Buzz
The world is often filled with sadness and sorrow, with daily news stories about human struggles overwhelming us. Yet, if you look closely enough, you'll also discover ordinary individuals who remind us of the immense kindness and goodness that still exists around us.
10. Officer Damon Cole
Officer Damon Cole is a real-life superhero, but not for the reasons you'd expect. When he's not out apprehending criminals, Cole travels long distances to visit critically ill children, dressed as their favorite superheroes. He has journeyed across 11 states, embodying characters like Superman, Batman, and the Incredible Hulk, among others.
Cole’s superhero journey is both uplifting and sorrowful. On one occasion, he drove for 11 hours to visit a terminally ill child, and on another, he made a five-hour trip to make a late-night visit to a young boy who was nearing the end of his life.
Cole has even attended funerals in costume. One particularly tragic instance involved a five-year-old named Joshua, who drowned in a pool. Cole, who was on duty, was the one to recover Joshua's body. To honor him, Cole attended the funeral dressed as Spider-Man and purchased a matching suit for Joshua to be buried in.
9. Tony Fowler
Tony Fowler has braved floodwaters to rescue a cat in danger, stopped thieves by taking control of their getaway car, and been involved in a drug bust. He’s even saved an Alzheimer’s patient from a burning building.
Fowler’s list of heroic actions reads like the resume of a rising superhero. But in truth, he’s just an exceptionally kind milkman. As he puts it, “I’ve done everything from saving lives to helping an elderly customer open a jar of pickles.” His remarkable deeds span over 20 years.
In 2010, Fowler’s dedicated service earned him a prestigious UK honor from Queen Elizabeth II. To receive the award, Fowler wore a Friesian cow costume, a nod to his previous charity efforts where he had donned the outfit for fundraising purposes.
8. Tejinder Singh
Tejinder Singh spends his days fixing air conditioners and his nights as a cab driver. Yet, once a month, on no sleep, he dedicates hours to feeding the hungry and homeless in Darwin, Australia.
Singh’s acts of kindness were sparked by an encounter involving prejudice. While driving a passenger in Darwin, Singh, a Sikh from India’s Punjab region, was asked about his children's school. When Singh responded, the passenger shockingly remarked that he would protect his own kids from terrorist attacks by ensuring they attended school alongside Singh's children.
Feeling disheartened, Singh decided to take action that would unite people from all walks of life. He and his family began saving $1 every day, using it to purchase over 27 kilograms (60 lb) of food, which Singh would cook on the last Sunday of each month and distribute throughout the city to those in need.
7. Bea Gaddy
For years, Bea Gaddy struggled with low-paying jobs and homelessness, sometimes scavenging trash cans for scraps of food when she couldn’t afford a meal. Then in 1981, her fortune shifted. She bought a 50-cent lottery ticket and won $290. What Gaddy did next would shape the course of her life.
Gaddy used her lottery prize to provide a Thanksgiving meal for 39 hungry individuals in Baltimore. This act of kindness would mark the beginning of the annual “Thanks for Giving” feast, where Gaddy, supported by a group of compassionate volunteers, would continue to feed the city's less fortunate every Thanksgiving.
As the years passed, the scope of Gaddy’s generosity grew exponentially. By 1991, a decade after the first “Thanks for Giving” event, she had helped prepare 17,000 meals, all funded by the kindness of donations. Known as Baltimore’s Mother Teresa, Gaddy continued this work until her death from breast cancer in 2001.
6. Dr. Jim Withers
Few doctors can claim they've had a potential patient point a shotgun at them, but Jim Withers can. As a practitioner of street medicine, Dr. Withers tends to those at the lowest rungs of society.
Driven by the example of his mother, who helped the needy through Meals on Wheels, and his father, a doctor who made house calls, Dr. Withers began serving the homeless in 1992. With the assistance of a homeless man named Sallows, he ventured into Pittsburgh’s most desolate areas, his hair and clothes caked in dirt, searching for those in need of medical attention. Initially met with distrust and hostility, he gradually gained the trust of his patients.
Dr. Withers’s efforts evolved into Operation Safety Net, a program supported by doctors, nurses, social workers, and volunteers. Since its founding, the initiative has provided medical care to an estimated 10,000 homeless individuals and helped 1,200 of them secure permanent housing.
