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 high school Spanish teacher sat down with me and showed me that I could pronounce any word in my Spanish dictionary as long as I remembered that the vowels always sound exactly the same. The confidence I gained that afternoon helped me go from a struggling student to eventually choosing Spanish as one of my majors in college. Being able to speak a second language has not only helped me travel the world, but also to connect to people vastly different from me in a way that would never have been possible otherwise.
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“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” Winston Churchill
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The biggest thing that made a difference for me (because I have been blessed this way so many times over) was when my neighbors told me it wasn’t my fault when my parents kicked me out of the house. Years of emotional abuse started peeling away with that simple statement and put me on the road to becoming a whole person.
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I’ve had so many kind, nice things done for me in my life. Makes me feel grateful just to think about it. The ones that stand out for me though are those that happen when I’m helpless. Strangers changing my tire (car AND bike), chasing after me to let me know I dropped my passport in a foreign country (!), etc.
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I love the old fashioned nice things: thank you cards, having someone open a door for me, notes on creamy stationary congratulating me on my new baby, a gentleman allowing me to exit an elevator first. Not the biggest deal, but it always makes me look for ways to pay it forward.
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I’m an apartment manager, and a nice thing someone has done for me recently was when one of my residents stopped by to congratulate me on working at the office for a whole year. I don’t often interact with the residents when they aren’t upset about something, so it really meant a lot to me when she said how happy she was to have me working at the community and providing good customer service. The little things really do make a difference!
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My son made me a grandma six months ago and she has a lovely (half) sister that is three. Such joy they have brought me.
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When I graduated high school a friend’s mother gave our little group travel jewellery cases and a small note. I still have and use the case, but it was the note that had the biggest impact. This was five years before I would be diagnosed with anxiety and depression and in a time of great uncertainty and stress (not happy about the college I was attending, parents wanting to move that summer out of my childhood home), her words brought me a great deal of comfort and pride. She really caught me unaware regarding my good character traits that I presented to her.
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I host an open sewing night once a week where I make dinner and we are all crafty. The nicest thing those ladies did was bring me food, weed my garden, put in the window air conditioner and lend me movies the summer I went through radiation. I will always be grateful for all the help they provided without my even asking.
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Fantastic!
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I’m having my first baby in October, and I’ve been overwhelmed by the generosity of family and friends! I am so grateful for my community of girlfriends who have provided me with advice and support, my husband whose simple affirmations like “you’re doing a great job!” make such a difference, and my family and in-laws whose excitement for the baby reassure me that he/she will be welcomed into a loving family. It’s such a special time, and I’m glad this little comment can help another family ensure a healthy future for their child!
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my husband, a Marine, and I were at dinner at Gramercy Park in NYC two years ago. we’d saved up for MONTHS to go there (we’re foodies, so this was like… heaven), and because it was a fancy event for us, we got dressed up. i wore my nicest dinner dress, and he wore his service uniform. we meticulously attacked the menu based on what we’d saved for each course. and at the end of the meal, we found out the restaurant had bought us dinner. not the actual restaurant, but diners. one couple bought our bottle of wine. another bought our cocktails. another my meal, another his. and the chef threw in dessert. we left new york last year to go to a new duty station, and we had our last meal at gramercy. this time, we got to leave a big tip. : )
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While taking a solo road trip around the United States, everyone I met — new and old — taught me that kindness does still exist here in our own country. Friends and strangers took me into their homes, showed me around their cities, cooked me meals. Most of all, they showed me that my cynicism wasn’t warranted, and that people are generally more good than bad.
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Many things are coming to mind, but one that is standing out right now is when my great friend from graduate school, who had started a demanding job, read and commented on a draft of my dissertation at a point when I had lost all confidence and helped me keep going.
Thanks for letting us know about this excellent cause.
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How about the nicest thing that someone did for me yesterday: one of my students cleaned out our microwave without even being asked.
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When I was in the middle of divorce and separation, and money was tight and I was scared, my co-workers collected $ for me — several hundred $ in an envelope for whatever I needed to take care of.
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The nicest thing someone has done for me was setting up a meal train after I had emergency surgery. I have a husband and 3 small children that I couldn’t take care of. We were living in far away from family and my husband works about 110 hours per week. The meal train website coordinated people bringing meals to me for about a month. It was heaven and I felt so supported!
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Maybe not ever, but definitely something I will remember. We just moved in to our first house, and this weekend our neighbor dropped off some cookies and a note with her cell and her husbands cell in case we needed help with anything. I didn’t know people still did things like that!
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My husband and I recently lost a pregnancy, and I’ve been overwhelmed by the kindness we’ve been shown. The two things that stand out the most are the very sweet, very sincere card I received from the mother of my best friend, telling me how much I’ve meant in her life and her daughter’s, and the rosebush my sister and her family sent me to remember our lost baby.
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The nicest thing that happened to me this week was realizing just how many people I have in my life when I need someone most– it is a great feeling!
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I am commenting the hell out of this – SAVE THE KIDS!
I have so many people who do so many nice and thoughtful things for me. But I think the nicety that made the most impact had to have that note. That note that changed how we felt about each other. The note that showed me how in love with him I was. It’s the little things, right?
It’s the little things like posting on a blog to save the kids. How little a gesture. How awesome the impact.
