Receipt showing waitress's $446 tip. Photo by YouTube Screen Capture

Treating others the way we would like to be treated is good advice as one Indianapolis waitress recently learned. CeCe Bruce, who works at a local Steak ‘n Shake restaurant, received a generous tip from a customer – $446 on a bill that was just $5.97.

Bruce has been working at the franchise for two years and never expected anything like this when she went to work on Wednesday.

The tip came from one of Bruce’s regular customers, a woman who usually leaves her a $5 tip on a $ bill. The waitress was amazed at the tip and called the woman ‘very nice.’

The staff at the burger joint knows the customer only as Miss Jo. The woman wrote out the tip and then left very quickly. Bruce tried to catch her in the parking lot and explain she couldn’t accept such a generous tip. Miss Jo was unwilling to take no for answer and insisted CeCe keep the money.

Greer Gooley, the manager of the restaurant was shocked by the customer’s generosity. In the six-plus years he has worked at the chain, he has never seen a tip like that. The most he’s seen is $100. Gooley went on to say that no one deserves the money more than CeCe. He described her as hardworking and reliable, saying she always comes in when asked to work. Gooley says her treatment of customers has earned her more regulars than other servers.

Bruce attends Martin University in Indianapolis as a full time stude3nt and says she can use the money to help pay bills.

The experience has shown her that people can be trusted and that you should never judge by outward appearances. She treats everyone with the same friendly manner – as they deserve to be treated.

News of her story seems to have spurred on other acts of kindness. On the following Friday, she received a $14 tip. Even more surprising was the couple from California, who after learning of CeCe’s story, made contact with her to see if they could help her by donating some money for school expenses.

CeCe is delighted and amazed with the turn of events.

Ricardo Cerezo finds $4.85 million lottery ticket in family cookie jar. Photo by NBC News

Dipping into the family cookie jar has never been as rewarding as it recently was for a Chicago-area man who stuck his hand in and pulled out a winning lottery ticket.

The cookie jar was actually the resting place for old lottery tickets and had grown full when Ricardo Cerezo’s wife asked him to dispose of the months’ old collection. She recommended he check them to see if there were any winners before he dumped them in the trash.

Ever the obedient husband, Ricardo carted them off to a local gas station to check the numbers for matches. Like a fairytale, it was the last ticket that changed his life. When he ran it through the lottery machine, the display read, ‘file a claim.’ He didn’t get a congratulatory message, nor did his winning ticket tell him how much he’d won. For that, he had to contact the Illinois lottery.

Imagine his surprise when he learned the ticket, which he’d purchased this past February was a $4.85 million winner!

Cerezo couldn’t have hit it big at a better time. The family was still reeling from the death of Ricardo’s 14 year old daughter Savannah, who died after a series of seizures. Add to that the fact that the family was facing foreclosure on their Geneva, Ill home and the money came in the nick of time.

It was Savannah who had purchased the cookie jar just months before her August 12 death. The family decided to keep the lottery tickets along with some sentimental keepsakes in the cookie jar. Winning had a bittersweet taste to it.

Ricardo says the good news would have been so much better had Savannah been alive to share in it. Still, he is at peace with it and believes his winning was a gift from Savannah.

The money will be used to pay off the mortgage and help pay for college. In spite of their good fortune, the Cerezo family plans to continue working.

Best friends ages 6 and 7 raise $200k for rare disease. Photo courtesy YouTube Screen Capture

Jonah Pournazarian, 7, is one of about 100 people in the U.S. who suffer from Glycogen Storage Disease Type 1B (GSD). The disease is incurable and until the 1980s, most of its victims died by the age of two.

Dylan Siegel, 6, is Jonah’s best friend. He wanted to help his friend get well and wrote a book in hopes of raising a million dollars to find a cure. The book, entitled “Chocolate Bar” took an hour for the first grader to write and illustrate. The name comes from a term the boys use to describe things they consider awesome or fantastic.

Dylan solicited his parents, David and Debra Siegel, to help getting the book published. They turned to a local printer and had 200 copies printed to sell at a school fair.

