My next-door neighbour in my former apartment bldg is a real sweetheart of a darling lady. She's 83 and keeps herself busy. Is a heck of a baker and knitter.

When I would spend the day baking, or cooking something big, I'd take some of my goodies to her.She asked for the recipes and is now making my cakes! Anyway, I remember one particular Saturday we were both running back and forth giving each other some of what we were making that day. It was a hoot!

When there's something on sale pertaining to ingredients that is needed for the lemon cake, for instance, I'd pick her up some. A few weeks ago I took her a pork loin roast that she just loved when I got her one before.

While I'm at the bldg, I'll call on another neighbour and trim her cats nails for her, as she can't do it.

I am a member of a small non-denominatonal church that only has 30 members, but our mission is to maintain a long term rehab shelter for up to 25 homeless men.

During the course of their stay, providing they are physically fit they are required to find a job and we charge them 10% of their take home as a rent. In addition, they are required to open a bank account and put away another 10% of their earnings to provide a nestegg to help them get established in an apartment when they are ready to go out.

For those who are not physically fit to work we have working arraingements with a local health clinic to address their needs.

Generally they stay 4 to 6 months before they are established in their jobs, have a fair nestegg and are ready to go out on their own.

Being a Christian organization we believe that everyone should have some form of spiritual enlightment in their lives but we do not impose our beliefs upon anyone. If they desire to attend our church they are more than welcome, but if they prefer to attend another church we will make certain that they have transportation to and from their services regardless of what religion they follow.

We also allow them to use our chapel to host an alcoholic anonymous meeting once a week.

We have been doing this for about 5 years and so far we have had over 200 men get off the streets and back into mainstream society again.

Our long term goal is to move into a larger facility where we can have another dormitory area for homeless women.

I have elderly neighbors. The woman hasn't painted her inside walls for more than 30 years. I painted all her ceilings and walls in her entire house just because I wanted to. Her house is so bright and fresh again. She was so excited about it all, she bought a new ceiling light for her kitchen.
I love to do these kind of things.

When we lived in Anaconda MT, we had a small C-store and I was getting ready to go to work one Saturday morning and listening to the local radio station. They said the local charity organization said there was money enough to make food baskets for holiday meals for the needy, but not enough money to buy Christmas toys for kids who otherwise wouldn;t get anything. This bothered me, because I knew how much my own g-kids got. I thought well I could donate some money, but how much could i give to make a difference. Then I thought, there were 7 or 8 C-stores in town. So when I got to work, between customers, I called the owner/managers of those stores and asked if we could put collection jars on the counters to collect money so the less fortunate kids could get something on Christmas morning. This was a week before Thanksgiving and by a week or so before Christmas we had collected between $700 and 800 dollars. It kept me busy, because I would go to the stores weekly, count what was in the jar, gave the person there a receipt, so there couldn't be a Q on how much I collected. I collected the money and turned it over to the organization weekly so they could start their shopping, and if the jar was stolen, the thief wouldn't get a whole months collections. all of this gave me a real good feeling. I ended up doing this for three years until we moved back to MN.

We used to:
buy computers @ Goodwill/Arc/Salvation Army and fix them up, put more memory in them, load them with kids games, learning English programs....ect. Then give them to DH's co-workers(he works construction, some have families they just brought over from Mexico, legally)for their kids to learn and play on. We had the parents over for a tutorial when they picked the computers up and "fixed" the computers as the kids "broke" them. :0)

I've been offering advice online, to ladies that are trying to make slip covers for wingback chairs. Trying to get them through their projects.

I also bake choc. chip cookies and bring them in for coworkers, when least expected. Donate several magazines and paperback books. Buy extra food to donate to "Care & Share". Contributed bags of school supplies to the drive we had at work. I give a coworker a ride to work and run errands for her, she does NOT give me any money(she shares a car w/ her boyfriend & lives in a motel room, next door to her inlaws & his 3 kids, they've seen better times).

Nothing. I get satisfaction out of every act of kindness I do.

An elderly lady who worked pretty much full-time, moved in to the adjoining duplex in our sr. community. Coincidentally, for no reason, I started making huge portions when cooking. Realizing that we would never eat it all, I began taking the lady meal portions, telling her that no-one wants to cook after working all day :-) This went on for months, then things got back to normal cooking. She told me several years later that money was so tight when she had first moved in that she wouldn't have made it without those meals! I was floored, but eternally grateful that I had been of some help. Not realizing it at the time made it more special. God looking over my shoulder.......

