Sharing Alaska's stories of kindness and charity

Spread the love, Alaska

It feels like a world ago since, at the Dispatch's weekly story meeting, I announced rather tersely that I wanted to do something about kindness leading up to Christmas. I said that the news had been particularly grim lately, and that, coupled with the dim sun, was making all of us meaner. Mean and white and puffy-eyed. Maybe, I said, the state could use some good news. Maybe, I said, that good news could come from our readers.

I didn't really want to feature those people we all know who volunteer their hearts out at the homeless shelter, the nursing home, the animal shelter. Don't get me wrong, I bow before those people, but theirs are familiar stories. But more importantly they make me, and I suspect others, feel kind of guilty.

We all already have enough to feel guilty about.

What I craved were slices of unexpected kindness. A Kirsten Dixon sweet-potato-pecan-bread for the soul kind of thing. And I got it. I wasn't able to include all the stories that were sent to us, but the ones we did published were, I felt, in keeping with the project.

Right now, with Christmas upon us, I'm feeling pretty good. I have a White Christmas view from my window that's to die for. I have the good fortune to work with the most talented crew of people I have ever worked with. I live in the most gorgeous place in the world, with such a beautiful story, a narrative that's still unfolding and a narrative of which I have the fortune to be a part.

I hope you're feeling pretty good too, and I hope that reading the stories here have at least something to do with that.

For those who wrote in: thanks more than I can say for sharing your stories with the rest of us. It can be rough out there. Alaska is often cold, in so many ways. But there's warmth here if you look for it. You've helped me, at least, see that. Let's all pass it on.

Happy holidays and a very merry Christmas to all.

Amanda Coyne

Anchorage, Alaska

P.S. A long overdue thanks to whomever it was who found my cat who was missing for 11 months. It was terribly kind of you to take the time to bring her to the animal shelter. She's fattened up nicely, and on her voyage didn't forget how to give me kisses and enrich my life in more ways than I ever imagined a cat could. And thanks to Amber, too, who was an inspiration for this project. Keep that snow blower running!

Contact Amanda Coyne at amanda(at)alaskadispatch.com

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Cheesy Santa in Mat-Su Valley

I thought I'd send you my story of kindness and generosity. It's also a little weird. But it does take place in the Mat-Su Valley so a little weirdness is to be expected, I suppose.

Someone's been going around Palmer leaving wedges of Dubliner cheese tucked inside a Christmas sock on people's windshields. I heard two different people mention they'd been "cheesed," and what to my wondering eyes should appear when I emerged from the Palmer Fred Meyer the other night? Tucked under my windshield wiper was a Santa Paws sock (decorated with a dog wearing a Santa hat) stuffed with Dubliner. I've asked all my friends but they swear it wasn't them. They all want to know where their cheese is.

I was initially very suspicious of the cheese (and I also wished they'd left me the other sock because they're super cute & I'd like to wear them) but I took it to a work party the next day to show off to co-workers. Turned out they have no qualms about eating food found on windshields. We polished off the windshield cheese pretty quick and I must admit I'm now a little tempted to go buy another wedge to put in the sock and leave under a stranger's windshield wiper.

I'm dying to know what the story is with Cheese Santa!

Molly Benson

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A couple helps a Cheechako, Alaska-style

On my first day in Alaska, fresh off the ferry in Haines on a bright June day eight years ago, I drove the Alcan Highway until 2 a.m. when the sun was just beginning to rise. The view of the mountains was amazing, and I parked at a pull-off and gazed at them until I fell asleep. It had been hours since I'd seen a building and I felt more remote from civilization than ever.

When I awoke, my car battery was dead. I had left my headlights on. I panicked. I remembered all of the stories people had told on the ferry about death from exposure or bears. Scenes from "Lawrence of Arabia" flashed through my mind. I popped the hood of my car and took inventory of my meager supplies. My backseat and trunk were filled with every piece of clothing I owned, some potted plants, my cat, some bottle water and a pack of smoked salmon I bought in Haines. Everything else had been shipped by a moving company.

