Results: One Person Can Make A Difference

Earlier this month, a group of 33 professionals gathered together to honour a man who none of them had ever met, but who had played a major part in them all achieving their dreams and success. The 33 strangers, who call themselves 'Dale's Kids', gathered around an old lunch pail to thank a man named Dale Schroeder who died in 2005, leaving behind $3 million in savings -- which paid the college tuition for each and everyone of these grateful adults. Schroeder was a hardworking carpenter, who never married, had no children, and worked for the same company for 67 years, and lived a very modest and humble life. When he died, in 2005, he has set up his will to send strangers to college as he never had the opportunity. These 33 strangers (all from his native Iowa) are now doctors, therapists, teachers and other professionals, all because of his generous gift. Do you think this was a generous thing for him to do?

Unlike college loans, none of the group will have to repay the money. Yet, there's just one thing Schroeder asked for in return. "All we ask is that you pay it forward," said his friend, Steven Nielson. "You can't pay it back, because Dale is gone, but you can remember him and you can emulate him." If you were in a position to do this, would you also help strangers or prefer to help people you know?

In June of this year, Toronto's Hospital For Sick Children received a $100 million dollar donation from a single benefactor -- Peter Gilgan, the founder of Mattamy Homes, who previously donated $40 million to the hospital in 2012. This single donation is the biggest single donation ever to a hospital. Did you hear about this generous contribution?

You don't have to have $100 million or even $3 million to make a difference in someone's life. Sometimes the simplest of actions (such as letting someone go before you at the grocery store or giving someone change for a grocery cart) can make a big difference. Do you go out of your way to do little things to make a difference?