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I immediately thought of something my husband did for me. I stopped working in our business when our son was born and stayed home taking care of him until he was ready for kindergarten (leaving my husband to cope with the office by himself). On a family vacation just before school started, my husband had a cake made for me with our son’s photo reproduced on it, and the words “Thanks, Mommy, for being there when I needed you.” It meant so much to me that he believed what I did was important for our child and that he appreciated it.
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Nicest thing anyone every did to me. A friend once was there for me when I needed one the most. It is when your days are dark true friends shows their face.
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After my husband had a tumor removed from his innards, a local pastor came over with two giant bags full of groceries. It was lovely.
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Where would we be without so many big and little acts of kindness? I have been so happy recently to see a friend/colleague compliment someone who works sort of under me. It doesn’t reflect upon my work in any way, but the genuine words of appreciation and respect made me glow with pride anyway. Kind words go such a long way.
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When my husband and I were dating, we lived around the corner from one another. One evening we had made plans to see each other, and I was going to walk over to his place. When I opened my front door to leave, he was there on my steps. “What are you doing here?” I asked. “I couldn’t wait to see you,” he answered.
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Once, a very kind mechanic fixed my car for
free. It came at a time when I so needed a boost. I have tried to pay it forward whenever I can.
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Wishing everyone an awesome day ! Keep the comments coming 🙂
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Wonderful family let me live with them during a time when I was floundering (early twenties) and taught me so much through their kindness and giving attitude.
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I’ve been lucky to have had a pretty darn good life, and to have some pretty awesome people to share it with. The nicest thing ever? Not the nicest ever, but I’ve had many students write some pretty damn nice things to me in my yearbooks. The comments make me smile and tear-up still!
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Last week, my parents came two hours one way to watch my sick daughter so my husband and I could go to work. Then, two days later they came back to help us clean out our basement after a sewer backup.
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Someone who was an acquaintance at the time pushed hard to get me a job at his place of work, even though I didn’t ask for it. He just saw that I would be a good fit. It turned out to be a great job where I had boatloads of fun, and made lots of friends. This was about 12 years ago, and while I no longer work there, the former acquaintance is now my best friend.
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The nicest thing recently: I have been going through some major life changes in the past year. I have a friend who has been by my side every step of the way. There has been PLENTY of room to be judgmental and she instead has chosen to simply be supportive. She has been my lifeline.
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I was in a very bad car accident. To keep it short, my husband was stuck in an upside down car while I crawled out and tried to get him to talk to me. A nice Irish lady named Helen pulled her minivan over, called 911 and stayed with me in the rain until they came. The truck behind her minivan was a tow truck, the driver got out and started directing traffic away from us and his passenger came and brought me a blanket.
My husband is ok now and we still have the blanket.
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I spent last year going to school 2000 miles away from my husband and all my family and friends. On my birthday, some of the people in my program got together and bought me a book they knew I would like. It really brightened a day that I was expecting to be a huge disappointment.
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I can’t pick out a single event as the nicest thing EVER, but recently: I just started a new job, and even though it’s at a pretty low rank on the totem pole everybody has been going out of their way to make me feel so very, very wanted and welcome.
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My husband used to take the bus in the mornings so that I could have our single car for work. Without question, every day.
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Once, when I was student teaching and pregnant, my first husband made dinner. I remember sitting in traffic on the freeway, bone-tired, thinking, what in the world will I make for dinner? And when I got home, it was made–meat loaf and potatoes and carrots, which, when I think about it, felt like the kindest, most compassionate dinner of all the dinners.
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Great cause
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When my husband just does the dishes after dinner, or let’s me relax in the mornings, it feels like the nicest thing EVER!
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Well, this is a pretty nice thing and reading folks’ comments about nice things that have happened to them is also pretty awesome.
One of the nicest things that ever happened to me was a colleague from work stepping up to carry a bunch of kids on a field trip to NYC. I was stressed out with a flooded basement and P just announced he would take the trip so I could stay home. Really, really nice.
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There’s no one nicest thing, but I sure do appreciate the random acts of kindness strangers have shown to me – opening doors when my hands were full, offering an honest compliment, helping me reach stuff on the high shelf, etc.
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The nicest thing someone has done for me is to recognize my potential and to find an opportunity for me to use that potential.
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I am blessed with a wonderful family and friends who do nice things for me all the time. I will never forget the kindness showed toward me when my dad passed away and when I moved to dc.
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Being gracious to me when I was not being gracious to the world.
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My uncle used his frequent flyer miles to pay for my flight and my fiance’s flight to Hawaii for our honeymoon in November. We’ve been saving forever and weren’t sure if we’d be able to go. Hands down, the nicest gift. So unexpected. So useful (much better than another kitchen gadget).
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Most recently, my IVF nurse put me first on the list for my result phone call the day of my pregnancy test. We received good news. Just as the phone rang, my door bell also rang with flowers from my oldest and best girlfriends. The note simply said “we love you” b/c they didn’t know if they would be happy or sad flowers. Luckily, they were of the happy kind. It was a magical moment my husband and I will never forget.
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My friends cleaned my apartment while I was on my honeymoon. What a freaking treat.
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I’m pretty sure Meg Keene flinging her hands up in the air and saying, “Oh Amber, just start a company!” is up there on the nicest things ever done for me.
Because I did, and now I am very happy.
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It’s the unexpected things that touch me. I was at the mall recently and while I was getting the back to school stuff done with my kids my husband took my van, washed it, filled it up with gas then put it back in the parking lot. A VERY nice surprise when I came out overwhelmed from the kid’s demands.
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