Not more than two minutes passed before a camper from Anchorage responded to my situation and a very nice couple started my car using -- not jumper cables -- but a generator. I must have seemed shaken by the experience since they insisted that I follow them to Tok -- backtracking for them -- and they bought me a wonderful sit-down breakfast, which I could not have afforded since I was taking my first job after graduating from school. I had money for gas, even then just barely. I thanked them over and over -- they couldn't stand it.

I have seen the couple since that day -- at Costco of all places -- in line at 5 a.m. to have my car tires changes to studs. I love it in Alaska and am much better prepared for excursions now. Their hospitality and generosity was my first experience of this state.

Rebecca Shaffer

Anchorage

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The gift of food to a struggling family

The year 2006 was a turbulent one for my family. I became pregnant with twins, got married and was widowed about two weeks later. I struggle financially and emotionally and physically. Luckily my mother came up from the Lower 48 and stayed with me and my oldest son to help me get through. In September 2006 we were struggling. We did not know if or when I would return to the hospital with complications. We did not know how we were going to make the next payments on all of the utilities and mortgage. We did not know how we were to going eat.

My mom was ill and went to the free medical clinic in Wasilla (which was a blessing!) and had my son with her. As she put my son in the vehicle, in an empty lot, she turned around and there was a woman with a minivan full of groceries. She stepped up and asked my mother if she could use some milk. She said she had too much that she could not use before it spoiled. My mom said yes, please. The lady then proceeded to give her not only milk but several weeks' worth of groceries. My mom protested, but accepted with profuse thanks. As Mom finished loading the trunk and closed the lid, she turned to thank the woman for the items again but as she turned, the woman and vehicle were gone, nowhere to be seen and seemingly no evidence of anyone even being there.

I don't know who or even what that woman was, but she helped my family get through a horrific time, by a simple act of kindness that was not so simple to my struggling family. Everywhere we have gone since then we have looked for this woman and vehicle and have not yet found her. If she is out there, we would like to thank her for the kindness and hope that she gave us.

I won't say that life has been easy and without struggles since then, but my sons were born healthy and are wild mischievous 5-year-olds now and my oldest, 11, is growing. I have been raising my sons with my mom's help these past years, but since then we have regularly helped whenever we can. Friends, family, people on the street, food banks, charities, whatever we can. It may not always be huge gifts, but it's always something because one time someone helped us.

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Honoring Mary Troll and pet therapy

For years, during the holiday season, you could walk into the long, first floor hall at Providence Alaska Medical Center and be greeted by wagging tails and the welcoming eyes of dogs, big and small, their owners on the other end of the leash. If you paused for a moment, you would see the eyes of a child in a little red wagon light up as one dog stepped near to have his head patted. You would see a tired nurse or doctor hurrying down the hall: suddenly they would see the dogs and they would stop for a moment, their faces would relax into smiles, they would reach out to scratch behind an ear or two, and then go on about their business of caring for others, their faces gentled by the interaction. You would see an elderly patient out for a bit of exercise, pushing the pole that holds the bags and tubes to which they were connected. And you would see this person's pace slow to a stop by a dog whose eager greeting lifted the look of weariness on the patient's face.

All of this was made possible by Mary Troll, who brought kindness alive during the holidays and throughout the year. Mary dreamed up, fought for, created and sustained the Pet Assisted Therapy Program at Providence, and she did so because she knew it made sense for patients and for their caregivers, and because she had a deep well of kindness in her own heart and soul.

When my own little dog died a while ago, Mary brought me a string of prayer flags with paw prints on them. When the flags flutter in the wind, they remind me of my dog, of course, but also of Mary's ability to scatter kindnesses wherever she went.

Sadly, Mary died suddenly a week ago. I hope and trust that those who knew her, and whose lives were sweetened by her, will be the ripples of her kindness in the world she leaves behind.

Susan Ruddy

An Alaskan in Indonesia for the winter

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Feeling the lost and found love from SeaTac's Alaska Airlines agents

My name is Yaayuk (in Inupiaq) from Nome, Alaska. I was traveling alone back to Nome on Dec. 5 after a great weekend in downtown Seattle. Anyway, I was held up at the assistance ticket counter and couldn't get re-seated on the flight between Anchorage and Nome.