I tutored kids at a temporary residence for homeless families.

I've been volunteering with different organizations for over 30 years, most recently at my local animal shelter.

At the moment, I make Quilts of Valor for wounded soldiers. But like Ellie, I enjoy it and take personal satisfaction from it. So can it really be called "selfless"?

Here's my first:

And one with donated blocks from members of the Quilting forum here:

All in all, members of the Quilt Forum donated enough blocks to make 12 quilts. That's 144 blocks, so kudos to all of them.

Years ago my only DGD was very sick, with HUS,she was in acute liver failure, she spent over a week in Pediatric ICU, and another 8 or 9 days in the hospital. It was a horrible time for everyone, but of course worse then that on the poor 16 month old. I thank God she has no memory of all the painful things she endured. She had many blood transfusions to help keep her from worsening. There was no time for any family to donate blood for her.
I kept thinking of her and all she went through, and how wonderful of someone else to have donated that blood that was there to help save her life. Long story short, I started donating blood. I hated needles and was scared the first time. I've been donating now for ummm 7 years I guess. I go 4 times a year, or every time they have a blood donation in our town.
I've had a couple bad reactions, but there is no way I am stopping. There are so many people that need this blood. I have a real sense of satisfaction in knowing I helped someone I didnt know and who doesn't know me.

thank you Nodakgal for your donations of blood. my daughter nearly died after childbirth last December and lost half of her blood. if it weren't for some kind Germans who donated their blood, she would be dead. i was not able to donate when i was younger and now they sure don't want anything from this old body!...lol

When I saw your question my first thought was similar to what Ellie posted. I can't think of anything I do that's entirely selfless, because most altruistic acts bring some sort of reward.

I'm without a dog now for the first time in decades, and I felt bad that I was throwing out all the chicken and meat scraps, etc., that my dogs used to enjoy. So now I freeze them in containers, and every few weeks bring the containers to the animal shelter. They save the empties for me. Yes, I'm doing a good deed for the dogs, but I get pleasure out of imagining them enjoying their meals.

Maybe my treatment of Bonzy the cat comes a little closer to selfless, because she has been known to drive me nuts. As I've written about at the KT before, she showed up this past spring, a stray cat nursing a litter of three that I subsequently found in my ice house. I fed the mother (named Bones by my son and daughter-in-law because she was so thin--and also because they like the TV show of the same name LOL), and when the kittens were old enough I found good homes for two of them, somewhat reluctantly kept the third (I already had two adult cats), and had Bonzy spayed.

She resides on my property most of the time now. She's a fierce hunter, so I periodically move her trophies off the porch or off the walkway. We set up a dog house on the porch for her to use when it's cold, and I made a cat bed out of a fleece pullover for her. On winter nights I'll use a microwavable pet warmer in the dog house. I did this years ago for two feral cats I called "the porch cats."

Bonzy is very vocal, and doesn't hesitate to bite if she objects to something. She broke the skin on the inside of my arm last week. (I must get her a rabies shot!) One of her missions in life seems to be to annihilate my indoor cats, so I have to be careful going in and out of my front door.

Of course it didn't take me long to fall in love with her kitten. Peachy is a perfect peach.

I have enjoyed volunteering since we moved here 32 years ago. I started with community activities and the schools, and went hog wild volunteering in school and education organizations for years and years. Now I am "retired," and the most recent thing I did was to mail a box of 4 unisex, red mufflers/scarves I knit for the Red Scarf Project. The organization mails a red scarf and other goodies for Valentine's day to college and trade school students who have aged out of the foster child program to give them a boost and encouragement.

I am also knitting hats and fingerless mitts for the Larkin Street Project in San Francisco. These are distributed in December to homeless youth, mostly young men. Though San Francisco is in northern California, it is a cold and chilly climate almost year round for those living on the streets. I try to use mostly colors that will appeal to young men -- most of my yarns are what I have bought to use for babies, so it is a challenge.

I feel like Ellie does. No body really does reegular acts of kindness or charity without enjoying the "glow" one gets from it.

But for completely selfless I would say I get involved. I don't think of myself. I simply do what I think needs to be done. If I see something happening I am not the gawker or the fearful run-the-other way person. I get involved. I've cleaned up a couple of stabbed bloodied up hookers (learned to keep gloves with me after the first one and I thought about it some)in my day and I've stopped late at night for a couple of bodies laying in the road. Both turned out to be drunks but you never know. I'll come to the defense of the underdog. I've jumped into fights with no thought to the risk to myself other than my instincts of how I handle myself. It's who I am. Sometimes I scare myself LOL but I have to be true to my convictions.

