Luke Mickelson was a high school football coach. He coached his kids' sports teams. But when he met children who were sleeping on the floor, he decided to build and offer a bed to children in need.

"This little girl had a nest (窝) of clothes; it looked like a little bird's nest. And that's what her bed was," Mickelson said. "When we gave her the bed, she hugged it and just couldn't let go."

Surprised to discover how widespread this need was in his community, Mickelson founded Sleep in Heavenly Peace in 2012, an organization (组织) that builds and offers beds to children in need. The organization has offered more than 1,500 free beds. But along with its rapid growth, Mickelson was faced with a hard choice: keeping his job or his organization. He chose to leave his high-paying job and ran his organization.

"I left my job of eighteen years because I wanted to do this full-time, because I knew the need was big. I found the need I have isn't about money," he said. "The need I have is seeing the happiness on kids' faces and making a difference."

Sammie Vance, 14, knows there’s nothing worse than feeling left out. For years, she’s been helping kids who feel lonely make friends by running Buddy Bench (友谊长凳) Program. The idea is that anyone at school who is feeling lonely can sit on the “buddy bench”. That lets other kids know someone needs a friend.

Sammie got the idea at summer camp in 2017. She thought it would be cool to have a buddy bench in her school, so she presented the idea to her teachers and her parents. To reduce costs and be environment-friendly, Sammie decided to make the bench out of recycled material. So she asked her community to collect bottle caps. Finally, they collected more than 1,200 pounds of bottle caps, which were made into three benches by a company called Green Tree Plastics.

Before long, Sammie was helping other schools get benches. She has given away more than 200 benches to schools and parks all around her country, and in Mexico and Australia. Her work continues to spread kindness far and wide.

Sammie says the effort has helped her deal with personal challenges. She says: “_________ But I’m much more outgoing now.” She has also learned to accept her limits (局限性), and to take breaks when working on a big project.

Mario Green and Mary Brown from Riverside High School give up several hours each week to help others.

Mario loves animals and wants to be an animal doctor. He volunteers at an animal hospital every Saturday morning. Mario believes it can help him to get his future dream job. “It’s hard work,” he says, “but I want to learn more about how to care for animals. I get such a strong feeling of satisfaction when I see the animals get better and the look of joy on their owners’ faces.”

Mary is a book lover. She could read by herself at the age of four. Last year, she decided to try out for a volunteer after-school reading program. She still works there once a week to help kids learn to read. “The kids are sitting in the library, but you can see in their eyes that they’re going on a different journey with each new book . Volunteering here is a dream come true for me, I can do what I love to do and help others at the same time.”