1 . In a heartwarming rescue operation off the coast of Houston-Galveston, a U.S. CoastGuard team discovered an unexpected passenger during a routine inspection of shipping containers. The team, led by Petty Officer 2nd Class McMahon, were astonished when they heard barking and scratching coming from one of the containers.

As they cautiously opened the container, they were greeted by the sight of a small, furry face — a dog trapped inside the dark space. The dog seemed remarkably calm and happy to be liberated from her limited quarters.

“As soon as we opened it, we could see the little dog’s face poking out,” McMahon said. “She just seemed happy more than anything, to be out of that dark space and in the arms of people that were going to take care of her.”

Further investigation by Coast Guard officials revealed that Connie had been trapped in the container for at least eight days, deprived of food and water. The container, filled with deserted vehicles intended for overseas sales, had likely originated from a junkyard.

“So based on that, they think that the dog most likely was in a junkyard, in a car. And that how she accidentally got put in the container,” Chief Petty Officer Corinne Zilnicki said.

Grateful for being in the right place at the right time, McMahon expressed the urgency of the situation. “It would take at least another week to get to where she was going and two weeks without food or water. I don’t think she would have made it,” he said.

Forever Changed Animal Rescue has taken her in, diligently working to nurse her back to health and prepare her for adoption.

2 . Every dog should have a loving home, and thanks to a 13-year-old boy named Thiago, many are now closer to finding one.

Thiago is a self-described animal lover hoping to help the homeless dogs in his home city of Antônio Prado. So, he came up with an idea. Maybe if he could make the dogs on the street look more attractive, they’d have more chances to be adopted (收养). So he began giving baths to dogs in his spare time. This great idea is what led Thiago to create a project called “Sou de rua mas to limpinho” at the end of 2020.

With the help of his father, he began looking for dogs who needed a helping hand. “At the end of last year, I decided that I needed to somehow do something for the animals,” Thiago said. “While talking to my father, I told him about my idea of bathing street dogs so they can stay clean and smell good and people may look at them differently.”

Before the effort truly took off, Thiago and his dad had to work out how to win the dogs over. “Catching dogs on the street is difficult, since they are always frightened and many have suffered from ill treatment,” Thiago explained. “So we spent some time without baths until my father spoke to the public service organization and we started to bathe their newly saved dogs.” In addition to bathing them, Thiago started adding little accessories (配饰) to the dogs, such as little hair pins, to really increase their chances of adoption. The boy’s dad also took pictures of the dogs and posted them online, pointing any possible adopters to the nearby shelters (收容所). “I want people to be not afraid to adopt,” Thiago said. “It’s the best thing in the world.”

3 . In a world where acts of kindness often go unnoticed, a good story that has been discovered reminds us of the power of care and the effect it can have on someone’s life.

It all started with a “Kindness Week Challenge” given to Brennan by his 8th-grade teacher, Ms. Watkins. Little did he know that this challenge would lead to a wonderful friendship with 84-year-old Ms. Ann.

Brennan’s promise to send his little attractive things every day for a week developed a habit of checking up on Ms. Ann and sending gifts regularly(定期地), long after the challenge was over.

Their friendship has now lasted for over five years, and Brennan still visits Ms. Ann every month with flowers, cakes, chocolates, cards and more.

They talk about everything from his high school life to his college goals. The pair has found that they share a common love of chocolates. Ms. Ann always hopes to hear about what he’s doing and loves to share her own stories from a different time. They have become the best friends, with Brennan treating her as his great-grandmother.

Brennan’s mom, Traci, takes pride in her son. She said, “The best thing a teenager can do is to take care of the elderly. I’m so glad my son has added more sunshine to Ms. Ann’s life. I hope he always remembers the joy he’s brought her, and his fun talks with her, keeps his kind heart, and thinks of others.”

Ms. Ann’s daughter Emma, with her husband Gould, has a 2-year-old son. They are thankful for Brennan’s friendship as they cannot always be with Ms. Ann. Brennan’s kind heart has brought more sunshine into Ms. Ann’s life, and her encouraging words have helped to inspire(启发)him in return.

5 . No party? No problem. These people found a way to celebrate their special day that was just as fun and even more meaningful than a traditional birthday party.

On the e-vite (电子邀请函) for Mikayla Gounard’s birthday party, she told her friends that she didn’t want presents. “I didn’t really need anything,” she said. “Everything they would have given me was plastic and stuff I really didn’t need.”

Instead, she asked for donations to help the homeless man, David Sean Currey, who found and returned Gounard’s grandmother’s lost wallet. She was super inspired by that story. She wanted to pay forward the kindness the stranger showed her grandmother.

On Dec. 22, her 12th birthday, Gounard raised $479. A GoFundMe raised an additional $55,000,which Gounard gave to David Sean Currey, along with a note saying, “In a dark tunnel, there is always light.” The homeless man started crying. He was able to check into a hotel, and open a bank account.

Across the country, kids and adults are having pay-it-forward parties, skipping traditional birthday celebrations, foregoing gifts, and choosing to spread kindness and help others.

After the devastating Texas snow and ice storm, Texas State Senator Dawn Buckingham spent her birthday on Feb. 2l in Harper. Texas handed out water and food and supplies to people who had no power for 10 days. Buckingham also invited strangers into her home to use her gas stove to cook meals. It was the end of hunting season — and she had a freezer full of venison she shared with strangers. “There’s nothing better than helping those who need help on your birthday,” Buckingham said on her birthday morning.

6 . For 18 years after her retirement, Deng Xiaolan volunteered to teach music in a rural village in Hebei rovince. Her inspirational teaching and the enthusiasm and talent of her pupils shone in the opening ceremony of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

Deng’s involvement with the rural children can be traced back to an experience of paying homage to the martyrs with them. She wanted to ask children to sing a song in memory of those heroes, but most of the children didn’t know the well-known songs she named and their singing was out of tune as well. So she thought she must do something to teach them to sing.

Deng began to travel between Beijing and the village since 2004 to teach the children music. She collected instruments from her siblings and friends, including a violin, keyboard and accordion, and took them to the village, and also rebuilt the school houses by raising funds and using her own money. As the children had no background in music, she had to teach them basic music theory, such as scales.

Two years later, she established the Malan Band, the first members of which were six children from the village. In 2013, she hosted a children’s music festival in the village, which became a regular event where the children could showcase their singing and instrument skills.

Deng passed away at the age of 79 at the Beijing Tiantan Hospital. “In the last 18 years of her life, my mother devoted most of her time and energy to music education for children in Malan village, which brought her and the children joy and contentment and received widespread praise,” her daughter said.