When people think of wartime nurses, names like Florence Nightingale spring to mind. But countless lesser-known nurses also made valuable contributions. Unfortunately, history’s memory bank is a lot like a financial bank: when making a large withdrawal, requesting large units of currency often makes the most sense. If asking a teller for $1,000, we would rather request ten $100 bills than 100,000 pennies.

Similarly, when learning about an enormous conflict, we prefer not to study every individual involved in it. Rather, we focus on bigger figures like Florence Nightingale, the $100 bills of history. But sometimes, the pennies of history are actually priceless gems. The following lesser-known nurses saved lives while showing otherworldly courage and toughness.

10 Augusta Chiwy

On Christmas Eve 1944, volunteer nurse Augusta Chiwy nearly became a human Yule log. A bomb decimated her aid station in Bastogne, Belgium, killing 30 people. Remarking on her brush with oblivion, Chiwy reportedly quipped, “A black face in all that white snow was a pretty easy target. Those Germans must be terrible marksmen.”

Chiwy was just that tough. Born to an African mother and Belgian father, she was visiting her father for the holidays when the Battle of the Bulge began. Chiwy was a trained nurse and offered her services to an American physician whose assistants had been killed.^[1] Of her own volition, Chiwy withstood a blizzard of bombs and subfreezing cold. She was undernourished, overworked, and sometimes the subject of racism from the soldiers she treated.

Chiwy helped hundreds of American soldiers, even bathing them with boiled snow. But for roughly 70 years, she went unacknowledged. In 2011, the king of Belgium awarded Chiwy the Order of the Crown, and the US government honored her with the Civilian Award for Humanitarian Service.

9 Elsie Knocker And Mairi Chisholm

People called them “the mad Englishwomen,” but one of them was Scottish, and both were just insanely brave. Elizabeth “Elsie” Knocker and Mairi Chisholm (the Scot) traveled to Belgium at the outset of World War I to work as ambulance drivers. The women shared a love of motorcycles and soon shared an idea that made them legends.

While transporting troops, Knocker noticed a serious problem. Because of the distance she had to travel, soldiers often died of shock before reaching the hospital. She proposed treating wounded soldiers near the front lines but was roundly rejected. Women weren’t allowed within 5 kilometers (3 mi) of all that bloodshed. Ignoring orders, she and Chisholm established a makeshift medical facility 4.6 meters (15 ft) from a trench.^[2]

Working from the cellar of a dilapidated house, the duo dispensed aid to an estimated 23,000 casualties over four years. They also attracted attention from prominent people like Marie Curie (who discovered radium) and the king of Belgium. Their efforts earned them medals in 1915 from the king himself. The women soldiered on until 1918, when a gas attack incapacitated them.

8 Vivian Bullwinkel

During World War II, Vivian Bullwinkel (who later went by her married name Vivian Statham) wanted to join the Australian Air Force, but her flat feet disqualified her. Undeterred from serving, she became an Australian Army Nurse in 1941. The following year, she served in Singapore but was forced to flee alongside 64 other nurses. Unfortunately, Japanese torpedoes intercepted their ship.

Only 22 nurses made it off the ship alive. Bullwinkel latched onto a lifeboat and floated for hours until she and the remaining nurses reached the island of Bangka. One day later, Japanese forces rounded up all the women, marched them to the sea, and shot them. Only Bullwinkel survived.^[3] A bullet pierced her abdomen but missed all her vital organs. Bullwinkel feigned death until the coast was clear and then spent 12 days treating injured British soldiers on the island.

Soon, they surrendered to the Japanese. To avoid being shot again, Bullwinkel hid her nurse’s uniform. She lived as a POW for three years, secretly documenting the torture she endured on Bible pages. Her weight dropped to a skeletal 25 kilograms (56 lb), but all the while, she continued caring for the sick and wounded. After the war, Bullwinkel became Australia’s most decorated nurse.

