Best Of Patch 2019: Good News And Good Neighbors Across America

Stories illustrating the resilience, generosity, and kindness and goodness are among editors’ favorites at Patch’s community news sites.

When things aren’t going quite so well in your town, you’ll read about that on Patch. But we’ll also tell you when things are going right.

Below is a sampling of local stories representing the “heart of Patch” that we think will make you smile — or cry, for all the right reasons.

Autistic Man Would Die Without New Heart, So Nurse Adopted Him: This level of kindness and empathy is special and rare. A homeless, autistic Georgia man had resigned himself to dying alone in a homeless shelter when he was denied a heart transplant. “He had to come home with me,” his nurse said, via Atlanta Patch.

Glass Heart At Doorstep Showed Burglar Had One: It may be hard to see the good in someone who would steal a loved one’s cremains, but this widower’s experience may change your mind, via Monrovia Patch.

Wedding Ring Survives 2 Wildfires 58 Years Apart: Is something special at work in this incredible tale of a wedding ring twice spared in California’s wildfires, via Pacific Palisades Patch.

Bonus Gives Employees 10 Million Reasons To Smile: The owner of a development company sure knows how to spread the love, via Baltimore Patch.

Forgotten Babies Await Another Christmas: Back in the late '80s, there were 15 babies born who would never grow up with a mother's touch and anything resembling a normal childhood. Most of them suffered from cerebral palsy or seizure disorders, and just about all of their families gave up on them, but the community never did, via Miami Patch.

Neighbors Helping Neighbors

Special Mission For WWII Vet And His Wife: Neighbors in Mission Viejo, California, went out of their way to make Christmas special for a 96-year-old World War II veteran and his 92-year-old wife, via Mission Viejo Patch.

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• What A Funeral Home Does With Bodies Of Unclaimed Dead
• Neighbors Reach Out When New Year’s Fire Destroys Home

• Community Rallies Around 6-Year-Old Struck By Truck On Halloween
• Firefighter Donates Organ After Seeing Critical Need Of 2-Year-Old-Boy
• Employees Rally For Co-Worker Fighting For His Life

Stories Of Resilience

Dead For 40 Minutes,He Bounces Back: Robert Byrnes was standing up strumming on his guitar when he fell over and died, remaining dead for 40 minutes, via Cranford, New Jersey, Patch.

• Teen Had 'Weird' Cough; Rare Disease Nearly Killed Him
• 'Hope For The Future': A Laguna Niguel Nurse's Cancer Recovery

Videos Worth Watching

Video: Subway Singer Meets The Cop Who Changed Her Life: Emily Zamourka's full timbre soprano voice was all she had left. Catastrophic medical bills left the Russian immigrant homeless. She's a classically trained violinist, but someone stole her violin. Zamourka was singing for spare change on a Los Angeles subway platform when a beat cop asked if he could record her, an act that changed her life, via Hollywood Patch.

• Video: Thanksgiving Dinner Served On L Train
• Video: Cops Play Along With Love-In-A-Trunk Proposal
• Video: At 52, Mom Aims For Big Music Break
• Video: Young Cancer Survivor Gets Birthday Surprise
• Video: Make-A-Wish Reveal For Florida Teen
• Video: Oprah Winfrey Gives $500K In Surprise School Visit

Baby Boom

Firefighter Dads Show Off 9 Babies In Adorable Photo Shoot: The families of firefighters serving a California fire district are growing, via Claremont-La Verne Patch.

• Adorable Baby Bump Photo: 9 Maternity Floor Nurses Are Pregnant

More Good News

• $2,000 Tip On $48 Bill Stuns Waterville, Maine, Restaurant Staff
• Troopers Help Transplant Team Get Heart To Transplant Patient
• UPS Driver Strips Down, Swims In Icy Water To Rescue Dog
• Hundreds Of Kids Get Adopted In Time For Thanksgiving
• 4 Lessons Mr. Rogers Taught About Being A Good Neighbor
• New Orleans Teen’s Scholarship Haul Is $3.7M From 115 Schools
• High School Senior Wins $40K Scholarship
• Firefighters Rehang Fallen Flag At Home of Kincade Fire Evacuee
• NFL Player Delivers New Ball, Priceless Memory To Toms River Boy
• L.A. Chargers Serve 150 Meals To Low-Income Families
• Celebrities Go Big To Make Sick Kids' Wishes Even Bigger
• Oprah Winfrey Donates Another $13 Million To Scholarship Fund
• Phil Collins, Richard Marx, Tim Howar Nurture Future Phenoms
• Famous Twins Seek Bone Marrow Match For Dad