Debra was hopeful they would at least sell the books they printed because she didn’t want to be stuck with them. The books sold out in a couple of hours and the family made $6,000.

David said they did a second printing and set up a Facebook page and later a website. David said people started to hear about the book and wanted to help Dylan reach his goal.

Six months later, “Chocolate Bar” the book along with actual chocolate bars donated by a local outlet of Whole Foods has raised a combined $200,000.

GSD is a metabolic disease that adversely affects the liver. Lora Pournazarian explains that only cornstarch is keeping Jonah alive. Mixed with water, she administers the solution through a feeding around the clock to keep Jonah’s blood sugar on even keel.

Jonah is allowed to eat other foods but his sugar intake is strictly monitored. His parents have learned to appreciate how precious life is since learning of their son’s illness.

The couple’s two older children Rachel, 9, and Jonah’s twin brother Eli are proud of Dylan for helping their brother.

Funding for research for GSD has been nonexistent because the disease is so rare, no one is interested. Dr. Weinstein was skeptical that “Chocolate Bar” would really help raise significant money. Now he calls the book and Dylan’s efforts astounding.

The boys first met in preschool when they were three. They are now inseparable buddies, hopefully for a long time to come.

Four 10-year-old friends sell cookies & lemonade to aid Boston bombing victim's family. Photo by Kerry Sanders / NBC News

In the town of Squantum, just southeast of Boston, four little girls found a way to turn the tragedy of the Boston Marathon bombing into a plan of action for good. These ten-year-olds, all best friends, wanted to raise money to help the family of Martin Richard, the 8-year-old boy who died in the bombing.

Squantum is a small bedroom community of just 400 families. It was here the girls set up a lemonade and baked goods stand just outside the Kennedy Library. Though none of the girls personally knew Martin, they knew they wanted to help.

Brigid Norris said the group had hoped to make $100 but had so far raised over $3,000.

The girls, like the rest of the world watched the unfolding stories and learned Martin had been standing near the finish line of the race with his family when the bombs ripped through the area. His mother Denise received a brain injury. Martin’s 6-year-old sister lost a leg in the blast.

Ciara O’Connors is the one who came up with the idea. She said she would want people to help her if this had happened to her.

Trisha Loney, the mother of one of the little do-gooders, Mary Loney, kept vigil over the girls while they sold their goods to an appreciative public. She said the girls saw a picture of Martin and realized he was just like them and all their friends and that put it in perspective for them.

As the money piles up in the little toy cash register they are using, the girls are amazed at their success. Brigid was amazed that four or five people gave $100 and didn’t even take a cookie.

The quartet has pledged to five all the money to the Richard family.

Mary Loney talked about being up till past midnight working on signs and baking brownies. Lauren Manning was excited to be able to do something good.

Customer Tina Dellorfano told the kids what a great thing they were doing when she stopped to buy cookies. She said it is the small moments of goodness that will help us forget the bombing.

Family rescued by kayaker from crash in river. Photo courtesy El Dorado County Fire Department / AP

A lone Kayaker out for some quiet time on the river is now being hailed as a hero after rescuing a family from their SUV after it went off road and careened into the river in April.

The SUV went out of control and hit a concrete mile marker, a tree and a boulder before it plunged into the American River where it came to a stop, Inside were three children and their parents. The accident occurred near Sacramento according to authorities.

Mark Divittori was on the river in his kayak when the crash occurred. He happened to be in the right place at the right time. The vehicle, badly mangled from hitting the other object, landed in the river just yards behind where he was kayaking.

Divittori told NBC reporters that he had been kayaking in that very spot just moments before the car took its plunge. He could have been hit and killed himself and counted himself lucky.

The three children managed to unfasten their own safety belts and exit the vehicle on their own. Divittori then helped each of them to safety. The driver however, was pinned in the vehicle. His wife remained with him to hold his head above water.

As though a mysterious guardian angel was working overtime, the family had another stroke of good fortune. A fire truck happened to be in the vicinity and was able to assist. They were able to get to the parents in an astounding three minutes and rescued the parents. Using a life jacket to help keep the driver’s head above water, the El Dorado County firefighters cut the roof away from the SUV.

