It may be true that we are all created equally. But we sure don’t stay that way.

Some are ever so nice and become givers. They are the kind of people whose caring, helpful actions make this world a better place.

Then there are people who are takers. They have no interest in helping anyone. Their only concern is what’s in it for them.

It’s often easy to tell the givers from the takers. Givers are the kind of people we like to be around, while takers are the kind of people we eventually learn to avoid.

For the past few weeks I’ve had a crash course in observing both kinds. There were some nasty surprises, but there were also unexpected encounters with people so good and caring that I thought they earned their angel wings.

It all started with the two hurricanes that destroyed my husband’s house. After Hurricane Helene flooded some of the house with an inch or two of water, we were able to throw away the rugs and wipe up the water. We were so tired by the end of the day that we couldn’t put one foot in front of the other. But we thought we saved the house.

Two weeks later, Hurricane Milton turned the home into a swimming pool.

Everything was lost.

David’s neighbors didn’t have flooding because their homes are higher. While I truly longed for some neighbors to help with our overwhelming task of carrying our ruined furniture to the curb, some didn’t show up until they came to claim our belongings.

One neighbor did come to ask if we had more pieces to the dining room set and hand-painted dishes that they carted from our curb.

Unbelievably, that is the same neighbor who called the county to report our lawn was messy and needed to be cleaned. I told him that with our home underwater, I had more trouble than a messy lawn.

Even more unbelievable was the way he opened our front door and walked in when we were meeting with a Realtor to learn our options. I told him he would have to go because we had important business to discuss. He said he wanted to know what we were going to do. The neighbors wanted to know, he claimed.

That guy takes the prize for one of the most obnoxious people I ever met. He’s definitely a user.

Not all neighbors were like that.

Janet and Dennis came to say they would give us any help we needed. She drove us 35 miles back to my house at the end of each day and went so far as to cancel her own family dinner to help us. When she realized we were working all day without food she brought us sandwiches.

Sue, another unbelievably helpful neighbor, got down on her hands and knees to help fix the pool. She came back several times, saying she wanted to help us save the pool. She helped us solve a lot of problems. See that? Another angel.

Andy is also one of those givers who never stops helping. Each year he organizes the lighted boat parade that heralds our Christmas season. It’s a big event in our town.

This year, it didn’t look like we would be having the traditional parade. Too many of the boats in our community were destroyed during the hurricanes. One boat was flipped upside down, solidly submerged in mud. It looked like a lost cause. The entire parade looked like a lost cause.

But Andy said he wasn’t going to give up. First he and a few volunteers managed to dig out the submerged boat. Then he went on to work on other broken boats. It was his determination and mechanical ability that saved the day.

Working day and night for 11 days with just a little help, he replaced six carburetors, fixed the broken steerage on many of the boats and managed to put together a fleet of 15 boats. The only thing he got out of it was the satisfaction of making the boat parade a reality.

Boat owners and other volunteers did a magnificent job decorating the boats. Many said it was the best parade in 18 years.

For Andy and his wife, Pauline, it was a labor of love.

Both are true givers. They find meaning in helping others.

Andy said too many people sit back and wait for someone else to do it. That was especially true with the hurricanes that caused so many problems. He took a leadership role in making the boat parade a happy event because we needed it more than ever.

Givers like Andy add so much.

In this, the season of giving, it’s a perfect time to emphasize “giving” means more than helping financially.

What seems like a small act of kindness can have a profound effect. Having a neighbor come over with sandwiches fed more than my hunger. It fed my soul.

It was these small acts of kindness that helped me and so many others get through a tough time.

You may not think you are setting the world on fire when do little acts of kindness. But you sure are being a light when it is most needed.

Email Pattie Mihalik at newsgirl@comcastnet