Little Girl Stands Up to Stranger with Meat Cleaver

For 5-year-old Chloe Edwards, a strung-out stranger with a meat cleaver just wasn't that scary.

Alerted by noises at 2AM, the little British girl walked into her kitchen, where she found 18-year-old Dean Affleck attempting a burglary.

"Put my daddy's keys down!" Chloe yelled, unfazed by the sight of a stranger in the middle of the night. The startled intruder pointed a meat cleaver at the girl and told her to go back to bed. At the same time, the trespassing teen accidentally smashed a glass, alerting Chloe's parents. Mark Edwards, Chloe's father, eventually punched Affleck to the ground, and police were called.

Affleck was later given a 3 1/2-year sentence for the August crime.

Chloe's mother, Rachel, who was scheduled to start chemotherapy the day of the crime, said, "It was an awful experience. As soon as I saw he had a knife, I was terrified."

Yet, Rachel, now in remission for breast cancer, said she was proud of her brave daughter.

"She kept saying afterwards, 'I told him, Daddy, I told him to put your keys down, didn't I?'"

Woman Returns Actress's Lost Wallet

When Venita Vance opened a wallet she found on a plane, she saw a photo of a familiar face -- actress Nicole Ari Parker.

Vance, an airline employee at the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport, said the wallet contained credit cards, cash and personal items. Luckily, there was enough information to track down its owner, who has appeared in the films 'Boogie Nights,' 'Welcome Home, Roscoe Jenkins' and the Showtime series 'Soul Food.' Parker was shooting a TV series in Texas at the time, so she sent her boyfriend, actor Boris Kodjoe, to retrieve the missing item.

"He called and said, 'I'm on my way,'" Vance recalled. "And I said, 'What am I going to wear?'"

When Kodjoe ('Soul Food,' 'Surrogates,') arrived, he posed for a photo with Vance, who said she normally lives a dull life.

Ten-Year-Old Autistic Boy Saves Teacher's Life

A 10-year-old autistic boy said he feels like a superhero after saving his teacher's life.

Sheri Lowe, an elementary school teacher in Houston, had just taken a bite from an apple when she began to choke. Seeing his teacher in trouble, Kyle Forbes began to administer the Heimlich maneuver, which he had learned as a Cub Scout. After two squeezes, the apple was dislodged from Lowe's throat.

Later, when he received a reward for his efforts, Forbes said he was greeted with hearty applause.

"Before, I was just like a normal kid, always being picked on," he said. "Then I was like a superhero."

Nice Ones! Celebrates Good Deeds

Ever notice how so much of what's in the news is depressing and grim? Well, the world isn't really that dark. In fact, good things happen all the time. Kids perform heroic acts, men give selflessly to strangers, and women help the sick and needy. Heck, even dogs have been known to perform good deeds every now and then.

The abundance of charity out there has once again inspired us to present you with Nice One! Stories of Thanks and Giving. While these stories have been collected to make you feel good about humanity, there is, of course, another motivation:

We're hoping to inspire you.

After all, Nice One! also supports the annual Thanks and Giving campaign put forth by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, which seeks to treat and cure catastrophic childhood illnesses. During its two-month drive, St. Jude asks us to give thanks for the healthy kids in your life, and give to those who are not.

Most of the people in these Nice One! stories are just regular folks (except for the dogs, of course) who stepped up and became Good Samaritans. After reading these stories, we hope you'll be motivated to do a good deed and consider donating to St. Jude.

Thrift Store Employees Return Accidental Donation

Thrift store employees in Rhode Island recently returned more than $1,300 to an elderly woman who unknowingly donated the cash along with her late husband's clothing.

Liz Nivar, who has worked at the Warwick Savers for just two months, was sorting through recent donations when she discovered $1,360 in the pocket of a men's suit jacket. "It's, of course, common to find loose change here and there," Nivar said. "But I was surprised when I reached inside the jacket pocket and felt a thick wallet -- and I was completely shocked when I opened the wallet and found more than a thousand dollars in cash!"

The store's manager used information found in the wallet to track down the elderly woman. The widow, who wished to remain anonymous, rewarded Nivar $50 for her honesty.

Dog Saves Family, Gets Second Chance

Now that he's a hero, Monster can stay.

Evelyn Aguilar, of Beltsville, Md., had considered getting rid of her 6-year-old Doberman because he was too expensive to feed. But after Monster saved her family from a potentially deadly fire, Aguilar has proclaimed him a permanent resident.

"We got nine kids," she said. "Make it 10 now -- because he's worth it."

Aguilar and the children, ages 3 to 14, were sleeping when Monster began barking loudly and throwing himself against a sliding glass door. When the family went to investigate, they noticed the house was on fire and quickly rushed to safety.

According to Prince George's County Fire and Rescue spokesman Mark Brady, "They had some extra time because the dog woke them up. They had time to gather all the children and get out of the house safely."

It took 30 firefighters 20 minutes to quell the blaze, which burned through the home's roof. The family lost all their belongings, but no one was hurt. And this isn't Monster's first heroic deed: Aguilar said the daring Doberman once scared away an armed burglar.

Boy Drives When Dad Passes Out

A 6-year-old Nebraska boy named Tustin Mains saved the day when his father passed out at the wheel. Suffering from low blood sugar, Phillip Mains' foot came off the gas pedal, and little Tustin hopped onto his lap to steer their SUV to safety.

Roger Freeze, a police officer, saw the boy behind the wheel and sprang into action. He ran to the truck and jammed the shifter into park. Said Police Chief Martin Gutschenritter, "[Tustin is] a very special young man. He was able to take quick action when his dad was incapacitated, and we are very proud of him."

They Might Be Giants Sponsoring Little League Teams

Sometimes rockers do the cutest things!

Little League baseball teams across the country are about to be jealous: A team in Seattle is being sponsored by the indie rock duo They Might Be Giants! Said guitarist John Flansburgh, ""Seeing an entire Little League team all wearing the 'No!' T-shirts just made everyone in the band smile."

The band is now accepting applications to sponsor even more teams.

John Mayer Sings 'Happy Birthday' to Fan

A group of teenage girls saw John Mayer eating with some friends and totally "started swooning and screaming." Rock stars are probably used to this sort of treatment, but what happened next was a treat!

Mayer learned that one of the girls was celebrating her 18th birthday, so he began serenading her with 'Happy Birthday to You'! He even capped off the joyous moment with a kiss on her cheek. Now that's a nice one!

Stray Pup Saves Stray Tot

Out of her own maternal instincts, a stray discovered a living newborn girl abandoned in a plastic bag near the Ngong Forests in Nairobi, Kenya. This canine hero carried the girl, known as Angel, and layed her down with her own litter of pups. "She is doing well, responding to treatment, she is stable. ... She is on antibiotics," said a hospital spokeswoman.

The media in Nairobi have for too long reported on the tragic stories of abandoned children in this poverty-stricken region of Africa. However, this heartwarming rescue has inspired citizens to donate baby clothes and diapers to the youngster -- and has thrown the child abandonment issue in Kenya to the international spotlight.