After 30 minutes of waiting and talking to two customer services agents on the phone, I ended up in first class! I was flustered but I went through security just fine. I took a train to the N gates and decided to use the bathroom before getting my breakfast. I waited in line at Burger King and when I went to sit down at a table, I realized my carry-on was missing (though luckily, I still had my purse in my backpack). I quickly remembered I had put it on a shelf up high in the bathroom. I went back for it but it was gone! I checked there, twice. I walked all around the N gates but couldn't find my bag. I spoke to a customer service who gave me a number for the airport police. A very kind person on the other line spoke to me. She gave me another number to lost and found. I called that number too. Nothing was turned in.

I was so dismayed. I started thinking of all the things that were in my bag: my knitting, odds and ends, my iPad that I had just bought a couple of months ago! I thought of all the stuff that I had downloaded and recorded. Oh, I was so mad at myself! Before I knew it, I began crying out of frustration. I called my husband and then my niece. I texted my adult children. I began praying to God for a gentle woman to turn in my bag with everything still in it. I prayed the prayer to St. Anthony, patron saint of lost items. I asked in prayer to my late mom, late grandmother, and late step father to help pray for my bag to come back to me. I said the last prayer in Inupiaq.

When I got to Anchorage my daughter picked me up for lunch. She talked about the times she had lost cell phones, and then her wallet. She brought me to the Apple store at the Fifth Avenue Mall so I could change my passwords to my email and Facebook account. Back at the airport, I saw familiar people traveling back home. They had been stuck in town due to storms at home in Nome. That was why I had a problem getting a seat when I checked in earlier in the day. The plane was reconfigured.

While visiting with a friend, I was paged. I thought, "What else could go wrong for me today?" I received a message that a woman in the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport had turned in my bag to the same customer service agent!! The message said that they had boxed up my bag in a white box with a red tape on it and that it was put on the next flight to Anchorage. The bag would then travel all the way to Nome on the same flight I would be on. I was overjoyed. When I asked the lady if I could give her a hug, she said, "But I didn't do anything!"

I said, "Thanks for this wonderful message."

When I returned home, I opened the box and there was my bag with everything in it. The only thing missing was my itinerary. To the gentle woman who turned in my bag and to the customer service agent at SeaTac, thank you! I pray for them to have many blessings beyond the holidays.

Yaayuk

Nome, Alaska

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O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!

Years ago, when my girls were about 2 and 6 years old, we were living on a very tight budget. There was no wiggle room. My husband was working two jobs and going to school. I stayed home with my girls and babysat for others to help make ends meet. We lived in a little mobile home that we were buying from the owner and had an older vehicle prone to breakdowns, but we were able to keep a roof over our heads, utilities paid, and food on the table all under our own steam.

As Christmas approached that year, my little ones were so excited. With careful budgeting and a good old fashioned "layaway" plan, the presents would be under the tree soon. The tree was another issue. The plan was to purchase one when my husband got his next paycheck about a week before Christmas and make the final payment on the layaway. The rest was committed for bills and food. Setting up the tree and decorating it was one of our favorite Christmas traditions.

This particular year there was a supply and demand issue with live trees in Anchorage. The demand was great, the supply not so great. Some of the private sellers still had plenty of trees, but they were way out of our price range. We couldn't drive anywhere to cut our own tree with the unreliable vehicle we had, and the few artificial trees left in stores were also out of our league.

On payday, as I waited for my husband to get off work and get to the bank to cash his check, I called around. The one place in town still selling trees in our size and price range was Wal-Mart. Not only that, but there was just ONE tree left. I begged the person who was on the phone with me to save it for us and promised my husband would be there shortly. They passed me to a manager who agreed to do so. I'm sorry I don't remember his name.

When my husband arrived shortly thereafter to get the tree, the manager was very apologetic. Somehow, the tree had been sold. They were out. My husband was crushed. He knew how much the girls were looking forward to decorating their tree. The manager told my husband that the private seller nearby still had trees. My husband thanked him and prepared to leave.

