This post is inspired by Shot@Life, an initiative of the United Nations Foundation dedicated to using vaccines as a cost-effective way to save children’s lives in developing countries. (Image courtesy United Nations Foundation.)
Hi team, I need help. Here’s why:
For every comment on this post, Shot@Life gets $20 to vaccinate a kid.
Twenty. Dollars.
Twenty dollars is what it costs to give one child four vaccines that help protect them against measles, pneumonia, diarrhea, and polio. During Shot@Life’s Blogust: Blog Relay for Good, 31 bloggers have been helping to secure $200,000 in sponsor donations. We need 10,000 comments, and we’re about 1,000 away from that goal right now.
Over the years, your comments have shaped my life. Whether you were celebrating Hank’s birth with me, or cheering my Life List, or comforting me when things took a difficult turn. I know you guys care about helping other people because of how much help you’ve already heaped on me.
So let’s do this.
Can you comment twice? Yes. Yes you can. And if you have a means of spreading the word, please Tweet, Pin, link on Facebook, or post a quick link on your own site.
Let us know the nicest thing anyone has ever done for you in comments. And thanks to you for being so nice to other people. I like you.
Yesterday Fadra Nally of All Things Fadra wrote about the comments you never see. Tomorrow, I’m passing the baton to my friend Stacey Ferguson of Justice Fergie — so you can help us reach our final goal by commenting on her site as well. We have until August 31. Thanks again.
Mighty Girl 
My dad raised me alone, and he’s still taking care of me 30 years later.
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The nicest thing anyone has ever done is believe in me. When I have a crazy idea, not telling me I’m crazy, just saying, “Yes, I know you could totally do that!”
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My sister was with me during the birth of my first son, and she endured 24 hours or labor (even though she has kids of her own). She was amazing.
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What a great way of letting your readers contribute to something so huge!
We’re supposed to comment about something nice someone has done for us, eh? I’m thinking about those little niceties that drop in front of us so often, that make the world seem kind of friendly and not so hopeless…
Yesterday I took my son to the library to turn in his summer reading game card. As one of his rewards, he chose a voucher for a free cookie at his favorite local bakery. It was lunchtime, but I didn’t want to get lunch at the bakery because we had something waiting at home. I felt bad for coming in during their peak hours just to collect on a free cookie. But my son had earned it, and he was excited to get it.
I apologized to the guy at the counter and said we’d be sure to be back soon for a real purchase. He smiled, reached into the cookie showcase with his tongs, and slipped TWO big giant cookies into my son’s bag.
“Oops,” he said. “Looks like I accidentally put two in there!”
I’m still smiling today over that.
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When I was just out of high school my boyfriend committed suicide. Along with the grief, I also felt quite isolated and alone – my friends just didn’t know what to say or do. A teacher that I barely knew sent me a letter in the mail saying something along the lines of “you will be okay and you will get through”. It was such a thoughtful thing to do and I still remember the gesture over 20 years later.
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My now husband fell in love with me when I felt the most unlovable and has been my rock ever since.
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My older sister helped me understand that I have a voice in this world and that I shouldn’t be afraid to stand up for myself. That was the most valuable and helpful thing I’ve learned in my life.
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Wow! I’m speechless… this by far is the most comments I think I’ve seen. You’re AMAZING!
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I have been blessed with so many acts of kindness in my life. One that really sticks out in my mind was during the time my husband had lost his job and we were really struggling, our church family took up an offering for us. We received so much food and cash that it saw us through such a dark time.
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By all means… Let’s vaccinate!
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I’ve had so much good stuff happen to me in my life… Its ridiculous in the grad scheme of things.? My husband puts up with me, my 16m old makes me laugh daily, my parents educated me and loved me… Random people across the world have let me stay in their houses, taught me their languages , made sure I ate,… And my dog brings me stick almost all the time I ask her. A charmed life.
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forgiveness…and also making is so easy to help children get vaccinated….thanks!!!
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Heck yeah, vaccinations!!
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The nicest thing anyone has ever done for me is to share their kindness.
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I am overwhelmed by the kindness in life and am thankful for all my friends and family who have supported and shared their thoughts/dreams with me. I think sharing your best self is the best form of kindness.
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Amazing work!!!
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One of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me was when I fell asleep while driving 60 mph on the highway. I went airborne off of the road and rolled my car. I was injured and whisked of the the ER in the ambulance. My husband was far away at the National Boy Scout Jamboree in Pennsylvania and couldn’t be reached. My neighbor came and sat with me throughout the evening while they stitched up my leg and x-rayed me. He gave me a ride home and I’ll never forget that because I was really scared and I calmed down after he came. He probably doesn’t realize how much that meant to me.
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When I was six we lived in a small town until our house burned down. We were pretty poor and the entire town came together to help us with a place to live, clothes, money and anything else we needed. I had stuffed animals up to the ceiling of my new bedroom. Beautiful acts of kindness by mostly strangers.
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When I was an intern at a summer stock theater making $100 a week, one of the actors asked to borrow my car. I hesitated because I really didn’t know him that well but agreed. He was hardly gone 15 minutes. Later that night when I was finally leaving the theater after the show I realized he had filled my gas tank.
