5 Most Uplifting Stories of the Week

A "homeless" man who isn't quite what he seems, and a Holocaust survivor who finally got a chance to say thanks make this week's list:

• Man Poses as Homeless, Gives Away $1K: Drivers in Iowa who rolled down their window to give a few bucks to a homeless guy asking for help on Christmas Eve got a surprise gift in return. The "homeless" man was actually a Des Moines business owner, and he gave his donors a sealed envelope with money and a note of thanks.
• Holocaust Survivor Finds Soldier Who Helped Save Her: On May 5, 1945, US soldiers liberated the Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria, ending a nightmare that began for Marsha Kreuzman nearly six years before. Seven decades later, she finally tracked down one of those soldiers to say thanks.
• For 26th Year, Police Remember Abandoned Baby: It's a 26-year tradition now in Meriden, Conn., and one with a somber start: On Jan. 2, 1988, police found a newborn boy frozen to death outside. Police took up a collection and paid for his burial, and they've gathered every year since to remember him.
• Comic Raises $125K for Tornado Survivor: Stand-up comedian Doug Stanhope has raised more than $100,000 for an Oklahoma family whose house was leveled by a tornado earlier this year. The reason is a bizarre one involving God and Wolf Blitzer.
• Message in a Bottle Gets a Reply 23 Years Later: A UK woman got a pretty unexpected Christmas card this holiday season—a response to a 23-year-old message in a bottle she'd dropped in the North Sea as a child. While on a ferry from England to Belgium in 1990, Zoe Lemon set her note adrift. It took a while, but she's now got a brand-new pen pal.

Click for more uplifting news. (More uplifting news stories.)