This manager knew our tree budget was small from speaking to me on the phone. He stopped my husband, and from his own pocket, gave him the difference between our budgeted tree money and the cost of one of the more expensive trees at the lot. Even as I write this, tears spring to my eyes at the memory. At that time, when my girls were still so little and a Christmas tree was such an important part of our small celebrations, this man kept the light in their eyes and gave us a gift of more than just a tree.

Every year when we decorate our tree, I think of him and his kindness to us. It seems a small thing, but it made a big difference to our family.

| We want your stories of kindness!

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A heap of kindness at Credit Union 1

Coffee for a veteran

I purchased two $20 coffee cards at my local coffee shop in the morning; one on Thursday and one on Friday (I have those two days off) and asked that they be used to purchase coffee, anonymously, for active duty or retired military veterans. Believe it or not, there is still a war taking place on the other side of the world. Support a vet!

A pet owner in need makes a friend, indeed

I was recently looking around on Craigslist's "pets" section an SUV dog barrier and stumbled upon a gentleman's post that went along the lines of, "I've recently hit some tough times. I need dog food for my four older pugs and any help is greatly appreciated."

So, I emailed him and asked him what kind of dog food he needed, where he lived, and the like. Turns out this gentleman had some savings that were depleted when his truck broke down and had to be towed to a mechanic. When one of his dogs suffered an eye injury, well, all of his savings quickly vanished and found himself living between paychecks.

The man, who told me he lived in Wasilla, was very kind and thanked me several times before I even let him know I'd drive out to deliver him some dog food. I ended up buying him the biggest bag of dog food that there was and making a care package for him as well. He mentioned in texts that he lives in a motor home and to supplement the electric heat, sometimes he uses those Coleman propane tanks and was out of them as well. So, I bought him a three-pack of propane for his heat, too.

All in all this gentleman made out pretty well as he got dog food, dog biscuits, two dozen eggs, frozen fresh salmon, tilapia, apples, bread and some noodles. I figured this should be enough to get him through the next 10 or so days and he was very, very grateful and it warmed my heart to know I helped a stranger who really needed it. He told me he'd be moving to Anchorage soon and would like to repay the favor anyway he could.

I just told him to pay it forward the next time he is able.

Spreading love in the office

A new Credit Union 1 employee gets a helping hand to avoid a dress code infraction

I personally received a random act of kindness. Someone noticed I didn't have a tie on at work. It was the day after Thanksgiving and I had spent the night at my parents' house. When I woke up Friday morning, I could not find my tie -- no matter how hard I looked as I only had brought one of my ties with me. A coworker noticed that I wasn't wearing a tie (as is required) and that person went out and bought me two dress shirts, two ties and a tie clip. When I asked how much it was, he wouldn't tell me and wouldn't let me pay the bill. He went above and beyond to make me feel like I belonged here and he wanted to keep me around.

... And another coworker is touched by this seemingly selfless act of kindness

Do I have a story to tell? Before I went on vacation, I was truly amazed to witness a coworker helping a new employee. The new employee didn't have proper attire for work one day and the other employee not only bought him a shirt and tie -- but two shirts and two ties! The new employee approached me later and said that the coworker wouldn't even let him know how much it cost so that he could pay him back, even if it were a little bit each payday. The new employee stated that the coworker just looked at him and said, "I've been there before," smiled and walked away. I know that we all help one another out from time to time when we are in need but witnessing that just really made me even prouder to work here at Credit Union 1 -- prouder than I thought I ever could be.

This is not a job, this is a family!

The way to a person's heart? Free fast food.

Whenever I go through a drive-thru I pay for the car behind me and I give the cashier a little card that I had made that says "Smile, pass it on." I have done this for years, and I have seen some pretty crazy reactions!

A helping hand for a battered woman

The Credit Union 1 Community Service Committee (CSC) decided to participate in the Adopt-a-Family program sponsored by Abused Women's AID in Crisis (AWAIC). We adopted a single woman to provide stuff for the holidays to from the committee's general fund. We received the woman's wish list and went out to shop for her last Friday afternoon. The woman's wish list was rather modest, but included a robe, a coat and clothing.

