there’s five people alive today due to coordinated efforts of FDNY,” explained FDNY Deputy Chief Kevin Woods, “and that, on this Thanksgiving, we are very thankful for.”^[1]

9 Disabled Teen Fulfills Thanksgiving Wish

Drew Bell was born with spina bifida, a congenital defect that led to problems with the development of his spine. Over the years, the youngster has undergone a total of seven corrective surgeries. Drew can no longer walk and remains confined to a wheelchair. But this has not stopped him from living a normal life.

After enrolling at Keller High School in Texas, he decided to join the school’s 400-strong marching band. Drew served as one of the band’s trumpeters and formed a strong friendship with fellow marcher Kailey Summons. But there was one obvious problem. Drew could not maneuver his wheelchair and play the trumpet at the same time. When the band directors pitched the idea of another student helping Drew during his marches, Kailey immediately volunteered. The two practiced together from that day on. This meant that Kailey sacrificed the opportunity to play her own instrument during the school’s football “Spirit Shows.”

“I just did it to make sure he knew that he always had a place in the band, and he always will,” Kailey explained. The 18-year-old had other commitments, too. As the leader of the brass section, she had to perform uniform checks and organize the freshman performers.

In 2018, Drew got to fulfill his wish of appearing in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Kailey was initially set to perform alongside him. But Drew’s mother, Kimberly Bell, wanted Kailey to march like any other band member. So Kimberly stepped in to push her son instead. “I’m just thankful this worked out because I want her to shine and have her moment,” she explained.^[2]

8 Texting the Wrong Number

In 2016, Jamal Hinton was surprised to see an offer of Thanksgiving dinner pop up on his phone. “Thanksgiving dinner is at my house on Nov. 24 at 3:00pm. Let me know if you’re coming. Hope to see you all.” The woman claimed it was his grandmother. Hinton was skeptical. “Well, it was either the wrong number or my grandma learned how to use her phone,” Hinton mocked.

When the 17-year-old asked for a photo, it became clear that Jamal was speaking to someone else’s grandmother. Jokingly, he asked if a plate was still up for grabs. The faux grandmother, Wanda Dench, insisted that Jamal attend her Thanksgiving dinner anyway. So that’s exactly what he did.

The happy accident has now sparked a tradition. In 2018, the Arizona teen attended Thanksgiving dinner at Wanda’s for the third year running. He even brought pumpkin pie. Jamal and his partner intend to invite Wanda over for future Thanksgiving dinners, once they get their own place. After the media drew attention to the story, Kraft Heinz gave Wanda a year’s supply of Stove Top stuffing. She donated most of the stuffing to a local food bank.^[3]

7 Extending the Family

National Adoption Day is observed on the Saturday before each Thanksgiving. Many states take the opportunity to rehome as many youngsters as possible. Every year, hundreds of events are organized nationwide to raise awareness of the 400,000+ children currently in the foster care system.

Brian Palmucci, a Massachusetts-based criminal defense attorney, knew for years that he would adopt a child. He witnessed vulnerable children entering the system for many reasons. Some parents became hooked on drugs. Others suffered from crippling mental health problems. So, on National Adoption Day 2018, Palmucci returned to his own courthouse and adopted a little boy, Michael.

That day, Brockton District Court united 37 children with new families. Nurse Shelly Sepulveda was there to adopt her sixth child, Kameron. The 9-year-old first met Shelly while he was in hospital battling a rare form of bone cancer. Kameron is now in remission.

A week later, Michael sat down to have Thanksgiving dinner with his new family. “We’re the ones that have been blessed with him, not really the other way around,” explained Allison Palmucci. “He’s changed our lives probably more than we’ve changed his.”^[4]

6 A Feast for the Homeless

It is no secret that California has a problem with homelessness. The authorities estimate that the Golden State was responsible for almost a quarter of all homelessness in the United States last year. According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, almost 130,000 homeless people wander the streets of California. Tens of thousands of these people are veterans and young adults.