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Excellent cause!
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The nicest thing anyone has ever done for me? Both my parents have donated me a kidney. That was pretty nice of them. Second one (mom’s) is still going strong!
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Glad to support this cause!
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During one of the darkest chapters of my life, an elderly woman, who was only an acquaintance of the family, made sure to call me every day and to make certain that I didn’t give up hope. Some days, her call was all the hope I could come up with. But she saved my life, one phone call a day. Thank you, Carol. May God hold you gently in the palm of His hand.
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My bikram yoga teacher, who encouraged, inspired, and believed in me. He saved my life.
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My grandfather loved me wholeheartedly.
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The nicest thing you can do for someone is love them, like you want to be loved.
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I am pregnant and having a terrible time sleeping. My husband volunteered to sleep on our horribly uncomfortable couch so I could sleep on the Lazy boy and not be by myself. I love that man.
What a wonderful thing. Come on people, comment, comment comment!
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The nicest thing someone has done for me in a while is buying an antique picture frame for me from a homeless person while I was searching for change with a 20lb cast on my left arm in 40 degree humidity.
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My mom doesn’t hate me even though I never call her or buy her dinner or try and actively spend time with her. Ima call her right meow.
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Another $20, please? My mom does the nicest things for me all the time — it’s so hard to pick one instance. So recently, as part of a birthday dinner she cooked for me, I noticed a plate of fruits: cherries, pears, mangoes, and peaches. I turned to her and said, “Mom! Those are all of my favorite fruits!” And she said, “I know, Stephanie!” It was such a thoughtful gesture and made me feel really loved.
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I worked several jobs to put myself through college. At the time, I was good friends with one of my former high school teachers and her husband. They were childless and were financially comfortable. After four years in school, I realized I needed one more semester to finish my degree. This very nice, extremely generous couple offered to pay all of my expenses (tuition, room, board and books) so I could just enjoy college for one last semester.
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Due to my dad’s job, my family moved very, very far away from our home in Georgia when I was 13. I attended high school on an island in the PNW. My parents moved away just a couple of months after I went to college, so I am never able to go back and visit all of these wonderful, important friends with whom I stay very connected. I have been there one time since my high school graduation.
My 20th Reunion was this summer. I had assumed I would not go, because the plane tickets would cost over $1000. We have two small children, so $1000 is a significant chunk of change these days.
My parents, completely unsolicited, bought plane tickets for my husband so that I could attend my reunion with my husband. My dad said, “Well, I dragged you all the way out there when you were a kid, so I owe it to you to get you all the back out there for your reunion.”
And what reunion it was.
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I think it’s too late to count, but I wanted to add two wonderful recent gestures to the list.
My husband and I were new parents of twins and were braving one of our first meals out with our girls. They were about a year old and I think our stress/worry about dining out with them might have been evident. It was around christmas at a local diner. With money so tight, we all split two meals and were excited to have leftovers. When we went to pay our bill we were told that one of the other diners had already paid it with the message Merry Christmas.
The second gesture was by a group of our friends. Earlier this year 6 of them participated in a group Bike MS ride and raised funds to “whip the S*** out of MS.” They raised over $4500 all to show their support for me (diagnosed in 2006). I’m a lucky girl.
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I’m going to have to go with my mother giving birth to me. Having babies is not easy.
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I’m going to have to go with my mother giving birth to me. Having babies is not easy. Getting immunizations is bitchin’!
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My father – he took care of me (and my new baby) for three months. I had post natal depression at that time and he was there for us.
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wow, that’s awesome. The nicest thing(s) that anyone has ever done for me is my husband holding my hand through all of my depressive episodes – made all the difference.
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I’m not sure I could say the nicest thing ever, but the year of my divorce, I turned 35. It was a rough birthday for sure. A group of my friends chipped in and had a diamond necklace designed for me. And signed the card with the inscription “some things are forever”.
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My aunt never married, never had kids. She did huge things for charities, but she also made sure that my cousins and I had money to put down payments on our houses when we bought them. Truly wonderful.
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At the farmer’s market last weekend my 8 year old saw me admiring a pair of earring and said “Mama, let me get those for you! Please!” She pulled her very own, hard earned(well, not THAT hard, but you know…) money out of her purse and paid for them. I will treasure those(6 dollar) earrings as my most valuable forever!
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every day i have with my family is the greatest gift. here’s hoping these vaccines will give other families wonderfully healthy days!
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My Ma and Pa still love me even after I told them I’m gay 🙂
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I love the little kindnesses we do for each other–holding the door, letting someone with less stuff go first, making someone’s crying child smile. Being on either end of these sorts of things always makes me feel good.
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Blessings
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This is great. Love for all those littles.
The nicest thing anyone’s ever done for me is just to love me, fully, as I am.
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wow, this is wonderful.
i am so fortunate… no individual memory stands out to me at this moment… but the fact that the people in my life love me, even when I’ve hurt them is pretty powerful.
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