Kindness rarely makes headlines, yet it is everywhere once you start looking: a teacher who refuses to let a lack of computers stop a lesson, a stranger who stops to help an injured bird, a volunteer who spends his retirement holding newborns in intensive care.
The 23 photos below were shared by ordinary people on Reddit, Imgur, Twitter and Facebook, mostly in 2016 to 2018. Some show quick, funny favours; others show courage or years of quiet commitment. Where we could confirm the story behind a picture, we have added names, places and what happened next. Where the only source is the original post, we say so.
What links them is not money or grand gestures. In almost every case someone noticed a specific need, a hungry man, a frightened student, a thirsty herd, and offered exactly what they had: time, a skill, a meal or a bit of nerve. That is a useful lesson in itself. Research on wellbeing also suggests that small acts of generosity tend to lift the giver's mood as well as the receiver's, which may be one reason the people in these photos keep doing it. Each credit links to the person who first shared the picture.
Small favours from strangers
1. A warning left for the next person
Someone in a public restroom found the toilet roll used up and propped the empty cardboard tube on the seat, so the next visitor would know before sitting down. It is a joke, but also a neat example of thinking one step ahead for a stranger you will never meet. Photo: redgrrr / Reddit.
2. Portrait sessions for shelter dogs
A volunteer at a dog shelter set up a small studio, complete with costumes, to photograph dogs waiting for adoption; this one is dressed as a young wizard. Good photos matter, because most adopters first meet a dog through an online listing, and a clear, friendly portrait can make an overlooked animal stand out. Photo: Annavsaliens / Reddit.
3. A computer lesson drawn in chalk
Richard Appiah Akoto teaches information technology at Betenase M/A Junior High School in Sekyedomase, Ghana, a school without working computers. To prepare pupils for exams, he drew a full Microsoft Word window on the blackboard, toolbars and all. After his photos went viral in early 2018, Microsoft flew him to its Education Exchange in Singapore and pledged devices and support for the school.
Photo: florianpnn / Twitter.
4. Thanked by the man he saved
The left frame shows a police officer holding on to a man at a bridge railing; on the right, the same two men meet again at an awards ceremony, where the man who was rescued presented the officer with his award. The post did not name the city or the officers. Moments like this are a reminder that a crisis is often survivable, and that reaching out to someone in distress can change the outcome. Photo: ReaperOne / Reddit.
5. Patience at the takeaway counter
A customer watched a woman working at a Chinese takeaway stop serving to help an elderly man through the rain to his seat, wait through his slow order and then carry his food out to him. Nothing in this picture would ever make the news. That is exactly why it caught the poster's eye. Photo: Galactic_Cannibal / Reddit.
6. Water from cupped hands in Mecca
A pilgrim in the white ihram garments worn during the Hajj and Umrah lets a thirsty street cat drink from his palms after failing to find a cup. Cats are widely loved in Muslim tradition, and caring for animals in the heat of the holy city is a common sight. Photo: ASOIAF_AR / Reddit.
Feeding, rescuing and showing up
7. Village cooks who share every pot
This image comes from Village Food Factory, a cooking channel from Tamil Nadu in southern India known for preparing huge outdoor meals. The cooks often give the food away to children and people who could not afford a restaurant meal. Their videos show that a popular online channel can double as a community kitchen. Photo: villagefoodfactory / Facebook.
8. A babysitter who said yes to mermaids
The little girl in her care decided her pink-haired babysitter was a mermaid, so the sitter pulled a mermaid tail out of her closet and played along, while the girl splashed in her own costume in the bath. Joining a child's imaginary world costs nothing and is one of the things children remember most. Photo: Botatitsbest / Reddit.
9. The water man of Tsavo
Patrick Mwalua, a pea farmer in Kenya, began hiring a tanker to bring water to animals in Tsavo West National Park during a severe drought. He delivered around 3,000 litres a trip, sometimes up to three times a day, filling waterholes used by elephants, buffalo, zebras and antelope. His story spread around the world in 2016 and 2017, while Kenya was facing one of its worst droughts in years.
Photo: spooky4Chrispratt / Imgur.
10. A sparrow and a search for a vet
In a coffee shop, a man cradles an injured sparrow in one hand while searching animal hospitals on his laptop with the other. If you find an injured wild bird, keeping it warm, dark and quiet in a ventilated box and calling a local wildlife rescue or vet is usually the best help you can give. Photo: Au_Struck_Geologist / Reddit.
11. A first trip to an amusement park
Chatting with his taxi driver, a passenger learned the man had never been to an amusement park, so he invited him along and paid his way. The pair's faces on the ride say the rest. Turning a routine conversation into an invitation is a small leap most of us could make more often. Photo: TprznJobe / Imgur.