She is also a plus-size gal (5XL) so we went to the only plus-sized boutique we could think of in Anchorage, Just for Me. As we were looking around there, we realized that things in that size are a little more expensive. So, after a quick email we got approval to increase our $300 budget to $500. We went to the counter with a robe, a coat, a dress , a blouse and a pair of pants -- fully intending to spend $350 and have a little left to get a couple of other things on her list, plus a holiday meal.

We told the Just for Me employee who was helping us why we were there and as she was ringing us up, the woman said, "Since you gals are doing such a great thing, I'm going to extend our after-Christmas 50 percent off sale to you today and give you all this for 50 percent off."

I will fully admit I came close to tears.

Since we only spent $170 there, we were able to get everything else on her list (and a little extra) at Fred Meyer, in addition to providing a holiday meal. What an incredible example of living One for All!

Thanks to the credit union committee's generosity -- and Just for Me's random act of kindness and generosity -- a woman who has been through a very rough time as a survivor of abuse will have a holiday that is very merry and bright!

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A woodcutter's random act of kindness

I recently went to Home Depot to get a piece of wood to block my sliding glass door shut because I realized -- a full three weeks after my landlord installed the new door -- that he never installed the latch, leaving my back door unlocked for weeks. Nice. I work two jobs so I worked all day Saturday and then was trying to run this errand before meeting friends to see a play Saturday night.

When I got to Home Depot there was a man cutting wood for a woman and I found the piece I needed and asked him if he wouldn't mind cutting the piece of wood I had to the length I needed. He said no problem. Did I know he didn't actually work there? That he was simply cutting wood for his wife? Well, no, I didn't know that. It was slightly embarrassing.

He didn't hesitate to measure out what I needed and to saw away for me. He and his wife were very nice about helping me out so I didn't have to wander through the store and find someone who worked there. It made a long day a lot easier and my stop at Home Depot was quick and painless thanks to this helpful stranger.

Ruth Quinlan

Anchorage

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Kindness changes a heart

My husband and I had a serious conflict with an employee of an insurance company many years ago. We were both extremely stressed over the situation with our home being flooded, contaminated with asbestos and pipes that had burst.

My husband, uncharacteristically, acted extremely angry, rude and agitated with the insurance adjuster, whose name is Jeff Phillips. There were raised voices, threats and ultimately my husband complaining to Jeff's boss and demanding there be action against him and his job. The entire time Jeff was calm and as professional as possible, never retaliating against the verbal attack.

Years later, my husband and I found ourselves in a much more difficult situation. We were financially strapped and had to sell our home. We did not have money to pay for professional movers. Over 15 volunteers showed up to help us from a small church we had just started attending.

One of the volunteers that showed up was Jeff, the same man that my husband had tried to have fired years prior. Knowing who we were, Jeff acted with absolute kindness, sacrifice and without judgment towards us. Jeff was taking his entire Saturday to help people that had done nothing but try to hurt him.

I cannot think of a single thing someone could have done to have greater impact on my husband's heart. It changed him from someone that often didn't trust others and their intentions to someone who believes and hopes for the best in others and emulates it himself. In the years that have passed since that event, we have recovered financially and my husband and I have been privileged to help others in the same way.

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Why you should wave at strangers

Kids sometimes think it's dorky to wave at people you don't even know. Here's how I explain why I do it.

In the early 1970s I was tied up in military service when my grandfather died and his part of the farm was sold to settle the estate. My dad and mom lived there and had only 30 days to move. And that move included the farm animals, sheep, cows, horses, pigs, all the tractors and farm equipment.

I was not available to help with the move on such short notice. Dad didn't even let me know.

When the time came for the animals to be moved the community organized a cattle drive to dad's part of the farm. Dad told me it was like the Westerns, but because this was in Ohio, it was without cowboy hats. Also, there was a convoy of tractors, combines, trucks. He had no CB radio so there wasn't any communication going on between truckers.