7 Regina Aune

During the last month of the Vietnam War, President Gerald Ford launched Operation Babylift, a program that transported South Vietnamese orphans to the Philippines and the United States. The first flight literally crashed and burned. An explosion caused the plane to slide across a rice paddy, go airborne for 0.8 kilometers (0.5 mi), and then slam into an irrigation ditch, where it split into four sections.

Aboard the aircraft were 250 orphans, dozens of crew members, and Nurse Regina Aune. The crash sent Aune flying across the plane’s upper deck. The accident fractured one of her feet, one of her legs, and one of her vertebrae.^[4] But it didn’t break her will to save lives. Aune carried 80 children to safety. Once she exhausted all of her strength, she asked to be relieved from her duties and then lost consciousness.

Because of her heroism, Aune became to first woman to receive the Cheney Award for valor by an airman.

6 Eleanor Thompson And Meta Hodge

Generally speaking, hospitals are where people are cured, not killed. But war sometimes blurs that distinction. In World War I, hospitals turned into targets thanks to the advent of air raids. In 1918, the Germans attacked a series of medical facilities in France. Among them was Canadian Stationary Hospital Number 3, located in Doullens. A bomb hit in the middle of an operation, instantly killing three people.

The blast also buried nurses Eleanor Thompson and Meta Hodge under rubble. Rather than running for their lives once they resurfaced, the die-hard duo started putting out fires and turning over coal heaters to prevent patients’ beds from bursting into flames. They then oversaw the evacuation of the patients, ignoring their own injuries until everyone else was safe.^[5] They were among the first Canadian women ever to be awarded for valor.

5 The Angels Of Bataan And Corregidor

Before the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, many American nurses traveled to the Philippines in search of sunshine and adventure. But in December 1941, the sky was darkened by incoming fighter pilots. After wreaking havoc in Hawaii, the Japanese took aim at Manila.

The nurses sought refuge in the muggy jungles of Bataan, where they looked after 6,000 patients and battled malaria, diminishing food supplies, and constant bombing by the Japanese. As conditions worsened, American forces escaped to the island of Corregidor. There, nurses operated in an underground hospital.^[6] Eventually, the GIs reached their breaking point, and the nurses reached a crossroads.

The nurses could either retreat or remain with the POWs. Many chose to stay, forsaking freedom for the sake of helping sick and wounded troops. When the Japanese restricted the prisoners’ daily nourishment to 700 calories, the nurses supposedly fed the men roots, flowers, and even weeds cooked in cream. After more than two years of brutal captivity, they were freed. The nurses were hailed not only as heroes but as angels.

4 Mary Fleming And Aileen Turner

Mary Fleming and Aileen Turner were Irish nurses assigned to the tuberculosis ward at Grove Park Hospital in London. Unfortunately, patients weren’t the sickest thing they saw. In 1940, Germany rained bombs on London, striking the hospital in the process. Seventeen TB patients were trapped until Fleming and Turner guided them to safety.

Even reaching the patients required a heroic effort. Tuner and Fleming had to climb through a window and crawl along a floor on the verge of collapsing. Then they had to shepherd a procession of sick people past burst pipes that spewed burning steam.^[7] They succeeded just in the nick of time. Moments after the evacuation, the floor of the TB ward gave way. Afterward, they were awarded the George Medal.

3 Ellen Savage

Singing with a fractured jaw sounds extremely difficult. Sister Ellen Savage managed to sing with a broken jaw, broken ribs, and broken people who needed her help. An Australian Army nurse during World War II, Savage sustained severe injuries when the Japanese destroyed her hospital ship, the Centaur.^[8] But as the only surviving nurse, she took it upon herself to help the other survivors.

Savage hid her injuries and tended to other hurt passengers. When everyone’s mood sank like a ship, she tried to keep their spirits afloat by leading a sing-along. The group must have sung a long time. Trapped on a raft, they watched helplessly as ships and planes passed without noticing them. And while Savage had to deal with a broken jaw, all the survivors worried about the jaws of the sharks that circled them.

Savage steered the group through those discouraging moments without hinting at the agony she must have felt. She was later honored with the George Medal for her courageous conduct.