The Midnight Mission on Skid Row does what it can to help, preparing Thanksgiving dinner for thousands of homeless people each year. The mission also hands out other essential items, including hygiene kits, clothing, and blankets. Of course, many of California’s missions reach out to the needy all year round. They help combat homelessness, poverty, and drug addiction.

It is not unusual to see famous faces handing out Thanksgiving meals on Skid Row. Every year, actress Minnie Driver takes her son along to serve food. She hopes it will teach him to become part of the community and give back. In 2018, Kevin Hart’s daughter persuaded him to drop by on Thanksgiving. His family donated $50,000 to the mission and handed out food and care packages. “I will say I am happy to be a helping hand,” the comedian told the media. “But I think the people that were involved with the Mission on a daily basis… those are the real people that deserve the applause.”

Every Thanksgiving morning, thousands of Los Angeles residents participate in a charity run called the “Turkey Trot.” Adults enter the 5K and 10K trots, while the children take on the “Widdle Wobble” race. The Midnight Mission, which prepares over 400,000 meals annually, uses the proceeds of the run to pay for its supplies.^[5]

5 The 9-Year-Old Shoe Collector

Lynnea Montgomery has always wanted to help others. When Lynnea was just seven years old, she raised nearly $400 to buy clothes for the homeless. The Arizona girl then spent the next two years raising more money for her cause, even going so far as to use her own allowance.

Lynnea’s church would often donate clothes to the homeless around Thanksgiving. However, she noticed that they had received very few donations of shoes. So, the following year, Lynnea hatched a plan. She handed out hand-written flyers, asking Tucson residents to donate pairs of shoes.

The community came through. Nearly 200 pairs were donated over a six-month period. Lynnea even received several bags of shoes from L.A. Dodgers player Alex Verdugo. After washing any used shoes at the local laundromat, Lynnea spent Thanksgiving handing them out to the homeless. The fourth grader was joined by members of the Rising Star Missionary Baptist Church, who had previously given her the Outstanding Volunteer Award. Lynnea spoke about what motivated her to keep doing charity work: “We’re not needy because we are rich as in we’re rich in God, so I know everything will come to me as God pleases, and I want that to come to others, and so I wanted to help others.”^[6]

4 Mattress Mack

In 2017, Hurricane Harvey devastated vast swathes of southern Texas and Louisiana. The Category 4 hurricane inflicted around $125 billion of damage, dumping torrential rain across Houston and displacing nearly 40,000 residents. A staggering 70 percent of Harris County was under water. And the sheer weight of the floods caused Houston to sink two centimeters.

On the morning of August 27, Jim McIngvale waded through his waterlogged home to get ready for another day’s work. But the Houstonian businessman only saw the true scale of the destruction as he made his way to his furniture store. McIngvale, better known as “Mattress Mack,” was determined to help his community. He invited residents to join him at the Gallery Furniture store for food and shelter. He also dispatched his delivery trucks to rescue around 200 residents who were trapped.

When Thanksgiving came around, Mack hosted dinner for the people of Houston. Hundreds of volunteers prepared around 5,000 pounds of turkey and ham. They also served up cranberry sauce, cornbread, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, pizzas, and hotdogs. A whopping 6,000 meals were served that day. Mack also paid for a group of first responders to fly out to Los Angeles and watch the Houston Astros play in the World Series.

Mack has used his wealth for many good deeds over the years. The 68-year-old has raised awareness of mental health issues, funded a mobile stroke unit, and donated furniture to local schools. Mack’s mantra is simple: “The essence of living is giving.”^[7]

3 The Theft that Rallied a Community

Volunteers at a food bank in Toledo, Ohio, were left in despair mere days before Thanksgiving 2017. The team arrived at the Cornucopia Food Pantry to learn that a bunch of crooks had stolen the charity’s only delivery trailer. The trailer was needed to ferry supplies to deprived community members. Without it, the volunteers were left dismantling each pallet of donations. They then had to load the items into their own cars, making the delivery process more difficult and time-consuming.

