Midwest Kindness From Strangers Wowed European Students!
By a friend • September 18, 2026
I volunteered as a counselor in a camp for kids with illness in the Midwest this summer, and a big chunk of the counselors are students from England, Ireland and Wales.
We all went for lunch to Culver's, and were having conversations about being medical/premed students and learning about our European friend's experiences. An elderly gentlemen from a different booth came over and told us how beautifully diverse our group was (he must have overheard the English accents, a few of us were Indian and African American too) and asked if he could say a prayer for our studies with us.
Most of us weren't Christian but we accepted anyways and were very touched at his kindness and his well wishes for our future. He bought around 10 of us ice cream! Great guy and loved the wholesome grandpa vibes!
Along with being able to introduce the European guys to cheese curds, they got to experience the kindness of random strangers in the Midwest and they were very surprised and touched!
Some of the things they heard about the country were not at all positive so I was glad someone made our day and gave them a great first impression.
There is so much divisiveness in the world right now, but I wanted to share the moments of the beautiful generosity of Americans, no matter what we all look like :)
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