This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Here is my latest collection of stories about kindness displayed by everyday Utahns to their neighbors and strangers:

Brewing kindness • Two days after the June 12 mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla., two agents from the Clay Blackwell State Farm insurance agency, located near the Ninth and Ninth business district in Salt Lake City, walked over to the gay-owned Coffee Garden and bought coffee for patrons for about two hours.

Roadside helpers • When M.J. Addison's car broke down while traveling north on Bangerter Highway at about 11000 South, she pulled onto the shoulder and called roadside assistance. While waiting in the searing heat, a young woman named Melanie, from Sandy, stopped to help. She had three young children in her car. She offered to give M.J. a ride home while M.J.'s husband stayed with the car waiting for the tow truck. Several other people stopped and offered him water and snacks while he waited.

Bailing out the customer • Derrick Norman, owner of WoodWorks Refurbishing, thought he was on a routine call when Marsha Christensen hired him to stain the banister and hand railings in her house.

Boy, was he wrong.

He got the walls taped and had started stripping the old finish when Christensen began yelling, "Help!" She was in a nearby guest room and noticed the window well was filling up with water. Norman rushed over, took off the screen and, for the next two hours, Christensen said, bailed "hundreds and hundreds of gallons of water" from a "lake" that had formed in her complex's common area from heavy rains. Two neighbors came to help and together they formed a bucket brigade to the toilet.

When Christensen tried to pay Norman extra for the time he spent preventing her house from being flooded, he said if she tried to pay him for that, he wouldn't finish her railings.

He went home after Christensen's husband, Eric, arrived from work and could take over the heavy lifting, but returned to their Salt Lake County home from his business in the Logan area a few days later to finish the job at no extra cost.

Checkout angel • Larry Pino is a 94-year-old, nearly deaf, semi-blind private music teacher who was shopping at Costco in Murray recently when he learned at the checkout stand that the store no longer accepts American Express credit cards.

He had brought no other means of payment with him and, embarrassed, was about to leave his $106 purchase at the counter when a woman behind him in line said: "Sir, I'll pay for your items, so don't worry about it."

Pino refused to accept the offer unless she gave him her name and address. He later mailed her a check for $135 and a thank-you card.

Banker to the rescue • A customer at Wells Fargo Bank in Murray became distressed as she overheard an elderly man speaking loudly on his phone to a telemarketer while they both waited to speak to a loan officer.

The woman believed that the salesman, who was on a speakerphone, was a scammer. The caller kept demanding money, even though the man said repeatedly that the "investment firm" had not kept any promises, so he was not going to give them any more cash.

The caller accused the man of not trusting him and at one point invoked God in defense of his honesty. When it became apparent that the man was politely trying to end the conversation, the concerned woman notified a bank employee of what she had overheard.

The loan officer said he knew the elderly man and would take care of it. He intervened while the man was still on the phone and told him the caller was lying to him and he should not talk to any of the salespeople from that outfit again.

Emboldened by the support from the bank officer, the elderly gentleman firmly said goodbye. As he was hanging up, the God-fearing caller could be heard calling his would-be mark an "a—hole."

Supporting the cops • The Ogden Police Department will have new bikes for its Community Policing unit, thanks to Cycling Sports Group (CSG), which donated 10 Cannondale Enforcement 29 1 bikes as a way to thank the city for the partnership and support CSG received at its sales convention in Ogden. The new bicycles retail at about $1,400 each.