41 Touching Random Acts of Kindness That Will Restore Your Faith in Humanity

Massachusetts resident Judy O’Brien came across a viral video about crocheting with plastic bags and introduced the idea to her senior housing community. Now about a dozen women meet every week to crochet donated bags into water-resistant mats for homeless people. "I think [we’ll stop crocheting only] when they ban plastic bags," O’Brien told the Christian Science Monitor.

RELATED: How to Recycle Everything

Airline representatives at Orlando International Airport knew that federal employees were working without pay during January's partial government shutdown, so they organized a food and supplies drive to help TSA, Customs and Federal Aviation Administration workers until their paychecks resumed.

This Christmas, a burglar broke into the Salvation Army in Sanford, Maine, and stole some $1,700 in cash from a locked safe. But when the word got out in the local community, they raised the funds once again — and then some. Three businesses each gave $1,700 to the nonprofit to support its food pantry and other outreach efforts, the Portland Press Herald reported.

When California animal control authorities seized 78 bulldogs from a backyard breeder in 2017, more than 3,000 people offered to adopt the neglected animals. In December, about a dozen lucky owners and their rescued pets organized a reunion to celebrate how far they'd come. "One year ago the dogs had urine-soaked paws, no hair, and wounds everywhere," WAGS shelter manager Cortney Domey told the Orange County Register. "They had never been touched by people and were in crates. They were breeding stock. Look what a year of being loved does."

After Hurricane Florence caused devastating flooding in North Carolina this fall, kindhearted citizens like Amber Hersel jumped into action. The volunteer from the Civilian Crisis Response Team helped rescue 7-year-old Keiyana Cromartie and her family from their flooded home on September 14, 2018 in James City.

RELATED: The 20 Best Charities to Give To — And the Ones to Avoid

Anthony Ledesma, Victor Erwin, and Aaron Flowers (from left) volunteered their talents at the sixth annual Kutz4Kids event last August in San Jose, California. Fifteen barbers gave out hundreds of free haircuts for students returning to school.

Charles "Chucky" Williams lost his father to colon cancer when he was just 8 years-old. Since then, the Evansville, Indiana, resident has honored his memory through charitable acts, including filling a semi-trailer with thousands of toys for a local nonprofit back in 2016.

RELATED: Here's Where to Donate Toys to Kids Who Need Them Most

The decision made by Patricia Almonte (right) to donate the organs of her late 3-year-old daughter Veronica Garcia helped save three lives: Essence Walls (left), an 8-month-old baby, received her heart; a 2-year-old received her liver; and a 68-year-old woman received her kidneys.

"Mr. and Mrs. Claus" spread a little holiday cheer at Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children in Denver last year. The volunteers took pictures with the babies and families spending the holidays in the NICU, including preemie Kayden Reid Odey.

Frida the rescue dog and her trainer Israel Arauz Salinas went viral for their life-saving efforts during the 7.1 magnitude earthquake that shook Mexico City in 2017. The 9-year-old Labrador has detected the bodies of 52 people during her career, and the duo recently received their own statue for their service to the Mexican navy.

RELATED: 30 Cute Pictures of All-Star Dogs

Members of the Aurora Police Strategic Response Team came up with a clever way to surprise patients at Children's Hospital Colorado in 2017. Four officers dressed up in superhero costumes before rappelling down the side of the building, greeting children along the way.

American Abbey D'Agostino and New Zealander Nikki Hamblin won a special Olympic commendation for their sportsmanship at the 2016 Rio Games. After Hamblin tripped in a 5,000-meter heat, and brought D'Agostino down with her, the American helped her competitor to her feet. Later on in the race, D'Agostino fell again as a result of her twisted leg, but Hamblin stayed by her side until the finish line.

RELATED: The Most Iconic Olympic Moments of the Past 120 Years

A lucky dog got a ride from some unnamed helpers in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew two years ago. Photographer Sean Rayford caught these two men pushing a makeshift boat through the floodwaters in Lumberton, North Carolina.

College athlete Cameron Lyle registered as a bone marrow donor in high school and promptly forgot about it — until he received a call just a month before the final track and field championships of his career. The shot-put star gave up his medal chances and underwent the surgery, helping an unknown man suffering from leukemia.

Every year, the Fred Jordan Mission of Los Angeles recruits volunteer hairstylists, manicurists and estheticians to pamper homeless women and underprivileged children with makeovers, lunch and personal care supplies. Amber Paul (right) applies makeup to Joann Simpson at an event in 2002.

Long-finned pilot whales can weigh as much as 5,000 pounds, but that didn't stop 58 volunteers from saving 17 of them during a 2009 mass stranding at Hamelin Bay in Australia. The animals lovers raced against the clock, keeping the gentle giants comfortable until they could guide them back out to sea.

While Good Samaritans will return wallets to their owners, these do-gooders really took it up a notch. Constructor workers in Downey, California, came across a likely stolen pocketbook from 1957 when remodeling an office in 2000 and turned it over to their bosses. Then law enforcement released the info to the media to track down the owner, Alma Scott Grieshaber. She had unfortunately passed away the year before, but internet genealogists then connected her with descendent John Grieshaber. When the family came to collect the wallet, her two great-grandchildren got to see a snapshot of their ancestor's life.

College student Angy Rivera didn't qualify for federal aid or loans, so she started selling $5 "education bracelets" to fund her tuition at John Jay College back in 2012. When Good Samaritan Luis Hernandez heard her story, the retired MTA worker paid her entire $2,500 bill.

Wrapping your own Christmas presents can get tedious, but Denver volunteers prepare gifts for more than 3,500 people in need as part of an annual tradition. The prep culminates in the Father Woody Party, named after a Colorado priest who opened his church doors to the homeless during the bitter winter of 1982.

An abandoned chihuahua born without front legs got a new lease on life thanks to some kind-hearted humans. A San Francisco shelter first rescued the dog named Daffodil off the street. Olivia Kong, who works for the prosthetics company OrthoPets, then adopted her and set the pup up with special wheels.