The signs appeared practically overnight. They'd been planted anywhere and everywhere—in front of homes, along sidewalks, around the neighborhood. Each featured just a few uplifting words in simple black type: "Don't Give Up", "You Are Not Alone", "We Will Get Through". The residents in Newberg, Oregon, had suffered huge loss from a major tornado this year, so the town of 25,000 instantly understood the messages. For days, what no one could figure out was who had planted them.

Amy Wolff had. At first, she didn't want anyone to connect her to them. For one thing, the 36-year-old mother of two didn't really feel it was her place to weigh in. However, losing her brother in an accident several years earlier had led her to do so. She planted the signs anonymously because she wanted them to be about their message, not any one person. It was compassion(同情) for compassion's sake. "I couldn't just do nothing," says Wolff.

Yet as Wolff saw the deep chord her signs struck with her neighbors, she decided to step forward to share her message publicly. Instantly, her inbox was flooded with requests for more signs.

That was in May 2017.Since then, the Don't Give Up Movement has spread from Newberg to the hearts and yards of people in every state and several countries. The signs have morphed(变化) into wristbands, bumper stickers, pins, stamps, etc. One of the most heartening elements of the movement is that it has gone viral in a remarkably human way. More and more people have taken action, planting the signs in their lawns, taking selfies, and then posting them to share.

Aware of the added emotional challenges isolation brings under the cloud of COVID-19, the Don't Give Up Movement has since offered to send letters of support to anyone in quarantine who needs it. The group received about 400 requests in just 24 hours. A young woman wrote that she struggled with mental illness and that shelter-in-place rules were especially hard on her and her family; she asked whether the Don't Give Up group could send her relatives a cheerful note. Wolff's message is about to grow yet again.

Helen was five years old when she made the trip from her homeland to the United States of America with her mother, sister, and brother. Helen grew up hearing many terrible stories about people who were injured in the war. So as a child, Helen was eager to become a nurse to help those people. And indeed, she became one.

In early 1991, her operating room manager at the University of Virginia said, "Helen, I'd like you to take on a small project." "Okay," Helen agreed. "What's up?" Her manager replied, "Our nineteen operating rooms here are generating too much medical waste. Clean stuff that haven't been used. With your twenty years, working in the operating room, you have the knowledge and experience to figure out what to do with them all. "

So for a year, Helen collected clean medical supplies from all their operating rooms and donated them to missions (布道所). She researched the issue of medical waste. She was surprised to find that more than 2. 4 million tons of hospital waste is generated in the USA annually, with the operating rooms being the largest waste generators. "This is valuable waste, which can be utilized again rather than just being thrown away," she said.

Helen worked four ten-hour days in the operating room, and then spent countless hours networking with people on behalf of missions. Before she could say, "How did I get myself into this?" She had formed Medical Equipment Recovery of Clean Inventory (物品清单)(MERCI). For years, she sorted supplies after work, every day including weekends. Gradually MERCI had a steady stream of volunteers helping to sort, and the results were beyond their wildest imaginations. Since Helen started her "small project", MERCI has sorted more than 350 tons of medical supplies valued at ＄75 million, which have been sent all over the world and helped many people.

And now, Helen still leads a very busy life, but she thinks what she has been doing is meaningful.

    The autumn wind woke me up from my dream. I took a deep breath and looked around. Suddenly I saw two people approaching me. As there was no one else in the park, they caught my attention immediately.

    The two people were getting closer and I heard them laughing. At first, this laugh made me annoyed as if they had broken my unity with this park and disturbed my thoughts. But all of a sudden, I noticed the age of them — they were old. I could not clearly identify their age, but the woman looked as old as my grandmother. She had grey hair, blue eyes, and a smile on her face. And all the time she was looking at HIM...

    "Jim, I think we should change the park. It's the same every Saturday. You know..." "Sus! Hug me."— that was all he said. He looked at her, smiled and gave her a hug.

    At this very moment, I saw an old but strong man who knew his wife, and no matter how often she could be complaining, he loved her! I imagined the many things they might go through together — so many hardships that might make them cry, all the problems that they might be experiencing right now and the probability that one of them would outlive the other. And the one that outlives will think the life they spent together was the most beautiful period of their life.

    They left, and I was sitting on my bench, shocked, and I had a special feeling in my heart. This feeling was hope! The old couple with all the complaints and tons of mistakes behind their backs made me realize that it was happiness that mattered in life. Eventually, all people would get old and die, and what made a difference was the person you had dedicated your life to. I made a wish — waking up one day, being old and feeling proud of being together with the person I loved to overcome all the obstacles ( 障碍) and fight for happiness.