When living in a community, people are expected to chip in to improve it. This is typically done through taxes or donation checks—or sometimes through anonymous gifts. In Osaka, Japan, however, an anonymous donor sent 46 pounds of solid gold to help fix the water system.

In a press conference, Mayor Hideyuki Yokoyama shared that a mystery donor sent his office gold bars worth a total of $3.6 million. Why? The donor wanted their donation to fund the repair and replacement of the aging water pipes in Osaka.

“It’s a staggering amount and I was speechless,” said Yokoyama. “Tackling aging water pipes requires a huge investment, and I cannot thank enough for the donation.”

Osaka is home to more than three million people and is the third-largest city in Japan. While it’s bustling, it’s also an aging city. Its water system has had more than 90 reported cases of leaking pipes beneath its streets. As a major commercial hub, tourist destination, and home to so many residents, the donor was motivated to make such a large gold donation. Reportedly, the same donor had previously donated 500,000 yen to the municipal waterworks.

Aging public water pipe systems aren’t just an issue in Japan, but also in the United States. With much of the country’s piping installed 50 or more years ago, the system is deteriorating. This has led not only to water leaks, but to contamination within the pipes as well.

The mayor and the Osaka City Waterworks Bureau intend to use the gift in accordance with the donor’s intentions, while also respecting their wish to remain anonymous.

Other bizarre anonymous donations

Osaka’s golden donation isn’t the first odd or eccentric mystery donor case—and likely won’t be the last.

In 2009, a mystery donor approached 14 colleges throughout the U.S. and donated a total of $81.5 million. Each college received the same note and instructions: Don’t try to figure out the identity of the donor, and use the money for financial aid for women and minority students.

In 2021, a package sent to City College of New York contained $180,000 in cash. Delivered to the physics department, it sat unopened for more than a year. The donor remained a mystery, but a note inside said they had enjoyed a “long, productive, immensely rewarding to me, scientific career.” The money was ultimately used to fund undergraduate scholarships.

In 2025, a charity bucket at a Salvation Army location in Vermont contained a gold coin wrapped in a dollar bill. The coin was worth $4,100.

These stories, along with the Osaka gold donation, show that there are people out there who want to give back to their communities without needing credit or praise.

In March 2023, after months of preparation and paperwork, Anita Omary arrived in the United States from her native Afghanistan to build a better life. Once she arrived in Connecticut, however, the experience was anything but easy.

“When I first arrived, everything felt so strange—the weather, the environment, the people,” Omary recalled. Omary had not only left behind her extended family and friends in Afghanistan, she left her career managing child protective cases and supporting refugee communities behind as well. Even more challenging, Anita was five months pregnant at the time, and because her husband was unable to obtain a travel visa, she found herself having to navigate a new language, a different culture, and an unfamiliar country entirely on her own.

“I went through a period of deep disappointment and depression, where I wasn’t able to do much for myself,” Omary said.

Then something incredible happened: Omary met a woman who would become her close friend, offering support that would change her experience as a refugee—and ultimately the trajectory of her entire life.

Understanding the journey

Like Anita Omary, tens of thousands of people come to the United States each year seeking safety from war, political violence, religious persecution, and other threats. Yet escaping danger, unfortunately, is only the first challenge. Once here, immigrant and refugee families must deal with the loss of displacement, while at the same time facing language barriers, adapting to a new culture, and sometimes even facing social stigma and anti-immigrant biases.

Welcoming immigrant and refugee neighbors strengthens the nation and benefits everyone—and according to Anita Omary, small, simple acts of human kindness can make the greatest difference in helping them feel safe, valued, and truly at home.

Anita Omary was receiving prenatal checkups at a woman’s health center in West Haven when she met Dee, a nurse.

“She immediately recognized that I was new, and that I was struggling,” Omary said. “From that moment on, she became my support system.”

Dee started checking in on Omary throughout her pregnancy, both inside the clinic and out.

“She would call me and ask am I okay, am I eating, am I healthy,” Omary said. “She helped me with things I didn’t even realize I needed, like getting an air conditioner for my small, hot room.”

Soon, Dee was helping Omary apply for jobs and taking her on driving lessons every weekend. With her help, Omary landed a job, passed her road test on the first attempt, and even enrolled at the University of New Haven to pursue her master’s degree. Dee and Omary became like family. After Omary’s son, Osman, was born, Dee spent five days in the hospital at her side, bringing her halal food and brushing her hair in the same way Omary’s mother used to. When Omary’s postpartum pain became too great for her to lift Osman’s car seat, Dee accompanied her to his doctor’s appointments and carried the baby for her.