One year my wife and three of her GF's got together and collected scarves, hats, gloves and tube socks for about 6 months. Then a week before Christmas I went to a local paper manufacturer that prints huge rolls of xmass paper and got a mill end roll of wrapping paper.

We made up 300 packages containing a hat, pair of gloves and three pair of tube socks then took them to the Loaves & Fishes soup kitchen and gave each of the homeless ppl a xmass present.

I shall never forget the old man who came to me with tears in his eyes and said that was the first xmass present he had received in 12 yrs.

I am also a retired plumber and I spend about two to three hours a day answering technical plumbing questions on a couple DIY forums. I could fill a file cabinet with all the nice emails I have received from ppl who passed their plumbing inspections with the help I provided.

Mary_C your quilt is gorgeous beyond belief. I am so glad the wounded have this. It is worth a fortune. A selfless act would be for me to not wish for one for myself.

You and all who have created this have my deepest respect.

I'm LOVING many of these responses.

DH and I almost never drop a few dollars on a charity drive, jar, whatever. We decided long ago to give large amounts once a year -- and only to charities that furnish basic human needs. We read the charity audits and choose carefully. When DH's company matched funds or provided in kind goods, we stretched to make even larger contributions.

SHELTER: We give to a Chicago charity called H.O.M.E. It provides housing for homeless Seniors and helps fix up what housing people do have, runs busses to grocery stores, provides furnishings, paint, etc. It's amazing how many older people have no family left -- NOBODY!

FOOD: We give to the Greater Chicago Food Depository and to one in our county.

HEALTH CARE: We've given to a Chicago hospice since it was established -- taking HIV patients when that was a death sentence, serving almost entirely charity patients and their families.

When I was a (long-time) board member for our Visiting Nurses Assn. we competed for township funds with Senior Bridge Clubs, Toys for Tots, and other feel good fluff, while our infirm patients were in dire straits. (I learned a lot about 'non-profit' too, when the local hospital association found how much money they could make on home care post-Medicare. That was the end of the community-based, sliding-fee-scale VNA.)

I love your answer, Ellie! I was wondering if anyone would answer that. I remember the "Friends" episode where Phoebe tried to do a selfless act but she couldn't find one because they all made her happy (except letting a bee sting her, and she found out that that kills bees!). Ellie's statement is totally true, we do things for others because it makes us happy as well. This is why we should do things for others more often. It is what makes the world go 'round.

Everything everyone posted is awesome, I hope it feeds into a trend for everyone here.

Mary C, your quilts are AMAZING! And the reason for them is equally as special.

I make thousands of cat and dog toys and donate them to local rescues. I've done it for years.

I agree with ellie about getting satisfaction out of acts of kindness. DH and I are always helping someone less fortunate, and until his health got bad, we did volunteer work on a regular basis.

Mary's quilts of valor are amazing, and what a wonderful cause. I have contributed blocks for some of her quilts. I have also independently donated quilts to soldiers, the American Legion, and recently donated a pink one for an organization that provides mammograms for those who cannot afford them.

I thought of Phoebe on Friends, too!

It's not really selfless, because I'm sort of endlessly interested in other people, but I think the thing I do most selflessly is to just listen to people. I've always been one of those people that others tell their life stories to, whether on planes, in the ladies restroom, or waiting for a business meeting.

When I was younger, people took advantage of me, because I really didn't know how to say no. But now, I choose to listen to people. As a result, I've been able to be a comfort to people going through difficult illnesses, emotional problems, family issues, or plain old (but not in the least trivial) loneliness. I also try to go the extra mile and listen to my criminal defendant clients, who have done some awful things, but are generally just young men and women from terrible backgrounds.

I guess I think this is at least somewhat selfless because it involves an investment of time and emotional energy. And because of this, people often come to me for advice, which is both flattering and humbling.

This is a very inspirational thread!

My contribution is very small, but I'm "helping" a young neighbor get her elementary education degree.

Their money is tight with no budget for child care. They have no family here. Her husband works rotating shifts. Her class schedule often conflicts with the times he can be home with the baby, age 2.

I do not baby sit; I have never baby-sat. I'm not a baby-oriented person. It's far too stressful thinking of all the "what ifs" to enjoy spending any time alone with the gooey creatures!