5. Dr. Ganesh Rakh
As a young man, Ganesh Rakh dreamed of becoming a wrestler. However, he found his calling as a doctor dedicated to fighting societal prejudice. In India, a country plagued by widespread gender discrimination, female infanticide remains alarmingly prevalent. Dr. Rakh is determined to change this disturbing reality.
In 2012, Dr. Rakh launched the Mulgi Vachva Abhiyan (“campaign to save the girl child“). At his hospital, girls are welcomed into the world free of charge. Unlike other institutions where the birth of boys is celebrated, Dr. Rakh’s staff greets the arrival of baby girls with flowers, candles, and cake. He has also organized public marches advocating for gender equality, striving to put girls and boys on equal footing.
Dr. Rakh’s remarkable work has caught the attention of government officials and even Bollywood stars. However, for him, the true success is in changing the mindset of India, showing that girls are too precious to be born without dignity or value.
4. Saber Hosseini
Saber Hosseini, an Afghan schoolteacher, has received death threats from the Taliban for his efforts to support impoverished families. His journey began in 2015 when he sought ways to enhance literacy among children in the remote and challenging areas of Afghanistan. With the assistance of friends from literary circles, he gathered 200 books.
Transporting the hundreds of books proved to be a formidable task. Hosseini faced financial constraints and rough terrain. Undaunted, he set out alone on a bicycle, a mode of transport that carried a message. Taliban bombers had previously used bikes in their attacks, and Hosseini aimed to reclaim them for a positive cause.
Hosseini's dedication caught the attention of many, and soon others joined his cause. Today, his initiative, the Kids Foundation, has expanded to include 20 volunteers and 6,000 books, all of which are transported by bike to children and parents across Afghanistan.
3. Anwar Khokhar
Anwar Khokhar is renowned as the Barber of Larkana, but his true legacy lies in his two-decade-long dedication to helping Pakistan’s missing and kidnapped children. His work as a protector and guide for these vulnerable children has earned him much more than local acclaim.
Khokhar’s story of heroism began in the late 1980s when he volunteered at a local shrine. There, he encountered many lost children and runaways. Initially, he simply used the PA system to draw attention to them, but soon he began personally reuniting them with their families. On occasion, he even took the children into his home, offering shelter to those in need, alongside his wife and eight children.
As the number of children Khokhar rescued continued to rise, he utilized his connections with the ruling political party to establish a dedicated shelter for them. His relentless efforts included everything from placing ads in local newspapers to personally combing through his province to find their families. According to Khokhar, he has reunited around 10,000 families.
2. Yuval Roth
Yuval Roth, an Israeli carpenter and skilled juggler, has experienced loss in a way few can comprehend. In 1993, his brother Udi was abducted and murdered by Hamas. This tragedy left a void in Roth's life that he sought to fill. Rather than harboring anger, he chose to join a forum focused on bridging the gap between Israelis and Palestinians.
As Roth grew closer to Palestinian families, he was struck by a harsh reality: exorbitant hospital fees in Palestine, coupled with tight travel restrictions to Israel, made it nearly impossible for many Palestinians to access proper medical treatment. In response, Roth founded Derech Hachlama (“On the Road to Recovery“).
Derech Hachlama, a project staffed by 200 volunteers and personally managed by Roth, helps transport sick Palestinians to Israel for treatment. In 2010 alone, his organization covered around 90,000 kilometers (55,000 miles), making a significant impact in saving Palestinian lives.
1. Andeisha Farid
Andeisha Farid considered herself ‘one of the luckiest children’ amid thousands of others enduring unimaginable hardship. Born into an Afghan refugee family, she spent her formative years in Iranian camps after a Soviet airstrike flattened her family’s home. With no access to clean water, healthcare, or education, she witnessed the tragic deaths of many children.
At the age of six, Farid was sent to Pakistan to attend school. Eighteen years later, in 2007, she returned to Afghanistan to establish the Afghan Child Education and Care Organization (AFCECO), a network of orphanages providing medical care and education to nearly 600 children.
Despite opposition from both Afghanistan’s government and extremist forces, Farid has fought for equal rights for girls. Her efforts have earned widespread international recognition and acclaim.
