Pick your state or town to see the kind people, small wins, and big comebacks happening close to home.
Plus Washington, D.C. States with a gold count have a story up right now.
Every story still links back to the newsroom that reported it.
HeroesKinsley Locke, a sophomore at North Florida Christian School, marked a decade of giving plush toys to local fire departments and is now sending them to children in foster care.
Verified · WCTV
AnimalsLoggerhead nests on Tybee reached 59 this season, a new high for the island, while Georgia as a whole counted a record 4,292 nests.
Verified · Savannah Morning News
CommunitySEEDS volunteers sorted tens of thousands of donated books at the Wayne County Fairgrounds, and readers carried more than 28,000 of them home.
Verified · Pike County Courier
CommunityHallsville West Elementary passed 1,000 books given out through a machine students earn their way into, one student of the month at a time.
Verified · KLTV
CommunityHe was facing eviction. She knew what it felt like to need a break, so she gave him one.
Verified · TODAY
AnimalsYoung patients at Akron Children's Hospital got a visit from a gentle four-legged friend, and for a few minutes the hospital felt a lot more like home.
Verified · Ideastream
HeroesRoderick Green gathered 304 donated items for the Royse City Animal Shelter, collecting them outside pet stores in Rockwall and Fate.
Verified · Royse City Herald-Banner
CommunityBay-Lakes Council scouts will hang collection bags on October 10 and pick them up on October 17 for more than 80 local pantries.
Verified · WBAY
HeroesHe takes care of the school every day. Then he gave a colleague's family the gift of a lifetime.
Verified · Good Morning America
ScienceStudents gave the endangered Blanding's turtle a head start, and the population is climbing.
Verified · GBH News
AnimalsThe seventh annual fundraiser outside an east-side Petco raised support for a pet food pantry, a wellness clinic, and animals looking for homes.
Verified · WBAY
CommunityGrand County Library District saved for years so a larger Kremmling library can be built without a new tax, and neighbors are invited to the site on October 10.
Verified · Sky-Hi News
CommunityThe Neighborhood Center of South Lake took delivery of a 2026 refrigerated truck after Central Florida donors covered the cost.
Verified · The Clermont Sun
CommunityThe Gardeners Guild meets Thursdays at the Orange Cove Branch Library, starting with lavender, St. John's wort, and society garlic.
Verified · Mid Valley Times
AnimalsSaved from a hoarding case, he had a heart defect repaired at WSU. His foster vet said yes, forever.
Verified · WSU Insider
CommunityThe 23rd WSOY Community Food Drive, held for 12 hours at a Kroger in Decatur, set a record for the annual event.
Verified · WAND
AnimalsThe Norman nonprofit invited the public to a grand reopening, with new kennels and room to perform veterinary care on site.
Verified · News 9
CommunityNeighbors stocked a book-sharing box in front of the Congregational Church, with a shelf that leans toward children's titles.
Verified · Forks Forum
CommunityMore than 100 players rotated across a restaurant stage in Lansing, improvising without a pause from Monday morning until Wednesday night.
Verified · NPR
CommunityAnythink Nature Library in Thornton opened so patrons can borrow outdoor gear, or walk a trail that starts just outside the branch.
Verified · KUNC
AnimalsA leash-cutting in Granby marked the new Grand County Pet Pals shelter, with the doors set to open to the public on October 1.
Verified · Denver7
CommunityAbout 100 children's books from the Charles County Public Library now sit in a social services office in La Plata, and young visitors may keep them.
Verified · The Southern Maryland Chronicle
ScienceAt Blue Heron Park in Phoenix, Oregon, a crowd watched 22 tagged butterflies lift off on a migration people can follow by phone.
Verified · Jefferson Public Radio
CommunityVolunteer Amanda West stocked a take-a-book box outside the sheriff's administration building in Springfield, Georgia.
Verified · WTOC
ScienceThe first known natural sea turtle nests on the U.S. West Coast were shifted to the Aquarium of the Pacific before storm surf could wash them out.
Verified · Los Angeles Times