Christmas came early to some Hurricane Sandy victims. A wealthy man from Missouri handed out $100 bills to Staten Island area residents who lost everything they owned during Hurricane Sandy. The Kansas City “Secret Santa” stated that he plans of giving away $100,000 during the holiday season, according to The Blaze.

The Secret Santa spent Thursday in New York and New Jersey giving away thousands of dollars, but noted that the money he is handing out is really not the issue. The charitable Missouri man had this to say about his visit to the region ravaged by Hurricane Sandy:

“The money is not the point at all. It’s about the random acts of kindness. I’m just setting an example, and if 10 percent of the people who see me emulate what I’m doing, anybody can be a Secret Santa!”

The anonymous benefactor received a police escort through the Staten Island borough. When he happened across a woman stacking basic necessities and free food at a volunteer-run disaster, the Kansas City Secret Santa politely asked if anyone had given her any money.

Carol Hefty, 73, stated she had not received any cash. The retiree is currently living in a home damaged by Hurricane Sandy. The generous man simply slipped some money into the palm of her hand. After noticing the red Secret Sana stamp on the $100 bill, she didn’t think it was real money. Once she was reassured that the cash was indeed legal tender, she hugged the unnamed man, weeping the entire time.

The same scene was repeated time and again as the Secret Santa and a security crew consisting of police officers, FBI agents, and former agents from multiple states, made their way around the region. Some of the safety entourage wore red berets with the word “elf” on then to show their support the man with a heart of gold and pocket full of cash he wanted to put to good use.

Secret Santa Hands Out $100 To Hurricane Sandy Victims is a post from: The Inquisitr

Ohio high school runner Meghan Vogel is certainly receiving praise for her 1st place finish in the 1600 meter race, but it’s her dead-last finish in the 3,200 meter final that is receiving the most attention.

Vogel,  a junior runner for West Liberty-Salem High School (West Liberty, Ohio) was on cloud nine after her 1st place finish in the 1,600 meter race from earlier in the day. Not holding anything back, Vogel was able to finish the race ahead of the pack and receive the honors as the first person to accomplish the feat for her high school in over 20 years.

ESPN reports that when it came time for her second race in the 3,200 meter competition, Vogel was past exhaustion and in no shape to win the next race.

And that’s when it all happened.

Trailing her closest competitor by about 50 meters, Vogel looked ahead and saw fellow runner Arden McMath collapse and hit the track. However, rather than skirt by the injured runner Vogel stopped, helped McMath to her feet and began to carry her towards the finish line.

“I just couldn’t believe she’d done that for me,” McMath told the Dayton Daily News. “We’re all in it together as distance runners. Everyone is trying to do their best. It’s a lot harder on your body than a lot of the other races.”

Vogel echoed McMath’s sentiments saying that ”if you work to get to the state meet, you deserve to finish no matter who you are. I was going to make that happen for her no matter what.”

McMath officially finished the race in 14th place, just one ahead of Meghan Vogel in 15th place.

“Any girl on the track would have done the same for me” said Vogel.

With an act of kindness as grand as this, it’s not surprising that Meghan Vogel is receiving this much attention. However, to her is just doesn’t make sense.

“It’s been crazy. I can’t understand why everyone wants to talk to me, but I guess I’m getting used to it now,” she said.

“It’s strange to have people telling me that this was such a powerful act of kindness and using words like ‘humanity.’ It’s weird. When I hear words like that I think of Harriet Tubman and saving people’s lives. I don’t consider myself a hero. I just did what I knew was right and what I was supposed to do.”

High School Runner Carries Injured Rival Across Finish Line [VIDEO] is a post from: The Inquisitr

Over the holidays, some “secret santas” that paid off the layaway bills of random strangers made the news, but there’s an actual Random Acts of Kindness week, which happens to be this week in 2012.

Random Acts of Kindness Week’s history is not entirely clear, but mentions of Random Acts of Kindness Week (or RAK week) on the web go back well into the last decade- interestingly, it seems people are more into actually putting the practice of random acts of kindness into play that taking credit for popularizing the kindness-palooza. There is a site set up to celebrate general Random Acts of Kindness, but the group behind it does acknowledge the benefit of promoting the concept through a whole week of focusing on creating RAKs for your fellow man. RandomActsofKindness.org explains:

“RAK Week is February 14-20, 2011, and the second full week of February each year. Random Acts of Kindness Week is designed to give those who are either not currently aware of Random Acts of Kindness or those who wish to call attention to the value of kind actions a chance to experience the joy of passing along kindness. The week’s purpose is to raise awareness about kindness and to invite people to give and receive kindness daily.”

According to the site, Random Acts of Kindness Week celebrations are variable:

“Celebrations vary widely. An individual may celebrate kindness by performing anonymous kind acts all week long. An educator may lead a discussion about kindness and involve students in a brief kindness activity. Some celebrations are school wide. Some celebrations are community-based rather than school-based. The choice is up to you. For hundreds of ideas, consult our Kindness Ideas resource, or the Educators and Community sections on this website.”

Are you planning to celebrate Random Acts of Kindness Week 2012? Do you try to engage in RAKs all year round?

Random Acts of Kindness Week is a post from: The Inquisitr