Barber cuts hair of special needs kids and 9 other times humans warmed our hearts in 2023

With its highs and lows, 2023 really feels like it passed by in a blur.

As we pause and reflect on the year that passed, it might initially feel like an endless stream of life stresses, managing workloads, multiple COVID variants, and viral videos of people acting up, but if you look closer, there have been a lot of heartwarming moments in 2023.

As one possibly overplayed holiday movie suggests: "Love actually is all around."

From a neighbor helping an autistic boy find friends to an off-duty pilot who stepped up in time of crisis, here are 10 heartwarming moments from the last year when humans acted, well, human.

Neighbor helps boy who knocked on his door looking for friends: 'He is a beautiful soul'

When 11-year-old Texas boy Shayden Walker knocked on his neighbor's door looking to make a new friend, he never imagined it would end up getting him tons of new friends from all over the world.

Shayden, who has been diagnosed with autism and other challenges, went to his neighbor's house looking for kids to play with back in July.

“I need some friends, like really bad," Shayden says in a moment captured on a doorbell camera in Amarillo.

While the neighbor only had a toddler, he posted the video of his interaction with Shayden on TikTok, where it garnered more than 50 million views and had people from across the world sending love and good wishes for Shayden.

Community members also set up a GoFundMe page for Shayden, which raised over $37,000 for the 11-year-old to go toward whatever he wants, including a gaming setup, school clothes and amusement park tickets.

Watch: Neighbor helps boy who knocked on his door looking for friends: 'He is a beautiful soul'

'You matter': Teen reminds neighbor that she is loved in viral doorbell video

Thirteen-year-old Jacksen Proell was hanging out with his friends in Minnesota back in July when they decided to play a game of ding dong ditch, the old-fashioned game of knocking on random doors or ringing doorbells and then running off.

The kids were hoping to confuse whoever answered the door in the central Minnesota city of Brainerd.

But Jacksen didn’t have it in his heart to prank anyone that day, so he left a positive message on two doorbell cameras.

"You matter, alright?” Jacksen said in the video. “There's always going to be somebody that cares about you. You're a good person, no matter what people say.”

The teenager said he just felt whoever was on the other end of that camera needed to hear the message, having battled depression himself.

One of the homeowners loved Jacksen's video so much that she shared it to TikTok, where it went viral and has been viewed 5.3 million times.

Watch video: Teen reminds neighbor that she is loved in viral doorbell video

'You're killing the game': Amazon delivery driver helps Chicago teen with tie before homecoming

Amazon driver Eligha Bryant dropped more than just packages as he was making a delivery at a Chicago home in October. He also dropped some fashion pointers.

Bryant, 42, was making a stop at the house on Oct. 7 when he saw the family that lives there gathered around their teenage son, Luke Breier. The teen was struggling to secure his tie, so Bryant stepped in to help.

Family members stood around smiling and laughing as he hyped the teenager up and made sure his tie was tidy and in place.

“You’re killing the game, young man,” Bryant had said to the high school senior in a video shared online.

Watch video: Amazon delivery driver helps Chicago teen with tie before homecoming

'It's too dangerous!' Massive mako shark stranded on Florida beach saved by swimmers

In a dangerous move that could have gone bad in a matter of seconds, a group of people in Florida saved a massive beached shark when they pulled it back into coastal waters in September.

The group, all knee deep in water, grabbed the shark's tail and attempted to drag it back into the sea as the fish faces land and thrashes about. Eventually, the group managed to get the shark's snout pointed back toward the ocean, after which it managed to swim away.

The act of kindness, captured on video, took place in Pensacola along the Sunshine State's Gulf Coast.

Watch video: Massive mako shark stranded on Florida beach saved by swimmers

This barber cuts hair for kids with special needs. Parents call it 'life-changing'

Vernon Jackson, a Cincinnati-based barber, dedicates a portion of his time to cut hair for kids with special needs.

The stylist, who has more than a decade of experience, says he earmarks specific windows so he can dedicate more time to each child. The cuts are free through community donations.

Jackson says he tries to meet a child where they are "and not where I want them to be," deploying several tactics such as dancing, singing and playing games to make them comfortable during the process.

Jackson had given more than 300 haircuts at the time of the article, published in February 2023.

"I've had parents bursting into tears, had grandparents getting emotional, fathers getting emotional," Jackson told USA TODAY. "It always leaves me in awe."

'Life-changing': This barber cuts hair for kids with special needs

Amid devastating Maui wildfires, a vacationing Denver pilot steps in to fly hundreds home

When the devastating wildfires hit Maui in August, Vince Eckelkamp was among 330 passengers stranded at Kahului Airport.

Their flight back to the United States kept getting delayed due to logistical issues and staff shortages and was on the verge of being canceled.