“Her support truly changed my life,” Omary said. “Her motivation, compassion, and support gave me hope. It gave me a sense of stability and confidence. I didn’t feel alone, because of her.”

More than that, the experience gave Omary a new resolve to help other people.

“That experience has deeply shaped the way I give back,” she said. “I want to be that source of encouragement and support for others that my friend was for me.”

Extending the welcome

Omary is now flourishing. She currently works as a career development specialist as she continues her Master’s degree. She also, as a member of the Refugee Storytellers Collective, helps advocate for refugee and immigrant families by connecting them with resources—and teaches local communities how to best welcome newcomers. “Welcoming new families today has many challenges,” Omary said. “One major barrier is access to English classes. Many newcomers, especially those who have just arrived, often put their names on long wait lists and for months there are no available spots.” For women with children, the lack of available childcare makes attending English classes, or working outside the home, especially difficult.

Omary stresses that sometimes small, everyday acts of kindness can make the biggest difference to immigrant and refugee families.

“Welcome is not about big gestures, but about small, consistent acts of care that remind you that you belong,” Omary said. Receiving a compliment on her dress or her son from a stranger in the grocery store was incredibly uplifting during her early days as a newcomer, and Omary remembers how even the smallest gestures of kindness gave her hope that she could thrive and build a new life here.

“I built my new life, but I didn’t do it alone,” Omary said. “Community and kindness were my greatest strengths.”

Are you in? Click here to join the Refugee Advocacy Lab and sign the #WeWillWelcome pledge and complete one small act of welcome in your community. Together, with small, meaningful steps, we can build communities where everyone feels safe.

This article is part of Upworthy’s “The Threads Between U.S.” series that highlights what we have in common thanks to the generous support from the Levi Strauss Foundation, whose grantmaking is committed to creating a culture of belonging.

Baby Boomers and the Boomer microgeneration known as Generation Jones grew up on classic foods from the 1960s. Back then, food was typically home-cooked but was entering an era of convenience, thanks to an abundance of processed and frozen foods.

“The American housewife spends 11 hours a week fixing food for her family, less than 1/3 the time it took her when she used raw ingredients,” an article in LIFE magazine said about 1960s food in a November 1961 issue (via the National Museum of American History).

The museum also cited a 1965 report from the Quick Frozen Foods trade journal: “the industry had enjoyed . . . the largest single increase in both dollars and poundage in frozen food history. Products were now valued at $5.2 billion and production estimated at close to 10 billion pounds.”

Boomers and Generation Jonesers on Reddit shared the specific foods and meals they miss from the 1960s. They recalled nostalgic dishes served at family dinners, along with snack foods, drinks, and sweets.

“Pork chops simmered with a giant can of Campbell’s chicken noodle soup on low-medium heat on the stovetop for an hour or more.” – Katesouthwest

“Swanson tv dinners.” – WhenTardigradesFly

“Meat loaf with mashed potatoes and canned corn.” – Excitable_Grackle

“Salisbury steak, which was always chewy and tough.” – AccomplishedPurple43

“Cabbage leaves stuffed with ground beef and rice, covered in tomato soup. (Halupki).” – AccomplishedPurple43

“Salad was iceberg lettuce only. With Russian dressing. In summer, add a tomato and cucumber.” – esg1957

“Gravy lots of gravy. Homemade biscuits (catheads according to dad), fatback, fried corn freshly cut off the Cobb, new potatoes, salad consisting of leaf lettuce and green onion cut up with hot grease (rendered from fatback) poured over it. Cornbread.” – Vegetable_Apple_7740

“My grandmother cooked lamb in the 60s/early 70s until it was shoe leather. To make up for it, it was served with mint jelly as a condiment. 10-year old me would take the smallest piece of lamb and the biggest scoop of mint jelly. Nowadays I prefer my lamb shank slow cooked to medium rare, no jelly required.” – NegotiationNo7947

“Casseroles involving canned veggies, cream of mushroom soup, chicken, and potato chips.” – moinatx

“Things in boxes and envelopes. Hamburger Helper. Noodles Romanoff. When I learned to cook I couldn’t understand why my mother leaned on these so much, until I realized she was........

© Upworthy