Community Corner
These Uplifting Stories Show What Good Neighbor Day Is All About
See how community members came together to reward good deeds, put out fires and form heartwarming friendships.
This post is sponsored and contributed by a Patch Brand Partner. The views expressed in this post are the author's own.
Good neighbors make communities stronger, safer and happier. That's why Good Neighbor Day was established by President Jimmy Carter in 1978, calling on Americans to recognize their neighbors' acts of kindness.
This year, Ring is celebrating Good Neighbor Day by shining a spotlight on folks across the country who look out for one another. Here are three real-life stories of neighbors whose good deeds strengthened their communities in immeasurable ways.
Eleven-Year-Old Boy Returns Neighbor's Lost Wallet, And The Entire Community Comes Together To Pay Him Back
When Michelle's stepson Chase lost his wallet while fishing at a park in De Pere, Wisconsin, the family initially chalked it up as a loss. "Chase only had $2 cash in the wallet," Michelle said, "but he also had a lot of gift cards, driver's license, school ID, debit card linked to his checking account AND savings account, pictures, diabetic information, etc."
Fortunately for Chase, an 11-year-old boy named Vince found the lost wallet. Michelle and Chase's father, Jason, were at a barbecue across the street from their home when they got a notification via the Ring App about activity happening in front of their Ring Video Doorbell.
"We weren't able to see our house from the neighbor's back yard just because they have an L-shaped house," Michelle explained. "So Jason, my husband, talked through the Ring doorbell after we picked it up on the app, and we asked, 'How are you doing, and what can we help you with?'"
Vince told them that he found Chase's wallet and had come by to return it. Jason walked over to get it, and since he didn't have any cash on him, he gave Vince the $2 that was in Chase's wallet.
But Jason and Michelle didn't feel as though they'd thanked Vince enough. As Michelle put it, "Since we only gave the boy $2, we were starting to feel really bad and wanted to give more for his kind act."
Michelle didn't yet know the good Samaritan's name or where he lived, but she figured someone in the community would recognize him. "I put a Facebook post out with Vince's picture that I got from our Ring App (I would be lost without Ring) asking if anyone knew him so we could reward him," she said, "and I made it public so people could share it."
The photo was shared over 660 times, and Vince "was found that same night," Michelle said. "So we called the dad and found out the dad is recovering from COVID-19 and is currently out of work. We asked what we could do to reward the boy, and all he asked for were socks since Vince and Lorenzo share socks as they can't afford new ones."
Michelle said she and Jason "dug deeper" into the family's situation and discovered Lorenzo "tried to go back to work, but the PPE he needed to wear at work made it impossible to breathe as he was recovering from COVID …. So at that moment, we knew we needed to help in a big way."
Michelle and Jason started a GoFundMe page to raise money for Lorenzo and Vince. The starting goal was to bring in $500 worth of donations, but with the help of the community, Michelle and Jason raised over $8,000 to give to Lorenzo and Vince.
"People just want to share the love," Michelle said. "This family deserves recognition for returning the wallet as they are significantly struggling financially themselves …. But they did the right thing despite their struggles. There are still great people in this world despite all the negativity out there."
Local Hero Extinguishes Fire On His Neighbors' Front Porch
Brandon was about 20 minutes away from his Sanger, California home when he received a notification on the Ring App about activity at his front door. On the Live View, he saw "a man who I've never met" ringing the family's Ring Video Doorbell and trying to alert them to the fire that had broken out on the front porch.
Brandon, who suspects the fire was caused by illegal fireworks in the area, notified the fire department and immediately headed home. In the meantime, Brandon said that the man — who stopped his car and got out to help after seeing the flames — "took it upon himself to grab the water hose on the side of the house and put [the fire] out ... I actually watched it live."
By the time Brandon made it home, the fire had been extinguished, and the man who put it out had already left. Brandon wanted to find out who the man was to thank him, so he posted a video from his Ring Video Doorbell to Facebook, "and it literally blew up." As Brandon put it, "Everyone was just sharing and liking and like, 'We're going to find this guy. We'll find who he is.'"
By the next morning, the good citizen had been identified as Gabriel, a neighbor who lives just a few streets over from Brandon. Brandon was able to thank Gabriel for coming to the rescue.
"If Gabriel with his quick actions didn't put that fire out, I would've came home to a house that would have been burned to the ground," Brandon said, "and everything my wife and I worked hard for would have been gone, destroyed."
He was grateful for Gabriel’s kindness and the Ring Video Doorbell that caught the good deed on camera. "Honestly, if it wasn't for Ring ... that experience wouldn't [have been] caught on tape," Brandon said. "I wouldn't have known who Gabriel was, and I wouldn't be able to give him the praise that he deserves because I would have never known."
Sanitation Worker Helps Elderly Woman With Her Trash Bin Every Single Week
Several months back, 88-year-old Opal suffered a bad fall as she was bringing her trash can in from the end of the driveway. A sanitation worker named Billy saw it happen, stopped his rounds and stayed with Opal until help could arrive.
Opal, who lives in Independence, Missouri, had to get seven stitches, but there was a silver lining: she and Billy became pals. And since Opal's fall, Billy has helped bring her trash bin down the driveway every single week.
Opal's daughter Colette saw a sweet interaction between Billy and her mother via the Ring App. Colette said she and her family keep an eye on Opal thanks to a Ring Spotlight Cam that "gives us added peace of mind."
Colette "got very teary eyed" the first time she saw a video of Billy helping her mom. "It made me feel really good that somebody would take the time out of their day to help, really, a stranger and be that kind of caring," Colette said.
Opal's daughter originally shared the heartwarming clip just with family. "I was like, 'Hey, you guys need to see this. It's just such a sweet story about somebody helping Grandma,'" she said. "And they were like, 'You need to put it on social media. The world needs to see this.'"
Not surprisingly, the video of Billy helping Opal resonated with strangers who've never met either of them.
"We just want this to be a reminder to people that small acts of kindness can go a long way," Colette added. "Go do something nice for someone today!"
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