The Kindest People: Be Excellent to Each Other (Volume 2)

This book contains 250 stories about good deeds, including these: 1) Thanksgiving in Canada occurs on the second Monday of October. A little before Thanksgiving of 2012, vandals destroyed the Liftlock Community Garden plot of Jennifer Olauson’s family, a garden that her six-year-old son had worked very hard on. Before teaching a class to her students at Fleming College in Cobourg, Ontario, Canada, Ms. Olauson asked for permission to speak about something not related to the subject of the design-and-layout course. She then vented her feelings about the vandalism. The vandals had ripped up the garden and had apparently played baseball with the vegetables. She said, “It was just a mess.” Her son was devastated. The Friday before Thanksgiving, her students did a good deed. Sometimes, students take off early for a long holiday weekend, but lots of students showed up for class. Ms. Olauson said, “It was just weird. I was thinking, ‘It’s the Friday before a holiday. … What are they all doing here?’” Her students had collected money and had purchased a fall harvest for her and her family. When she entered the classroom, the harvest was on her desk. She said, “I bawled. It was just so much food. I never expected that good would come from this situation. There is just so much bad news, and sometimes kids can have such a bad stigma. What they did was wonderful.” 2) On 23 October 2012 in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, three William C. McGinnis Middle School students — a 12-year-old seventh-grade girl and two 13-year-old eighth-grade boys — found a 14-month-old girl wandering, alone, along a street. The toddler had walked out of her home. Her grandmother missed her a few minutes later and ran down the street looking for her. The William C. McGinnis Middle School students contacted police, who responded immediately, and the grandmother showed up shortly afterward. Superintendent of Schools Janine Walker Caffrey said, “We are so proud of these amazing young people. They are a wonderful reflection of their families, the McGinnis School, and the great city of Perth Amboy. We all thank them for protecting one of our youngest and most vulnerable citizens.” 3) For generations, many or most Serbs and Croatians have not liked each other, but for at least some young people that is changing. Students from the United World College in Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina, walked through the town carrying flags for a cultural parade — students from over forty nationalities attend that college. Reddit user EvolvedBacteria wrote, “My Serbian friend was walking hand in hand with his Croatian girlfriend.” Because they were carrying flags, their nationalities could be easily known. EvolvedBacteria continued, “When an old lady asked her how she could dare to walk next to a Serb, she kissed him.” EvolvedBacteria continued, “For us, here in Mostar, it shows that the new generations are not willing to continue a war of minds.”