Fire Marshal Mike Pott said the lack of recent rainfall in the area played a factor in the rescue. It kept the river from being as high or as fast-moving as it usually is. A higher, faster river would have hampered their rescue attempts and the father might not have survived his brush with death.

Officials said only the driver sustained serious injuries.

Dallas Wiens, a face transplant recipient and Jamie Nash, a burn survivor marry

Dallas Wiens was one of the first Americans to receive a full face transplant, needed after a bizarre construction accident in 2008. Saturday, he married Jamie Nash, a woman he met in a burn victims’ support group.

Wiens, from Fort Worth, came in contact with high voltage power lines that caused so much damage, he had no face left. After multiple surgeries, doctors were able to transplant a new face, complete with muscles, skin and facial hair.

Nash, from Garland, suffered her injuries in a fiery car crash that nearly took her life in 2010 in Ennis. Trapped inside her burning car, she was burned on her back, legs and hands.

The couple got engaged this past fall and exchanged wedding vows on Saturday at the same church in Fort Worth where Wiens had been working when he was injured. The ceremony was followed by a reception to which their respective doctors and nurses were invited.

Through a support group for burn victims held at Parkland Hospital, the two met. Nash recalls being drawn to Wiens. She knew from looking at him across the room that there was something special about Dallas.

For his part, Wiens wasn’t interested initially. He had given up on love and being in a relationship and says he didn’t want any part of being in one. That was until Christmas Eve when they sat up talking all night and arranged their first date.

According to Dallas, it was a simple dinner and a movie but for him that was all it took. Both say they have been together every day since that first date.

Nash says she jokingly told Wiens she knew it was love because hadn’t gotten tired of him yet. Together the couple plans to leave the trauma of the pasts behind them. Wiens sees no reason to dwell on it and Nash contends the past burned in the fire and that’s where it should stay.

Together the couple helps balance one another out. Nash’s hands were severely damaged in the fire where Wiens are fine. He lost his sight as a result of his accident but she can see perfectly well.

They see their love story as one of true love and inspiration for others. If love can come to these two people, then it can come to anyone according to Nash.

Woman finds lifeguard who saved her in 1964. Photo by NBC 4 New York

As a 5 year old child, Eady Rothstein really had no way to save the mysterious lifeguard who saved her life at a club pool in 1964.Now, nearly 50 years after the event, Eady decided to track him down and thank him personally.

Rothstein of Ramsey, N.J. recalls the day in 1964 when she sat at the edge of a pool at a club in the Lido Beach area of Long Island. Suddenly, the little girl slipped into the pool. She recalls dipping under the ware surface and screaming.

The lifeguard on duty saw what happened and leapt into the pool. He pulled Eady from the water and began CPR. The technique was not required or commonly known among lifeguards at that time. Larry Brickman, 21m however, was a medical student working at the pool to pay for college and he had learned it.

He gave her mouth to mouth resuscitation for several minutes, refusing to give up, until she regained consciousness. Had he not been there and able to perform the life-saving technique, both Rothstein and Brickman are sure she would have died.

Rothstein always felt the need to thank the man who saved her life but they had only ever met on that one fateful day. Not long ago, Eady ran across an account of the event in a family scrapbook while preparing to move to her new home in Ramsey.

Using Google, she located the man, now a doctor in Boca Raton, Florida. She found his phone number, called and left a message on his answering machine.

Brickman called her back. At the end of the call, he told her that they had both been very lucky that day.

Following the accident, Rothstein’s father made her take swimming lessons to prevent a recurrence. Today she swims laps in the pool regularly every summer.

The two are planning a face-to-face reunion but will keep in touch via phone until then.

Woman finds $36k on golf course and returns it Photo courtesy of Linder6580/SXC

This past January, a remarkable Florida woman A Florida woman found $36,000 at the golf course where she works and returned it. She is being praised for her honesty and integrity by everyone, including the 76 year old man you lost it.

Rachel Castillo works as a drink server at the Miami Beach Golf Course. While working Tuesday, an alert customer alerted her to gab someone appeared to have left behind on a nearby bench on Jan. 20. Castillo investigated and found the bag contained stacks of cash. Also in the bad was identification for a 76 year old man. She immediately notified police and turned the bag –contents and all – over to them.

