A commendable trend of altruism around town

Maybe it’s not out of the ordinary, but there sure seems to be an outbreak of altruism around town lately. And no antidote is needed.

Today’s edition of the paper is the second straight week we’ve run a feature story about a family strapped with major medical bills from a child’s hospitalization, and the help they’re getting from fundraisers organized by friends and co-workers.

Last week it was the Million family, parents Matt and Katie and their son Hunter, who seems to be making a remarkable recovery from cancer. And that story about a 5k fun run benefit noted that Matt was instrumental a couple years earlier in arranging something special — a Super Bowl trip — for a close friend and fellow firefighter who’d been diagnosed with cancer.

This week’s story is about 7-year-old Nolan Harness, the son of Becki and Andre Harness. He took a nasty fall off his bike when he couldn’t stop or swerve to avoid hitting the family cat that ran in front of him. The unfortunate youngster has spent seven weeks in the hospital, but he may go home next week.

In the meantime, there’s a fundraising auction Saturday to benefit the family.

Also in the news is a yoga instructor offering a free class and asking those who attend to donate 10 nonperishable food items to the South Kitsap Helpline Food Bank.

More generosity for the food bank: last weekend there was a food collection drive at Fred Meyer, and the store donated a $500 gift card for a raffle. When the lucky ticket was drawn and the winner was called to collect her prize, she opted to let the food bank keep the gift card to help stock its shelves.

And then we have Port Orchard residents James Dean and Kim Moreno. On Tuesday they saw a vehicle crash into a house and burst into flames, and without regard for their own safety they rushed to the aid of the driver, who appeared to be unconscious and may have died had they not roused him and helped him get out of the burning rig.

Well done, all around. Don’t lose faith in humanity just yet.

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