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.

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."

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.

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.

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.