She credited her Christian faith with giving her the forbearance to do the right thing. She said she believes in the Bible which says not to lie or steal. She believes if you live your life the right way and try to do what’s right, you will be taken care of.

Castillo also said she always thought easy money wasn’t good money and that helped her choose to turn in the cash. She did admit to being a little freaked out by her experience.

She wasn’t the only one more than a little surprised by her actions. Police were also surprised and praised her for her handling o the matter. They are working to return the money to the rightful owner. Had the money not been claimed within 90 days, Castillo would have been able to keep it.

Maybe she’ll get a reward once the owner retrieves it.

Woman opts out of office lottery pool, coworkers win lottery

You just now it is going to be “one of those days” when you show up for work and everyone is hugging and laughing because the office won the lottery- the same lottery you opted not to participate in.

That is exactly what happened to Jennifer Maldonado when she showed up to work one Sunday. The staff at the real estate agency she works for in Florida had all pitched in $20 a piece to buy lottery tickets, an opportunity Jennifer passed on.

She had only been working for the company for two weeks and had not yet received her first paycheck. Trying to be cautious with her money, she saw the $20 as an expense she couldn’t afford just then. Imagine her shock when she walked in that morning to find her coworkers celebrating their lottery win.

At first, Jennifer thought they were teasing her because she was the only one who hadn’t gone into the lottery pool. It was her boss who sat her down and explained the win was for real.

The group did not win the big jackpot. Instead they matched 5 numbers and won a $1million prize. That comes to about $83,000 each before taxes.

The group at Keller Williams Partner Realty in Plantation decided to let Jennifer in on their good fortune however. The 12 coworkers agreed to pitch in and give Maldonado, who works as an administrative assistant, a share of the winnings.

Though the amount they are giving her is a secret, they felt it important to do the right thing. Laurie Finkelstein Reader who runs the office believes when you do the right thing in life, the right thing will also happen to you.

Surprisingly, the group almost didn’t win at all thanks to a language problem at the convenience store where Finkelstein reader bought the tickets. The Spanish speaking clerk thought she wanted 60 $2 tickets. While she struggled to make him understand, the line grew longer and impatient behind her. Some people switched lines to speed things up.

She finally got the second batch of tickets and the winning ticket was among those in the second batch.

The group will be able to collect their winnings on Wednesday. As for Maldonado, she says she didn’t realize how lucky her coworkers were and she won’t be passing up any more office pools.

Scott Hinson got strangers to help deliver roses to his wife for their 20th anniversary

Chief Warrant Officer Scott Hinson was flying home from Afghanistan a week after his wedding anniversary and wanted to do more than just give his wife flowers for their 20^th anniversary. So he took things a step farther.

Hinson convinced 19 of his fellow passengers to help him out. Each agreed to give his wife a rose as they got off the plane.

Scott had been thinking about it for some time and enlisted the aid of his daughters to help make it something special. They arranged to stand next to their mom with a sign saying “Welcome Home Chief Hinson” to help alert the other passengers as to the identity of the army officer’s wife.

Did it work? Kristi Hinson was completely taken by surprise by the act. She noticed two passengers coming down, each carrying a single rose and wondered what it meant. Dismissing it, she looked around and then looked back at the escalator for her husband.

Before she realized it, the people were standing behind, her wishing her a happy anniversary and handing her roses.

Not only did Hinson orchestrate the Rose Parade, he arranged to have it videotaped as well. The video which can be found on YouTube, shows Hinson’s wife’s stunned look as each person walks up to her and hands her a rose.

At one point, Kristi is shown wiping away a tear as the dawning realization of what is happening hits her.

Scott delivered the 20^th rose himself.

Through the help provided by the USO office in Atlanta, Hinson was able to pull off this tribute to his wife. They arranged to get the roses to him during a connecting flight.

On board the plane, however, things nearly went wrong when the stewardess handed out a few of the roses to people who weren’t in on the activity. When they disembarked, they started to wander off, get coffee and milled around. Others took charge and helped make sure all the roses got delivered to Kristi.