The good guys thread

[kuhio98]

While serving in Iraq in 2009, Specialist Troy Yocum received several distressing e-mails. “My good friend, an Iraq War veteran, was hurting financially,” says Yocum. “I wanted to help, but I [felt] powerless.” The episode stuck with Yocum. When he returned home to Louisville, he ruminated about how to raise money for financially strapped vets and came up with Hike for Our Heroes. The 7,000-mile walk, also known as the Drum Hike because of the instrument he plays en route, kicked off in Louisville in April 2010 and is expected to end there this September. Yocum collects donations through his website and delivers checks to the doorsteps of needy military families. When his march wraps up, he will have trekked to 38 large cities in 30 states and touched down on all three coasts—in San Diego, New Orleans, and Boston.
“I thought, What better way to spread the word than literally going from town to town,” says Yocum. With the support of his wife, Mareike, and sponsors, including Merrell shoes, Yamaha, and Green Beans Coffee, Yocum has logged an average of 20 miles a day, sleeping in donated hotel rooms, host homes, and his tent. If all goes according to plan, by fall he will have given away several hundred thousand dollars. “Every step is worth it because when I arrive to help another family, it is the best feeling.”

[kuhio98]

Car Troubles
Well me and my girlfriend had decided to move to a new town for school. I currently did not have a reliable car. I had also waited a little to long to enroll in school. So i decided to go ahead and work a full time job until second semester to cover bills. Money was tight after paying for the move and getting everything set up. The brakes had finally gone out on my little car. I could not go to work unless it was the same schedule my girlfriend went to school so she could drop me off. I clocked in at work that same morning my car stopped working and to my surprise i had a customer waiting. I was told to install a protective shield for his tablet. I apologized to my manager and quickly informed him of my transportation issue before helping the customer. I am also not one to take home-problems to work. Little did i know the customer overheard my problem. As i started working on his tablet, he began to ask me questions about my life pretty much. school, family, work, cars. When i finished my work he took a roll of cash out of his pocket and firmly pressed it into mine. he told me to use it for my car and "pay it forward". To my surprise he had handed me $200 which was way more than enough for my brake problem. I never got his name, but that man changed my life forever. Random acts of kindness don't just turn someone’s day around. it changes their life. Pay it forward.

[carole]

My parents neighbors down the road a bit came over and offered to mow their lawns for free for Xmas,how nice,they did not leave empty handed though,a bottle of finest scotch whiskey ,was given for their troubles,but what a nice gesture from them,and not expecting anything in return.

[kuhio98]

On a cold winter's morning, an old man sat awkwardly against a wall at Sydney's Circular Quay station I glanced his way for a moment but disregarded him as a derelict and walked on along with the throng of people caught up in the bustle of commuting.

On my way home that afternoon, I saw the same man in the same place. He was crumpled over, his head almost on the ground. Two ambulance attendants were crouched beside him. This time my step paused. He wasn't a derelict at all. He was old certainly, but he wore a nice suit and was clean-shaven. And in a very bad way.

Shame rocked me. How torturous for that sick, old man to have endured the coldness of the entire day, sitting on the hard, unforgiving ground. He probably reached out to passersby for help. No-one stopped. No-one cared. Out of sight, out of mind.

A different season and I again came across an old man half lying on the footpath, not far from where the Winter Man had been. The morning heat was stifling. Caught up in the familiar stampede of people commuting, I barely glanced at him. However, the memory of the old Winter Man came back to me vividly. I walked back to the man on the ground. He was dressed in smart clothes with a neatly trimmed beard and only a straw hat for shade. I knelt down to ask if he was OK. His kind face looked at me.
Beside him, a takeaway cup of coffee and sugar sachets lay open. A flow of people kept walking by. He regained consciousness, albeit weakly, and told me he was diabetic and it might be a good idea to call an ambulance, which I did - it was a few minutes away.

In barely a whisper, he said to me, "Nobody stopped. Thank you." Fighting back tears, I asked his name. "Greg," he said. We looked into each other's eyes for a moment. Volumes were spoken without a word being uttered. I saw a proud man who didn't like what was happening to him. As the approaching ambulance's siren proclaimed the arrival of help, a number of emotions rushed at me. I felt sadness tugging at my heart for the Winter Man and shame that I had almost walked past another person in need. I was amazed that it had been so easy to be helpful.

[Louie and me]

My husband has a really bad heart condition so I have always done most of the heavy work around the house and garden. My neighbors have always cleared deep snow falls for me with their snow blowers and I did lighter falls that just needed a shovel. That is until this year when I started having severe back problems due to disc issues. Yesterday one of my neighbors came over with his shovel to clear the driveway in the morning and this morning two other neighbors came over and cleared the rest of it. They are the best and I am so grateful.

[kuhio98]

My husband has a really bad heart condition so I have always done most of the heavy work around the house and garden. My neighbors have always cleared deep snow falls for me with their snow blowers and I did lighter falls that just needed a shovel. That is until this year when I started having severe back problems due to disc issues. Yesterday one of my neighbors came over with his shovel to clear the driveway in the morning and this morning two other neighbors came over and cleared the rest of it. They are the best and I am so grateful.

Your neighbors sound like lovely people. What a blessing to have them.

[kuhio98]

Blind Dog Takes Walks with a Guide Cat

Four years ago, a tomcat showed up at Judy Godfrey-Brown's door in Anglesey, Wales, on a mission.

When the animal lover accepted the stray into her brood of cats and dogs, "he ignored everybody and went straight for my blind dog and started loving him," she tells PEOPLE. "He realized something was different about the dog and [wanted to help]."

Now, the cat, named Pwditat, and Godfrey-Brown's 8-year-old dog Terfel, are inseparable, and Pwditat has become the dog's guide. The feline uses his paws to help lead the pooch – who lost his sight years ago to cataracts – outside on walks. Their sweet relationship was first reported by the Daily Post of North Wales.

"The cat came here because that cat knew there was something different about the dog," Godfrey-Brown says, adding that because of her recent surgery the pair are living at a nearby cattery run by a local woman named Anne Cragg. "They sleep together in the same basket and go for walks. Why can't people be as lovely as that?"