12. A six-year-old's hair donation
This girl had more than 13 inches of hair cut off to donate to charity. Organisations such as Little Princess Trust in the UK and Wigs for Kids in the US turn donated hair into wigs for children who have lost theirs through cancer treatment or alopecia; most ask for a minimum length, so check before cutting. Photo: lauraseb / Imgur.
Courage, comfort and years of care
13. Anthony Borges, the student who held the door
Anthony Borges was 15 when a gunman attacked Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on 14 February 2018, killing 17 people. He was shot five times while trying to barricade a classroom door, and he was widely credited with protecting the roughly 20 classmates sheltering inside. He spent weeks in hospital and survived.
Photo: usblm / Twitter.
14. Cookies for a resident who had no visitors
A visitor brought homemade cookies to a local nursing home, where staff said one resident, introduced as Mrs. Posey, had not had a visitor in more than three years. The poster gave her age as 112, which we could not confirm. Loneliness is a real health risk for older people, and many care homes welcome volunteers who simply come to talk.
Photo: kjr0523 / Imgur.
15. A Syrian refugee feeding the homeless in Berlin
Alex Assali, who fled the war in Syria, set up a folding table on a Berlin street and served hot food to homeless people. His handwritten sign explains why: he wanted to give something back to the country that took him in. He even added his email address to the sign so that others could get in touch and join in. Photo: mombomb / Imgur via Bright Side.
16. The "ICU grandpa" of Atlanta
David Deutchman, a retiree, volunteered at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, holding and rocking babies in intensive care whose parents could not always be there. By the time this photo spread in 2017 he had been doing it for about 12 years, and he continued for nearly 15. He died in November 2020 at the age of 86. Photo: Children's Healthcare of Atlanta / Facebook.
17. A professor who held the baby
When a student's babysitter failed to show up, she brought her four-month-old daughter to class. Her professor, the poster's father, simply picked up the baby and carried on lecturing on lipid metabolism. Student parents often fall behind for lack of childcare, and a little flexibility can keep them in their course. Photo: owls_everywhere / Reddit.
Communities that give back
18. Concert tickets for the school janitor
A school janitor, a big Red Hot Chili Peppers fan, was disappointed that he could not afford tickets to their concert. Students pooled their money and surprised him with them; the photo catches the moment he found out. Photo: rainbowjojo / Imgur.
19. A homeless man who cleans the beach
According to the person who shared this photo, this man, who was homeless, picked up litter along the seafront every day without asking for money in return. His bags are full of plastic that would otherwise wash into the sea. The location was not given. Photo: jay.margolis.9 / Facebook.
20. A beach wheelchair to reach the waves
A family pushes their son into the surf on a wheelchair fitted with wide balloon tyres, which roll over sand where ordinary wheels sink. Many beaches now lend such chairs free of charge, so it is worth asking the local council or lifeguards before a trip. Photo: InAMellowTone / Imgur.
21. A bookshop that trusts its readers
A second-hand bookshop leaves books on its porch at 50 cents each or five for two dollars. A handwritten sign adds that when the shop is closed you can take them and pay later, and that anyone who cannot afford a book but wants to read should simply help themselves. Photo: SleepIsForTheImgurless / Imgur.
22. Lunch with two police officers
Two officers bought lunch for a man with an intellectual disability and then sat down to eat with him. Sharing the table, not just the meal, is what made people notice this photo. Photo: nlyin / Imgur.
23. A stadium full of flying toys
Football fans throw soft toys onto the pitch for children from a local hospital who were watching from the stands. Toy tosses like this have become a tradition at several clubs, the best known being Real Betis in Seville, and the gifts are collected afterwards for children in hospital or in need. Photo: Rene_ggh / Twitter.
Why small acts of kindness matter
Look back over these photos and a pattern appears: very few involve large sums of money. The volunteer at the shelter offered a skill; the teacher offered ingenuity; the professor offered a free arm; the man in Mecca offered his own hands. The most useful help often fits a particular need someone happened to notice.
Psychology research backs up what these stories suggest. Studies of generosity have found that spending money or time on other people tends to make the giver happier than spending it on themselves, and volunteering is linked with better wellbeing, especially later in life. Kindness also spreads: people who see or receive help are more likely to help someone else afterwards.
If you want to try it, start close to home. Notice the colleague who is struggling, the neighbour who lives alone, the shelter that needs photographs or the local care home that welcomes visitors. You do not need a camera on you. Most kind acts are never photographed, and they count just as much.
For more stories in the same spirit, see 30 Uplifting Photos of Kindness, Friendship and Community.
Sources: photo credits as linked under each image; TechCrunch: teacher in Ghana gets Microsoft support (2018); BuzzFeed News: Patrick Mwalua brings water to animals; Wikipedia: Stoneman Douglas High School shooting; NBC News: "ICU grandpa" David Deutchman.
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