That's when Eckelkamp, a pilot and line-training manager at United Airlines, stepped up and volunteered to fly the jet and people back to safety. The Denver resident's act of kindness helped more than 300 people evacuate Maui where the wildfires were getting more dangerous.

"If I hadn't stepped up, or if I wasn't there (the flight would have been canceled," he told USA TODAY. "And I just happened to be in the right place at the right time and was able to do the right thing."

Watch: Amid devastating Maui wildfires, a vacationing Denver pilot steps in to fly hundreds home

'A full-time job': Oregon mom's record-setting breast milk production helps kids worldwide

Elisabeth Anderson-Sierra, a 35-year-old mother of three from the West Coast, is a Guinness World Record-breaker for gifting more than 350,000 ounces of her own breast milk to premature babies around the world.

Her selfless efforts over the past nine years have helped save thousands of newborns, many of who have been labeled as “failure to thrive,” a term used for newborns and infants who have failed to develop normally who are not gaining weight or height properly.

The Aloha, Oregon, resident set the record for the largest donation of breastmilk by an individual by donating nearly 1,600 liters to a milk bank between February 2015 and June 2018.

Anderson-Sierra, who has hyperlactation syndrome, says her diagnosis is both a blessing and a curse but she likes to focus on the positive.

Over the years, Anderson-Sierra said she has met dozens of her recipients, some whose parents send her photos of their growing child.

"When I see their baby fat or little leg rolls, it's so cute! I think, 'I helped make that! I helped do that!' It's heartwarming," she said. "To have any kind of relationship whether it's just a donor relationship or more of a friendship on a personal level, it's gratifying. Fulfilling to see I'm making a difference in their life."

Read Anderson-Sierra full story: 'A full-time job': Oregon mom's record-setting breastmilk production helps kids worldwide

Hundreds of dogs parade for man's 100th birthday party

When Robert Moore's family started planning his 100th birthday party in June, they wanted to make sure it was special. There was going to be a big family dinner, of course, but since a lot of Moore's friends are no longer alive, his daughter, Alison, thought including man's best friend in the celebration would be a good idea.

A few days before the party, Alison shared her idea with friends and community members in San Jose, California, asking them to come to the party with their dogs if they could.

Alison had little expectation and was prepared for only a handful of people to show up. But hundreds of dogs and their owners lined up on the streets outside their house waiting patiently to be pet by the birthday boy.

What was even more exciting was that the furry creatures arrived in all sorts of costumes, from tuxedos to cowboy hats and bumble bee costumes. There were pups riding in classic cars, as well as dogs with disabilities pulling carts.

The entire block was buzzing with excitement, said Alison, and the birthday boy was over the moon with the celebrations.

"He was shocked but at the same time, he was so excited for it. By the end of the event, he was so overwhelmed (with the response)," she said. "He pet every single dog that came through. It was so lovely."

Watch the dog parade: Hundreds of dogs parade for man's 100th birthday party

'We have to help people, we've got to': Brown Bag Lady serves meals and dignity to L.A.'s homeless

A Los Angeles woman, known affectionately as the Brown Bag Lady, is serving the city's unhoused population with enticing meals and a sprinkle of inspiration for dessert.

"Not everybody has that strong family unit or that insurance where you can get into rehab or you have a mom or a dad or an uncle come and say, 'Crash on my couch,'" says Jacqueline Norvell. "It's difficult. It is hard. And it's not getting any better."

Norvell started cooking meals for people on LA's Skid Row about 10 years ago in her two-bedroom apartment after getting some extra money from her Christmas paycheck. She bought several turkeys and prepared all the fixings for about 70 people, driving to one of L.A.'s most high-risk areas to hand out the meals.

She says people were grateful and she realized the significant demand. Norvell's been cooking tasty creations ever since.

"We've got to help each other out," she said. "We have to."

Watch video: Brown Bag Lady serves meals and dignity to L.A.'s homeless

America’s Top Young Scientist is a 14-year-old who invented soap to treat skin cancer

Heman Bekele, a ninth-grader from Annandale, Virginia, who invented a soap that treats skin cancer won the prestigious "America's Top Young Scientist" award in October.

The 14-year-old developed a compound-based bar of soap designed to treat melanoma.

Heman hopes to refine his innovation and create a nonprofit to distribute the soap to communities in need over the next five years, according to 3M and Discovery Education, the groups that give out the award.

"I have always been interested in biology and technology, and this challenge gave me the perfect platform to showcase my ideas," Heman said in his submission for the award. "I believe that young minds can make a positive impact on the world."

Watch video: 14-year-old who invented soap to treat skin cancer named America’s Top Young Scientist

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: New friends, acts of kindness: 10 times humans warmed our heart in 2023