When Corey Roy visited a prison in Norton, Kansas, nearly 30 incarcerated men were waiting to present him with a donation. Roy was the superintendent of the local school district, and the men had heard that some families were struggling to pay for their children’s meals. They’d spent months collecting money to help. By the … Read more
David Kraning had finally decided to close his family’s video rental store in Pocatello, Idaho. After more than 30 years in business, Video Stop was losing money, and he couldn’t afford to keep it open any longer. But there was one customer he couldn’t stop thinking about. Her name was Christina Cavanaugh. She was 35 … Read more
In 1960, a laborer named Dashrath Manjhi picked up a hammer and chisel and began breaking apart a mountain near his village in Bihar, India. He had no construction equipment, no money to hire workers and no experience building roads. But he had decided that the mountain needed an opening, and he was going to … Read more
Kennedy Odede worked ten-hour shifts in a factory in Kenya, earning about a dollar a day. Somehow, he managed to save twenty cents from that tiny wage. He used the money to buy a soccer ball. He took it back to Kibera, the neighborhood in Nairobi where he had grown up. Other young people came … Read more
Growing up in the South Bronx, Geoffrey Canada knew what it felt like to be afraid in his own neighborhood. Children could be attacked walking down the street, and fights were so common that learning how to protect yourself became part of growing up. His father had left the family when Geoffrey was just four … Read more
James Shaw Jr. had gone out for a late-night meal with a friend. A few hours later, he would be credited with saving lives, and before the day was over, he would be raising money for families he had never met. It was April 22, 2018, shortly after 3 a.m., in Antioch, Tennessee. James and … Read more
Faygo had a favorite spot at his home in Lake Barcroft, Virginia: the corner of the front lawn. The 12-year-old goldendoodle loved watching people go past, especially if someone stopped to scratch his ears. He had plenty of affection inside the house, but he was always ready for another visitor. Then his owner, Michelle Martin, … Read more
At around 9:30 in the evening, Jorge Muñoz would pull up beneath the elevated train tracks in Jackson Heights, Queens. People were already waiting for his white pickup truck and the home-cooked meals packed inside. Earlier that day, he had been driving a school bus. After finishing his route, he went home and began cooking … Read more