2 James Gennari

In 2012, helicopter flight nurse James Gennari was stationed in Afghanistan when he was as told a three-year-old who’d been shot was headed his way. But when the patient’s flight arrived, there was no child in sight. Instead, Gennari was greeted by a grown man with an explosive lodged in his left thigh.^[9]

A 20-year-old Marine had been shot with a 36-centimeter-long (14 in) rocket-propelled grenade intended for tanks. Luckily, the grenade did not detonate; unluckily, a wrong move could have easily changed that fact. Clearly, a scalpel wouldn’t cut it in this situation. However, there was a bomb expert on hand. Gennari was given the option to vacate the area, but he stayed and helped the expert dislodge the grenade.

The ordeal did not end there. Blood came rushing from the Marine’s leg, and Gennari had to stem the hemorrhaging while keeping his patient’s airways open. He then had to help the Marine breathe manually because the ventilator malfunctioned. Gennari’s noble efforts earned him a Bronze Star.

1 Beatrice MacDonald

World War I nurses commonly faced finger infections, pathogens, and physical exhaustion from assisting patients nonstop. Those who worked near the front line also confronted enemy fire. Beatrice MacDonald witnessed that danger firsthand in 1917. While working at a casualty cleaning station, she became a casualty of an air raid. Shrapnel slashed one of her eyes, which had to be removed.^[10]

Despite losing an eye, MacDonald insisted on seeing the war through to the end. When ordered to return home, she replied, “I have just started doing my bit.” She continued aiding soldiers until the armistice. For the incredible bit of work she did, MacDonald earned the Distinguished Service Cross.

Many people carry the hope that they will be the one that helps as many people as possible in the event of a disaster. They hope to be the hero and not the one that flees the scene. However, there is no way to know whether you would run or stay and help until the very moment you are faced with a life and death situation.

The heroic people on this list came face-to-face with devastation and death and chose to stay.

Related: 10 Times A Homeless Person Was A Hero (For Real)

10 Women and Children First

As the RMS Titanic began to sink during the freezing cold early morning hours of April 15, 1912, chief baker Charles Joughin knew he wouldn’t survive. Instead of going into a state of panic, he spurred on the other chefs to help him pack food and supplies into the lifeboats. When this task was done, he helped women and children board lifeboats, eventually “throwing” those who refused to leave the doomed ship into the boats to ensure their survival. He also heaved deck chairs overboard, hoping that those who couldn’t make it into lifeboats had something to cling to.

Joughin is believed to have been the last person to leave the Titanic, gripping the safety railing as the ship sank into the -2°C (28°F) water of the Atlantic Ocean. The baker spent almost three hours in the sea before being rescued, suffering only swollen feet. He also ingested a copious amount of whisky before going down with the ship, which is thought to have warmed his body enough to withstand the frigid temperature.^[1]

9 When Disaster Strikes

Miami’s beach paradise became the center of devastation and despair on June 24, 2021, when the 12-story Champlain Towers South condominium partially collapsed, killing 98 people. Out of the four people rescued from the rubble, one died in the hospital. Thirty-five people were rescued from the remainder of the building that remained standing, and a further 11 were injured.

Nicholas Balboa was out walking his dog when he experienced what felt like an earthquake. In shock, he realized that the nearby building was coming down, and when he heard a boy crying for help, he immediately ran toward the crumbling structure. When he saw a hand sticking out of the debris, he and another person scrambled onto the huge mound of rubble and were soon assisted by emergency personnel. The boy was stuck under his bed frame and was pulled to safety by Balboa and the other rescuers. Fifteen-year-old Jonah Handler survived but unfortunately lost his mother in the tragedy.^[2]

8 A Day of Terror

Many heroes sprang into action on December 26, 2004, when the Indian Ocean earthquake caused a massive tsunami that wrecked coastlines, villages, and cities, killing almost 230,000 people. Ten-year-old Tilly Smith, who had been on vacation in Phuket with her family, had watched a video of a 1946 Hawaii tsunami in her geography class two weeks earlier. Before her eyes, the black and white video came to life in terrifying color as the sea frothed and receded. She pleaded with her family to believe her that a tsunami was coming, and her father eventually alerted resort staff, who cleared the beach. Tilly’s quick thinking saved around 100 lives that fateful day.