Executive Director Laura Marsh decided to post details of the incident on Facebook. She was quickly inundated with offers of help. “We started getting phone calls and phone calls and phone calls,” Marsh explained. “My phone was ringing until 2:30 in the morning from people that were interested in helping us.”

With help from the community, the Cornucopia Food Pantry was able to make all of their Thanksgiving deliveries. Local residents used their own trucks to deliver stocks of food and clothing. And a couple from Michigan donated $1,500 to fund a new loading ramp.^[8]

2 Haircuts for Turkeys

This year, barber Nate Rivera wants to make a pact with his clientele. The Kansas business owner says he will offer a free haircut to each customer who donates a turkey. The scheme, “haircuts for turkeys,” is designed to help families that are less fortunate.

Rivera, owner of N8’s Barbershop, understands that the costs associated with hosting Thanksgiving dinner can quickly mount up. Rivera needed a kidney transplant when he was a teenager, leaving his family with costly medical bills. Thankfully, friends and kindly strangers offered to pay for the Rivera family’s Thanksgiving dinner. “You can’t express how thankful I was for people that were wanting to be part of helping others without anything in return,” he said.

1,200 miles away, a Florida hairdresser is devising a similar plan. Casandra Raley will give free haircuts throughout Thanksgiving Day. The 24-hour haircut marathon is Raley’s way of showing appreciation to those who have supported her business. “I’ve been blessed to have clients in this community [who have] stood behind me and continue to come and help my business grow,” she explained. Raley will also provide free meals for her customers’ families and hand out bags of groceries.^[9]

1 The Paradise Firefighters

2018 was the year of California’s most destructive wildfire. The blaze, known as Camp Fire, was caused by a faulty power line above Butte County’s Poe Dam. The fire quickly spread via the dry scrubland, with powerful winds sweeping it into the town of Paradise. Within mere hours, the inferno had laid waste to the entire town. Other regions were badly affected, including Concow, Magalia, and Butte Creek Canyon. The fire tore through 153,000 acres of land, destroyed 18,800 structures, and claimed the lives of 85 people.

Thousands of firefighters were called upon to deal with the fire. The nighttime air turned blood red and was filled with ash and embers. Desperate escapees found themselves stranded on congested highways, watching as their own cars burst into flames. The windows of fire trucks were fitted with fire-resistant blankets. Cal Fire strike teams worked against the traffic to reach the ever-stalking wall of fire. Other teams made a last stand at a local gas station, forming a defensive line to protect fleeing motorists. The unfolding crisis raged for two weeks straight. Miraculously, the fire was halted through a combination of heavy rainfall and the tireless efforts of firefighters.

Even after the firestorm had died down, the emergency services continued their efforts. Over Thanksgiving, firefighters searched for survivors amid the smoldering ruins of Paradise. Cadaver dogs were deployed to sniff out any remains. Charities and churches orchestrated relief efforts, providing food and shelter to evacuees. And the Red Cross provided medical aid and fought to control an outbreak of the norovirus. As if that wasn’t enough, some of the firefighters even prepared Thanksgiving dinner for the victims of Camp Fire.

Cooks and volunteers from across the state descended upon Chico, situated 10 miles west of Paradise. There they assembled rows of stick burners and gas-assist grills. Organizers cooked around 7,500 pounds of turkey – enough to serve between 10,000 and 15,000 attendees. José Andrés and Guy Fieri coordinated the enormous banquet. The turkeys were brined at 8pm on the eve of Thanksgiving, and the cooking commenced at 5am. Thousands of meals were served to evacuees, first responders, and volunteers with the Red Cross and Salvation Army.

Jim Irving was one of the firefighters who sacrificed his Thanksgiving to help prepare meals. He had already spent several grueling weeks battling Camp Fire. “To me this is almost like… I’d rather be here,” Irving said. “You know it’s helping other people and that’s part of what Thanksgiving’s about.”^[10]

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