Nevertheless, dad said about 10 men came to help with the move. Of the 10 men, there was one man who he didn't even know.

One thing we always did when we were working in the field was wave at the passing cars and usually we got a honk or wave back. I started working the fields in the second grade and continued through college so waving is pretty engrained.

After the move, dad took all the helpers to lunch at another friend's truck stop. He had a question for the one person he didn't know: Why did you help me?

"You were the only ones to wave at me when I drove down the road," the man told him.

To this man I do not know and have never met, thank you for helping mom and dad move when I couldn't get home to help.

Hank Irelan

Nome

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Handyman helps a woman in need

When my mother died in 2009, I was left to be the one to settle the estate and sell the house on my own. I had helped take care of Mom for three years, much of the time it was just me. I finally quit my job to care for her, and her long painful death from cancer devastated the entire family. The house needed a lot of work and I was lucky to have a good friend who was a Realtor, and as a result, I was also lucky to have Sam, his go-to guy for repairs. During the time he was working on the house, there would be days where I couldn't bring myself to deal with anything, and Sam would schedule other jobs around me, but somehow, he always had the time to pick up where he left off when I called. When I stopped by to check the interior painting, the Realtor pulled me aside and said, "I know you and Sam said you were going to just paint the needed walls, but I wanted you to know, he's painted the entire inside as a surprise for you." When I ran out of money for repairs, he stayed with me, found the money to get the supplies, and waited to be paid until the house sold. There are not enough words to say thank you to this man and his utter kindness.

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Young stranger offers helping hand to single mom

Hi. I am a 45-year-old single mom of three. This is going to be our first Christmas in Alaska and I'm not able to get my children anything. A young 24-year-old gentleman learned of my hardships through a Craigslist ad I posted, just wanting old toys to give to my kids. He wrote me and is meeting me at Wal-Mart on Saturday to buy my kids Christmas gifts. This young man doesn't know me and I never expected anything like this when I posted the ad, but he is an angel to me right now. I cannot express the gratitude I feel toward him. His name is Ryan Murphy and he's the greatest. I will never be able to repay him for what he is going to do, but I will try to pay it forward as soon as I am able to. I would like to remain anonymous. It's embarrassing enough that I am having a hard time feeding my kids let alone not able to get them anything for Christmas, and we have no family so no one else can help me, but Ryan stepped up and touched my heart.

The kindness of Alaskans has amazed me and I am very grateful.

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Paying it forward at Freddie's for a young couple in need

I call this selfish because I really get the most joy out of this. I do this for me and I feel odd "telling" someone about this but maybe others do this or might start doing this.

Quite by accident I went to Fred Meyer really early one Thanksgiving morning picking up those last-minute things that I thought I had but realized I did not. I overheard a conversation among a very young family. The wife wanted to buy additional grocery items and the husband said they would have to see when they checked out if they had any money left over.

I "followed" them around the store as they gathered groceries for a very modest Thanksgiving dinner. I checked out and then I waited. They got in line and started checking out. I got the attention of the cashier and told her that I wanted to pay for their groceries and give them an additional cash amount. I had to tell her twice what I wanted to do and asked her to please be discreet; she did a wonderful job. I gave her my card and PIN and told her I would be back to get it.

She swiped my card right in front of them; they really never paid attention to it. I stood by and watched. When they tried to pay, the cashier told them it was paid for! The surprise on their faces; they looked all around for some indication of who had done this.

I just sat and cried. It felt so good.

I used to do this only during the holidays, but now I do it whenever I see the need. I don't stay to see their faces. I don't do it for them. I do it for me.

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I arrived home the other night after a 10-plus hour day at the office to find that my driveway had been plowed. I have my suspicions. The woman who lives across the street from me, Amber (you've probably heard her rocking out at 103.1 and being all thinky on AM 750), has been having lots of fun with her snow blower since she got it fixed a few weeks ago. The driveway had some tell-tale snow-blower marks and Amber would be the type to partake in such a random act of kindness. She's a blond beauty. She takes in hurt birds. She smiles a lot. She is multifaceted and full of that kind of good cheer which, if it did not correspond to good acts (the birds, my driveway), I might find annoying. Particularly at this time of year, when I'm full-on grump.