Peter Davison, a paramedic from Hobart, heard about the tsunami on the news after experiencing the initial earthquake and immediately headed to the Phuket International Hospital, where he activated their disaster management plan. For five days, he worked 16-hour shifts alongside his staff before things started settling down. Davison has been hailed a hero for his dedication in treating severely injured people and maintaining calm in mid of chaos.^[3]

7 The Tragedy That Changed America Forever

As the smoke rose from the World Trade Center, there was panic in the air. People were trapped above the impact zones, elevators started falling, and in desperation, some decided to jump from mangled windows. While many lost their lives on that fateful day, some brave men and women helped save others—here are just a few of them.

Benjamin Clark, a 39-year-old former Marine and chef, helped everyone on the 96th floor of the South Tower escape the building. He saw a woman in a wheelchair on his way down and didn’t hesitate to help her too. Unfortunately, Clark died in the South Tower after it collapsed, leaving behind his wife and five children. He was one of many heroes that selflessly helped others that day, losing their own lives in the process.

Thomas Burnett, who was on board the hijacked United Airlines Flight 93, hatched a plan along with a group of other passengers to try and regain control of the plane. The plane eventually crashed in Pennsylvania, but Burnett and the other passengers were posthumously lauded for their efforts and credited with preventing the hijackers from crashing the plane into the White House or Capitol building.

WTC maintenance worker, William Rodriguez, was in the basement of the North Tower when tragedy struck. He climbed the stairs alongside firefighters, unlocking doors wherever possible, and helped save hundreds of lives. (Link 4) ^[4]

6 “Come, I’m here!”

On March 15, 2019, 28-year-old Brenton Harrison Tarrant entered the Al Noor Mosque in Riccarton, New Zealand, and randomly opened fire. He continued to the Linwood Islamic Center while continuously shooting at the people inside. Sadly, 51 died, and another 40 were injured.

Forty-eight-year-old Abdul Aziz didn’t think of hiding from the crazed terrorist for one moment. Instead, focusing on the fact that his four sons and dozens of other people were inside the Linwood Mosque, he grabbed the first weapon he could find. In this case, the weapon was a credit card machine. Brandishing the device, he ran outside and yelled, “Come, I’m here!” after which he threw the machine at the gunman.

Aziz then got hold of a gun abandoned by Tarrant and hurled it at the gunman’s car window. All the while, Tarrant was firing at him, and Aziz zig-zagged between cars, never taking his eyes off the shooter. Eventually, Tarrant gave up and sped off in his car with Aziz chasing him. Soon after, police officers forced the car off the road and arrested Tarrant.

Abdul Aziz has been credited with stopping the terrorist from killing more people inside the Linwood Mosque and helping to get him arrested.^[5]

5 “It wasn’t hard.”

The day that lives in infamy also saw several heroes springing to action to help protect American lives. The attack on Pearl Harbor was the tragic incident that finally saw America enter the Second World War. Almost 20 naval ships and 200 aircraft were destroyed during the surprise attack by Japanese forces. More than 2,400 US soldiers died, and 1,000 were wounded.

Third Class cook, Doris Miller, was in the middle of collecting laundry when all hell broke loose on December 7, 1941. Rushing to his battle station, he found that it had been torpedoed, after which he ran to the deck and started carrying away wounded soldiers. Miller also delivered ammunition to two machine gun crews and then manned one of the guns and fired for fifteen minutes until it ran out of ammunition, even though he’d never been trained to handle weapons. The 22-year-old became the first African American to receive the Navy Cross for his bravery. Miller said afterward that “it wasn’t hard” and “I just pulled the trigger and she worked fine.”^[6]

4 “I was just doing what I was taught to do.”

