SALT LAKE CITY — Monday marks a new year, which often makes us want to change for the better.

This year, especially, seems like the stars have aligned for a fresh start as New Year’s Day landed on a Monday, which seems sort of poetic to have the start of a new year, month and work week all fall on the same day.

Well, hopefully as part of your New Year’s resolutions, you can include something about doing more to help those around you to make the world a kinder, better place. And when that does happen, we’d love for you to share your experience with us.

The KSL.com “Make Your Week” column features uplifting stories sent in from people outside the newsroom. To send in the stories that have made your day better, email them in 100 words or less to fjolley@ksl.com. Photos and videos are encouraged.

Thoughtful service from a stranger

Michelle P.

“Yesterday, my 80-year-old father-in-law was shoveling his driveway when a woman pulled over and told him that his driveway was too big to shovel alone. She proceeded to get her snow shovel out of her trunk and finished helping him get the job done. She then had to leave because she was on her way to work. What a wonderful person she must be.”

A special gift for an employee

Jill B.

“A young lady working at the Orem Walmart has been walking miles to work and back. She walks in the dark in the snow, rain and cold. She lacks family support and is trying hard to make it on her own. She has no one to help her. At age 21, she has her own place but has not been able to afford a car. The manager at Walmart saw how hard this employee was working and that she has been walking to and from work every day. The manager reached out to her own family and friends to see if she could get someone to donate a car. And by some Christmas miracle, she found an anonymous person to donate a car.

“The car would not work, so she took it to her mechanic. He said the wheel bearing would have to be replaced for $250.00. So the manager paid for it out of her own pocket. The mechanic said he would fill up the fluid levels and do the safety and emissions test for free to help out. The manager gave her employee the car and she cried and was so happy she could not believe someone could be so kind to her.”

Raising money for others

Doug B.

“A local high school just raised $48,000 in one week for the Safe Harbor Crisis Center. The funds were raised through a combination of events during the week, including "Miracle Minute" jar passes during sporting events and the fine arts concert, "Penny Wars" between the classes to donate spare change, service projects by the class officers, sponsorship nights … an outreach for private donations and other events.”

Kindness at the bike shop

Stephanie H.

“My husband had been working out of state for 10 weeks, and I was on my own organizing a Christmas for our family. I found a used bike on KSL for my 11-year-old son that needed a good cleaning/tuning. I took it to a local bike shop and that same bike was stolen from the shop on Wednesday, Dec. 20 ... 5 days before Christmas!

“This could have been an extremely disheartening experience, yet Matt the owner of the bike shop put me at ease and assured me he would take care of everything. Little did I know that they would go above and beyond, and turn a bad situation into an expression of hope. The bike shop was only going to make $35 cleaning/ tuning the box, and yet they gave us three generous options to replace the bike— one of them being replacing it with the owner's personal bike! … The replacement bike’s value far exceeded the value of the bike in their care, but what makes this story incredible was the genuine care, kindness and love with which we were treated.”

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