How the Kindness of Strangers Became a Multi-Billion-Dollar Industry

A 110-year-old World War II veteran in Texas was able to remain in his home last year after his family raised nearly $200,000 online to pay for his nursing care. A Harvard-bound teen in Compton, Calif. put out a digital call for help and received $21,000 for textbooks and other expenses so that he could afford to attend the Ivy League school. In Detroit, residents raised more than $2,200 for a 74-year-old peanut vendor whose motorized bicycle, which he used to push his cart, was stolen.