One Voluntary Act of Kindness Could Start a Movement to Help Those in Need

By Editor, on December 24th, 2012

One simple act of kindness to help someone in need, by Bus Driver Kristian Doubledee in Winnipeg, Canada, may have helped move a nation, or two, to focus on the true meaning of Christmas — giving and helping others.

For a couple of days, Winnipeg Bus Driver Kris Doubledee observed a homeless man wandering barefoot on the sidewalk as he passed through a certain area of Winnipeg driving his bus. The scene moved Kris, and he couldn’t put it out of his mind. He felt compassion for the man, and understood that he needed help.

Then one day, as a passenger on Kris’ bus told the story, Kris was just doing his job, driving his bus, when he again saw the barefoot homeless man. Passengers on his bus were moved to tears as they observed Kris stop the bus for an instant, get off and, in a spontaneous gesture of kindness, take the shoes off his own feet and give them to the man. The man gratefully acknowledged the gift, and Kris quietly got back on his bus and continued driving until he finished his route for the day.

Kris sought no recognition for his act of compassion, and had Denise Campbell, a passenger on the bus, not been moved to write about this beautiful gesture on a community news blog, we probably would never know about it.

The blog post was picked up by other media, and went viral. The story of the bus driver who literally gave the shoes off his feet to someone in need, has inspired an outpouring of positive media coverage in Canada, the U.S. and other nations, as Christmas approaches.

The story has focused attention on the problems of homelessness, mental illness, and poverty, and seems to have struck a chord of sympathy and compassion. Perhaps it may even have sparked a conversation that could lead to action toward finding compassionate ways to address these problems — demonstrating, this Christmas Season, the power of one simple act of kindness.

Watch this report of the story by CBS News »