One thing I am grateful for is that I'm not alone. The Alaska Dispatch office is full of grumps like me. We're snapping at each other. Our eyes are puffy, our skin sallow. Our clothing is rumpled. We spend long minutes staring off into the distance, wondering what the real purpose is.

And we're not alone, either. Across the state, smiles are increasingly hard to find. Crime stories seem to dominate the headlines. Comments on Facebook and other websites are increasingly vitriolic.

Drinking helps -- until it doesn't. Vacations down south, though, definitely would help. So does pounding vitamin D.

But so did that plowed driveway, for me, anyway. It helped that someone I barely know would take the time to do such a thing. It wasn't a huge thing. She won't win any awards or be featured on CNN's "Everyday Heroes." But she did make one person smile — which at this point feels like a minor miracle. And she should be recognized for that.

We at Dispatch know Amber is just one of many out there partaking in small acts of kindness. Acts that normally don't warrant huge attention but that, in their own way, are as important as and laudable as any huge act of heroism.

And we realize that you, our readers and our friends, know people out shovel driveways, too, without being asked. Or maybe they're buying groceries for a senior citizen down the road. Or maybe they're regularly preparing dinner for the child of a single mom.

We know that you also witness such acts. Maybe someone stopped on the side of the road when you broke down and offered a ride to work. Maybe you dropped your wallet and someone went out of their way to return it. Maybe a stranger told you, on a particularly bad day, that you were pretty.

We also know that you, yourself, sometimes act more kindly than you might be genetically predisposed to act.

We promise we're not getting all soft and Foundation for a Better Life on you. We promise that we'll emerge from this experiment as cynical and jaded as ever. But for a time, at least, we do want those stories. We want to know that goodness abounds. If we can't have the sun, then we want to soak in the rays of human kindness. We want to be reminded that we live in a state that's beautiful inside as well as outside.

So send us your stories. Leading up to the holidays, we want to hear about people you know who regularly partake in small acts of kindness, and/or instances where you've been struck by such kindness.

Please send them to me at amanda(at)alaskadispatch.com, with your full name and your phone number. If you wish to remain anonymous on the site itself, that's OK. But I do want to know that you're a real person. I'll be editing for clarity and typos but otherwise will strive for authenticity.

We hope you'll bury us with random acts of kindness to let beams of light shine during the year's darkest days.

We promise to share.

Contact Amanda Coyne at amanda(at)alaskadispatch.com

Sharing Alaska's stories of kindness and charity

Spread the love, Alaska

Cheesy Santa in Mat-Su Valley

A couple helps a Cheechako, Alaska-style

The gift of food to a struggling family

Honoring Mary Troll and pet therapy

Feeling the lost and found love from SeaTac's Alaska Airlines agents

O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!

A heap of kindness at Credit Union 1

Coffee for a veteran

A pet owner in need makes a friend, indeed

Spreading love in the office

The way to a person's heart? Free fast food.

A helping hand for a battered woman

A woodcutter's random act of kindness

Kindness changes a heart

Why you should wave at strangers

Handyman helps a woman in need

Young stranger offers helping hand to single mom

Paying it forward at Freddie's for a young couple in need

Rescue effort underway after plane crashes in Tanana River near Fairbanks

Another fiber network break causes widespread internet, cell service outage in Arctic Alaska

Tabloid publisher says he pledged to be Trump campaign’s ‘eyes and ears’ during 2016 race

State of Alaska requests pause in homeschool ruling blocking public funds at private schools

House Republican infighting is getting worse after foreign aid vote

Rescue effort underway after plane crashes in Tanana River near Fairbanks

Another fiber network break causes widespread internet, cell service outage in Arctic Alaska

Tabloid publisher says he pledged to be Trump campaign’s ‘eyes and ears’ during 2016 race

State of Alaska requests pause in homeschool ruling blocking public funds at private schools

House Republican infighting is getting worse after foreign aid vote