What started as a rescue call ended with a moment of kindness thanks to police officers in Nebraska.

Karen Ressegieu recently woke up to find her husband unresponsive.

"I woke up at 1:30 a.m., and he was still breathing. So, I, evidently, I went back to sleep, I'd never heard him. And at 6:15 a.m. I got up because we had a funeral that morning," Ressegieu said.

When medics arrived, they performed multiple rounds of CPR before telling Ressegieu her husband had died.

Despite the devastating news, Officer John Danderand said Ressegieu still kept putting everyone else first.

"She had a lot going on, she had some neighbors stopping by trying to figure things out, get information from her. And she had mentioned about three times that she had to get a cake frosted, they were supposed to attend a funeral that morning," he said.

Danderand decided to jump in to help.

"They said, 'Karen, can I frost that cake?'" Ressegieu said.

Sgt. Kraig Gomon said he snapped a couple of pictures to serve as a memory down the line, but it captured a part of the job that goes on behind the scenes.

"She was just more worried about everybody else than herself. And that was what struck me the most as her kindness. And for me, it was a small gesture for us to be able to try to return that to her," Gomon said.

Ressegieu said that morning was a blur, so having officers she could rely on helped her through the loss of her husband.

"And they said, so where does it go? And I pointed to where, so they delivered the cake, too," Ressegieu said.

It was a somber day made a little sweeter by a simple gesture.

"They just showed lots of kindness, you know, going out of their way," she said.

PORTLAND, Tenn. (WTVF) — A little girl’s kind gesture is inspiring dozens of people to give back to an animal rescue in Portland, Tennessee, called A Place to Bark.

The 21-year-old nonprofit is a no-kill foster and adoption rescue dedicated to the welfare of dogs.

"I take them in; I get them well. I work with any behavioral issues, and we get them ready for adoption," said A Place to Bark founder Bernie Berlin.

Berlin said in recent years, volunteers haven’t been showing up to help; it’s been difficult hiring new employees, and donations have gone down.

Berlin started the new year off a little sad until 7-year-old Lila Stephens decided to take all the money in her piggy bank and donate it: a total of $27.25.

The two met for the first time in Franklin, Tennessee, for a pet adoption event. Her mom, Samantha Stephens, posted her daughter’s kind gesture to social media, and now other people are matching Lila’s donation to give to the rescue.

“We had a family friend who lives in Texas just messaged me and said, 'I would really like to match that because that’s so sweet she’s doing that.' We didn’t know Bernie’s need. We didn’t know she was going to get the donations. Everything came together at a time that made a big difference for Bernie," Stephens said.

Berlin said Lila is such a big inspiration.

"Like, right now, I have a bill over $1,000, and we spend $5,000 to $7,000 a month to spay and neuter. This month, we had over a thousand, and Lila’s little gift turned into a big gift that pays that bill off," Berlin said.

Donations for A Place to Bark are still coming in.

If you would like to match Lila’s $27.25 and give to A Place to Bark, here are some ways to do so: PayPal, Venmo (@aplacetobark), or mail: A Place To Bark PO Box 649 Portland, TN 37148.

This article was written by Aaron Cantrell for WTVF.

MOBILE, Ala. (Video: WPMI via CNN) —

A kindergarten student in Alabama put a recent lesson about kindness into action.

"We just had a whole lesson on how you show love to everybody no matter what, kindness, you treat people how you want to be treated," kindergarten teacher Mandy Strawbridge told WPMI.

The lesson inspired one of Strawbridge's students, 5-year-old John Reese Booker, to ask his favorite teacher to dinner to make sure she's not alone for Valentine's Day.

Deborah Peterson is a teacher's aide who started working with John Reese at Huxford Elementary School last year and said they've become close.

"He's attached to me and I've been attached to him ever since," she said.

John Reese gave Peterson a rose and asked her to dinner in a card he made himself.

"And I opened up the card and it said, 'will you go to dinner with me at David's Saturday at 6 o'clock?' and I said of course, yes," Peterson said.

John Reese said he picked the restaurant because he knew it was Peterson's favorite.

Watch the video above to see the pair talk about their upcoming plans.

HOPEWELL, Va. — A group of Starbucks baristas in Hopewell, Virginia served a hot cup of compassion to a grieving daughter.

Jackie Dean's mother died in January. In the days and weeks since her mother's death, Jackie and her sisters have attempted to plan a memorial for their mom.

“So it’s just been hard," Dean said.

"We've had to move her services three times due to COVID.”

Mildred Burnham loved Starbucks.

She particularly enjoyed sipping a caramel macchiato.

WTVR

While planning her mom's rescheduled service over the weekend, Jackie needed a coffee break. So she drove to her neighborhood Starbucks and placed her familiar order.

"I was going to order what I always order and I inadvertently ordered two," she said. "I was so used to getting one for mom.”

Realizing her mistake, Jackie became overcome with grief.

"I started crying and I tried to get my words," she said.

What happened next brought Jackie some joy during an otherwise difficult day.

“They came up to the window and said, 'ma'am, there’s not going to be any charge for your coffee today," she said.“[The barista said] 'I noticed you were upset and when you said you ordered two and then one, I said I knew something was going on.'”

In addition to the free coffee, the barista drew a small heart on Jackie's cup.

WTVR

“It just made such an impact, it made my day, my day had been terrible, I had been crying all day," she said.

The small Starbucks gesture helped warm her broken heart.

This story was first reported by Wayne Covil at WTVR in Richmond, Virginia.

A customer at The Omaha Bakery in Nebraska ordered two turnovers, and in return put forth a huge tip.

"Everybody was freaking out in here, they were like 'you guys won't believe what just happened!'" employee Preston Rath said.

Rath thought he was doing a typical transaction at the bakery.

"He ordered two turnovers which came to $5 and as I'm ringing them up he kind of snickers a little bit as he turns the screen back to me," Rath said.

When the customer, Nicholas, turned the screen around, Rath noticed his $2,000 tip.

"And I was like that's wrong, you put too much of a tip in there. And he goes 'if you don't hit OK, I'm going to reach around and hit OK,'" Rath said.

"You hear about these things in big cities and you see it on the internet, but you never think it's going to happen at your business," owner Michelle Kaiser said.

Kaiser said the money will be dispersed between hourly employees only, no managers.

"He knew that it had been a rough time with COVID, he knew that people were struggling in general. He noticed our staff was working really, really hard," Kaiser said.

Rath hopes the kindness that Nicholas showed doesn't stop with him.

"You don't have to give random strangers $2,000 but even just saying 'have a good day' can help somebody go from a zero to a 10," he said.

Watch the full story in the video above.