People across the world are engaging in acts of kindness and the ripple effect is astounding.
It’s easy to be hung up on one’s self, but when we go out of our way to do small acts of kindness, it goes incredibly far.
By being considerate and kind to people around us we build up our community and help bring people together just like what happened in its story.
31-year-old Matthew Wondra experienced his worst nightmare when his beloved bike was stolen. “I was definitely angry,” his mom Terri Wondra said. “Because that is the only thing that is getting him around.”
Matthew has a rare disease called Lowe Syndrome that causes brain abnormalities, weak muscle tone, and eye problems and it was his bike that keep him in good spirits because it was a present from his dad, who passed away suddenly last September.
“The day his bike was taken, he kept looking out saying mom where’s my bike,” Terri said. His sister shared about the stolen bike on a Granite City, Illinois, community Facebook page and wanted to set up a fundraiser to buy a new one but something astonishing happened before that.
After seeing the post, Vanessa Duckett decided to buy the new bike for Matthew, even though they had never met. “I wasn’t going to scroll past that without doing something,” she said. “It just seemed like the right thing to do, “she said.
Vanessa is a mother-of-two, one in college and a 4-year-old at home, and knows how important a bike can be. She also knows you don’t have to be rich to be generous.
“This town, when I grew up there was a lot of generous people,” Duckett said. “There was times when I didn’t have shoes or a coat and people in this town helped me out and I didn’t think of it so much as paying something forward but paying it back.”
As Mathew rides a special, three-wheel bike, Vanessa called Breese Bikes to get some instructions on how to put it together. “It’s something I’ve been doing since I was a little kid,” explained owner Patrick Breese.
Breese continued the act of kindness that Vanessa started by assembling the bike for free for her. “His bike got taken,” Breese said passionately. “Somebody stole his bike in the trailer park and that’s his transportation.”
Duckett drove over to Mathew’s house, knocked on the door and invited Matthew to come out to the parking lot. “And then I lifted the hatch to the SUV and his reaction was priceless,” Duckett said.
This amazing act of kindness blew Matthew away and now he not only has a new bike but a new friend too. “I was in tears. I didn’t know what to say,” said Terri. “She’s got a big heart. A caring heart.”
“If we all make each other’s life a little bit easier could you imagine what kind of world it would be?” asked Duckett.