An inspiring tale of kindness in turmoil. This woman's life was struck by a tragic and terrifying disaster. Then, on her birthday of all days a brave stranger stepped up to make her special day worth smiling over. This is just the kind of story that restores our faith in humanity (temporarily).
random act of kindness
We need more people like this dude!
Via Caroline Macrory
Caroline Macrory started a trend by leaving gifts on the doorstep of someone who needed them and running away. She called this the Doorstep Challenge and this act of kindness has really caught on.
Even a few local businesses have joined in. 
via @CoopBlythe
via @LearningTutorUK
Macrory's goal is bringing people together to make life a little easier. She told Mashable, "Basically the concept of the ‘doorstep challenge’ is to reach out to those in our community who might be struggling at this time of year for one reason or another and spread a little Christmas cheer."
Via Eater
That must have been some pretty tasty gumbo.
A man in Washington, D.C. was so satisfied with his meal at Blue 44 on Monday, that he decided to tip the staff $2000 on top of his $93 bill.
He wrote a note at the bottom of the receipt clarifying that the amount was to be split between three people: $1000 for chef James Turner, and $500 each for the owner Christofer Nardelli and bartender Laura Dally.
His meal consisted of fried chicken, gumbo and some Old Chub Scotch Ale, according to theWashington Post.
And the anonymous patron told Nardelli that he did it because he is “very happy with what we’ve built and that he’s proud to be a customer.”
The restaurant posted a picture of the gumbo on Facebook Thursday, hoping to bring in some new customers thanks to all the publicity.
“The now famous Generosity Gumbo!” they wrote. “Chicken and Andouille sausage gumbo is still on special, so stop by and try a bowl of your own!”
A heroic rescue was captured on video this week as a Colombian police officer leapt into a raging river to save a small dog from drowning after a deadly mudslide ravaged the region.
The cops were searching for survivors when they noticed the animal floating down the Liboriana River, and so they started chasing after it down the bank.
The video shows one of the cops jumping in and struggling against the current before scooping it up and bringing it to safety.
He then performs CPR on the dog (including mouth-to-mouth resuscitation) to help bring it back to life.
“Principe” has since recovered from the incident and is now “in good hands,” according to the police.
