Community Corner

A Stranger Pays, MVA Praise: 6 Stories of Kindness in Maryland

In each of these stories, there was someone who stepped forward to help Patch readers in their time of need.

We’ve asked readers on Facebook to share their stories about acts of kindness, big and small, from around the state and we’ll be bringing them to you on a regular basis. If you have something to add, please leave it in comments.

Great Place to Work

Imagine having a serious health emergency at a new workplace: The staff hasn’t really had a chance to get to know you and the employer isn’t obligated to hold your job while you are recovering. That was the experience of Lauren Zulauf, who has a job waiting for her when she’s ready to go back and co-workers who have showered her with kindness.

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“What my co-workers and the business owners have done and do for me is priceless. I am forever grateful and beyond appreciative,” she wrote on Dundalk Patch’s Facebook page. “I have never felt so loved and appreciated by any other place of employment. They're my second family outside of my home. They've all gone above and beyond and it will never be forgotten.”

Impromptu Car Rental

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“My godson went to try for his license recently. While taking the test his car broke down,” Tiffany Owens wrote on Annapolis Patch’s Facebook page. “The man giving the test, instead of failing my godson, allowed him to use his personal vehicle and he passed!”

Charity at Checkout

Have you ever thought you had money when you go to pay at a store only to find out you left it somewhere else?

“I go to check out and look in my wallet and there was no money,” Alicia Rich wrote on Edgewater-Davidsonville Patch’s Facebook page. “I figured I had left it in my car, but before I could go and look the man behind me bought it for me. I know it's something small, but I was really touched by it.”

Wishing Well

Loose change can add up to a whole lot of good wishes when there’s a fountain nearby. Jennifer Spruce wrote on Edgewater-Davidsonville Patch’s Facebook page about how her husband was having surgery and she was trying to entertain her young children while they waited at the hospital.

“After a few hours they were getting loud and so not to disturb others we stepped outside and found a fountain in the median. I found a few coins in the bottom of my purse and gave them to my son and daughter to make wishes and toss in,” she wrote. “We only had a couple left and a kind stranger came up to us and emptied his pockets and gave all the change he had to my kids to toss in the fountain. I can't express how much that meant to me and how much I appreciate his kindness!”

Good Deed for the Day

“I was grading papers in my car with the radio on,” Emily Crum wrote on Odenton-Severn Patch’s Facebook page. “I realized that when I went to start the car and the battery was dead. I flagged down a nice young man in a truck heading into his work, and he ran in and found a spare jumper in their shop to give me a quick and easy jump. He actually thanked me for giving him a chance to do a good deed for the day.”

Pet Friendly Neighborhood

“I only recently moved to the area and my indoor cat decided to try to be an outdoor one,” wrote Laura Ebner wrote on Annapolis Patch’s Facebook page. “He was found four days later by a couple who fed him, held him while I came over and refused any reward.”

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