The deliberate sinking of the Lusitania on May 7, 1915, through a German torpedo, became one of the worst atrocities of WWI. Nearly 1,200 people lost their lives in the disaster, during which the ship split in two after a secondary explosion. Within 18 minutes of being torpedoed, the Lusitania sank, leaving passengers fighting for their lives in the freezing ocean.

Able Seamen Joseph Parry and Leslie Morton did their best to help those who were dying around them. Together, they hauled 100 people from the water. They were joined by Irish fishermen who also wanted to help. One of the survivors, pulled to safety by Parry, was a young sobbing mother clutching her screaming baby. Out of sheer gratitude, the woman took one of her baby’s booties and gave it to Parry. He treasured the bootie, writing the words “Lest We Forget Lusitania May 7, 1915” on the sole. Sadly, however, the woman and baby both died shortly after.

Another survivor later said he had seen Parry plaiting another young woman’s hair to try and keep her calm. Parry earned a Silver Board of Trade Medal for Gallantry and said afterward, “I was just doing what I was taught to do.”^[7]

3 Young Heroes

On March 27, 1985, 41-year-old Willem Horne lost control of the double-decker school bus he was driving. The bus, carrying 72 students, crashed into the Westdene dam in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Mere seconds after the accident, 17-year-old matric pupil Pieter Koen was out of the open window next to his seat and on the roof of the half-submerged bus. Without hesitation, he dove into the dam water and, after a minute, pulled a fellow student out. He did this four more times, each time rescuing a student. The sixth time Koen dove into the water, he didn’t come back up.

Theo de Koker and Matthys Wehmeyer were in another bus traveling ahead of the yellow bus. When they heard screaming, they both looked around and saw the yellow bus sinking into the dam. Yelling for their own bus driver to stop, they ran, shrugging their shoes and jackets off as they went, and dove into the water. Together they rescued their friend, Deon Beukes, from the water. The two boys pulled Beukes to safety and then continued to descend and rescue students, one of which was de Koker’s sister. Another student named Danie Theron also saved three of his classmates.

Almost 3,000 people gathered around the dam, including some of the parents of the students. As they looked on, medical personnel fought to save those who had been pulled from the water. By the end of the day, 42 had died, and 30 had been saved. The bus driver also survived.

Pieter Koen and Danie Theron both received bravery awards, Koen posthumously. Four years after the tragedy, Theron took his own life.^[8]

2 Unexpected Disaster

There were 47 people on the stratovolcano White Island in the Bay of Plenty region in New Zealand when it suddenly erupted on December 9, 2019. Twenty-two died, and 25 were injured, most of whom suffered severe burns.

White Island Tours manager Paul Kingi had been on the island that day, and very shortly after he left with his tour group, the volcano erupted. Kingi got into an inflatable dinghy and set off for the island. When he reached it, he managed to get 20 people to safety.

Helicopter pilot Tom Storey and two of his colleagues helped rescue 12 people from the island, despite conditions being too dangerous to fly. No other emergency service helicopters joined them because of the unsafe conditions, so Storey, Mark Law, and Jason Hill loaded the 12 survivors into their own helicopters and transported them to the nearest hospital.^[9]

1 For the Sake of Saving Hundreds of Thousands of Lives

In the immediate aftermath of the world’s worst nuclear disaster, dozens lost their lives. Within 10 days, a new threat reared its head in the form of nuclear steam explosions. This type of explosion would likely have reached as far as Minsk, which is 320 kilometers (198 miles) from Chernobyl.

To prevent this from happening, a pressure valve had to be released. Three brave men took the task upon themselves, with only one of them, Alexei Ananenko, knowing the valve’s location. Ananenko, Valeri Bezpalov, and Boris Baranov dove underneath the reactor and released the valve, saving the area from an even worse disaster. Tragically, all three men suffered severe radiation poisoning after their heroic act and died within weeks. They knew beforehand that they would die because of the radiation exposure but chose to give up their lives to save the lives of hundreds of thousands of other people.^[10]

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]