Last winter she had to drop a science class, necessary for her degree, because she didn't have child care. When I found out, I was distressed for her. I told her to never drop a class again until she had talked to me. She knows I don't "babysit" except in dire circumstances, but Little Man could hang out with me for a few hours once a week while she took a class.

Z's a very calm, easy going, quiet child. He's comfortable around dogs. He's not attention-hungry, but he's not anti-social other. We simply hang out. He's almost potty-trained. It's a hoot to see him running down the hall and hear "potty; potty; potty," as he tries to make it to the bathroom in time. I think that's pretty good for just-turned-2. Of course, I'm right there to make sure he doesn't "fall in" and I've set up a little step-stool to make it easier for him to "aim."

So far it's working fine. I keep him nearly every Tuesday from 5-7:30 p.m. and sometimes on Thursday afternoons. If Daddy is home he keeps Z. I will not let them pay. This is my "donation" toward her further education. We're starting the third semister soon.

I used to stop frequently when a car is stopped at the roadside, especially on the freeway, quite a distance from an exit.

I find that I do that less often, now, especially on arterial and local roads, as on a number of occasions ...

... people were talking on their mobile phones.

Take veggies from the garden to local churches (where I ask that the recipients increase their offering if they wish to compensate) and social agencies.

Support several local charities, financially and personally, and some with an international scope, e.g. Medecins Sans Fronteirs.

Suggest to someone looking a bit dour on the street that s/he smile ... as it's a good day.

ole joyful

One thing that I do that gives me tremendous joy is to secretly buy someone else's meal. The last time I did this was at our local Cracker Barrel and there was an elderly gentleman having breakfast alone. I was there with my son and as I looked around I realized he was the only person there alone. When my waitress brought me our ticket I asked if she would bring me his as well. I also like to buy the person's meal of the car behind me in a drive through. Amazing that doing something kind to another person can make you feel so good.

You never know when a random act of kindness might bring you a great reward.

When I lived in Florida I worked for a Plumber who was a multi-millionaire. One day the boss came out to look at a job we were working on and he arrived at noon.

The super told the boss that it was lunch time and he had to run a few of the guys down to a little convenience store and asked the boss if he wanted to ride along so they could talk. When they arrived at the store everyone went inside. The boss selected an ice cream bar and he was afraid it would melt while waiting in the line so he started eating it. When he got to the register he realized that the smallest bill he had in his wallet was a $100 dollar bill. The clerk started giving him a big argument about he couldn't take the hundred, so the next guy in line, a total stranger said, "never mind arguing, I'll pay for his ice cream, lets get this line moving"

As they stepped outside the boss borrowed a couple dollars off the super and waited till the stranger came out so he could return the mans money. As the stranger came out he went to an old rundown car where he had a wife and two children waiting. The back of the car was loaded and they had more stuff tied on top as if they were living in the car.

The boss went over and talked with the stranger for about 5 minutes and found out that the stranger was in fact out of work, living in a temporary shelter and getting by by working as a day laborer.

The boss said, "You were so kind as to spare me the embarasment that I would like to help you a bit" as he handed the stranger the $100 bill and his business card. The he said, "you use this to take your family out to dinner tonight, then come see me in the morning, I got a job for you, I'll put you on my plumbing apprenticeship program starting tomarrow."

The next morning the stranger showed up as requested and the boss said "I thought about you last night, I want you to take your family over to this apartment complex I own and get settled into a two bedroom apartment, I already called the manager and she is expecting you. If you need furniture they have a huge storeroom full of stuff that has been abandoned in the apartments, you get settled in then come to work tomarrow, we will discuss how to pay your rent out of your weekly paycheck, oh yes, the furniture is free."

Lazypup, your post actually brought tears to my eyes.

It's heart lifting to see so many wonderful posts, what big hearts beat in the chests of the people at this table!

I did volunteer work for so many years. Red Cross: Fund Development, Service of Military, Emergency Fire Call, and finally Chairman of the Board. I served on the boards/committees for our Women's Help Center, The Humane Society and our Downtown Partnership.

The Downtown group brought back our Christmas parade and started light up night. Santa meets with each child and gives him a gift, so many of the kids don't have boots or coats that fit. It truly is a wonderful evening, I think it does more for me than for them.

Throughout the year we buy sample toiletries, soaps, women's supplies and drop them off at the Help Center. I also take them clothing, especially coats and shoes. We do the same for the Humane Society, I buy them bleach, towels, dog and cat food. And each year we adopt a family for each of the holidays to help them with food and, at Christmas, gift items.