Hero of the Day

Because his late father was an Air Force veteran, 22-year-old Allen Smith gets a check from the VA every month. The $650 helps pay his college expenses but, like many students, he could always use some more. He got a lot more earlier this month, when he opened his VA check and was staring right at the staggering sum of $690 million.

According to Nathan Ira, "It doesn't matter who you are or where you've been, you're dealing with something difficult." So the 23-year-old decided to do something about this. The cook and college student at Montana State University started a project in which he hands strangers a flower in hopes of lightening their loads.