Thank You, Stranger: The ‘Northfield Angel’ spreads random acts of kindness
Known simply as Daryl, a man in Northfield has been spreading acts of kindness across the city. A community Facebook group has dubbed him as the "Northfield Angel."
Courtesy: Northfield Happenings Facebook page
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Audio transcript
NINA MOINI: Time for a new episode of our series called "Thank You, Stranger." It's about the small acts of kindness that make a big impact. MPR News Producer Ellen Finn talked to people who have been touched by a man they call the Northfield Angel.
[SOFT MUSIC]
ELLEN FINN: If you live in Northfield, Minnesota, you've probably heard of him, or even seen him around at the grocery store or gas station. And there's certainly a lot of chatter about him online. I'm talking about a man known to the town simply as Daryl.
SUBJECT 1: I definitely had seen people post about interactions with him on the Northfield Facebook group.
SUBJECT 2: People would post and say, I met Daryl. I met Daryl.
SUBJECT 3: I've seen many posts about Daryl and the blessings that he gives to community members.
SUBJECT 1: I'm sure he's helped countless people in town.
SUBJECT 2: I had heard about Daryl for over a year. I think he's apparently quite a legend in town.
ELLEN FINN: Why a legend? What does Daryl been doing around town? Turns out a lot of the same thing, over and over and over.
SUBJECT 5: He approached me and asked me if I would like some help with paying for my groceries or if I needed anything. And I had said no, but I had told him that I was excited because I had heard about Daryl.
SUBJECT 1: It was something like, would it help you if I paid for your groceries today? I don't know. It's just like a really nice way where it's easy to say yes or no.
SUBJECT 3: I took my nieces and nephew to Cub to get groceries and let them pick out some treats and things for the week, and encountered Daryl. He offered to purchase our groceries. I'm not sure how he chose us.
SUBJECT 2: And I'm in the frozen food section and I realize someone's coming up to me and he's in a scooter, and he had a dozen roses in the basket. He's got one in his hand, and I realized immediately, this must be Daryl.
SUBJECT 1: And he said, can I give them money to buy them a toy? And so he gave them a $20 bill and told them what aisle to go find the toy. They were so excited. To this day, it's still my son's favorite toy. I'll ask him, I'll be like, do you remember where you got that stuffed animal. And he said, yeah, that nice man at Cub Foods gave me money to buy it.
SUBJECT 3: It was just exciting, almost, to have encountered him in the wild.
SUBJECT 2: He said, Miss, if I offered you a rose, would you accept it? It was like The Bachelor. It was so sweet. And I'm 65 years old, so to be called Miss was really nice. I met the famous Daryl. And he said, "And do you need any help with your groceries?" I said, oh, no.
SUBJECT 1: That's his MO. He goes to Cub Foods, and he either buys a little kid a stuffed animal, he offers groceries, or he goes to QuikTrip and he offers to pay for gas, or ask people, hey, how are you?
SUBJECT 4: We started chatting, and that's when he gave me that piece of paper that I showed you.
ELLEN FINN: If you're lucky, Daryl might give you a piece of paper that helps explain his quest to hang around grocery stores helping people out.
JASMINE PAMULA: Daryl kind of had a fast lifestyle when he was young. And when he got older, he had a series of unfortunate events.
ELLEN FINN: That's Jasmine Pamula. She's a massage therapist in Northfield who has worked with Daryl. Daryl didn't want to talk about himself, though he said it was OK for Jasmine to tell his story. He wrote that he regrets some of the ways he used to live his life, and he wishes he had started a family of his own. He wants to spend his time now helping other families feel supported and connected.
JASMINE PAMULA: He came in one evening. He was talking about who he can help in our community. And I have a friend of mine who's been struggling with an IVF journey.
ELLEN FINN: Jasmine's friend, who wanted to keep her identity private, said she had suffered multiple miscarriages and was struggling to stay positive during the IVF process. Jasmine mentioned her friend to Daryl and at the end of their appointment, Daryl handed Jasmine $400 to donate anonymously to her friend.
JASMINE PAMULA: I sat down with them and I was so excited. I was so giddy. I told the couple, I said, do you remember or have you seen on the Northfield Happenings page about the Northfield Angel? Because that's Daryl's nickname. I said, the Northfield Angel wants to help you. And I slid $400 across the table.
And my very hormonal, broken-down, sad friend just starts wailing in the middle of the restaurant. It was so weird and comical, because she's wailing and I'm giddy, laughing, because I'm so happy for her to just give her a little bit of reprieve and a little bit of wiggle room financially. Because a hormone and pregnancy journey is expensive and it's emotionally draining, and it had been three years, right?
Their hormonal treatment per month was exactly $400. So she was like, did you know that my treatment was $400 a month? I'm like, no, I didn't know. And the month that Daryl gave them the $400, they got pregnant.
It gets me teary-eyed every time I tell it because it's just like, what are the chances? What a miracle, right? Because it was a three-year pregnancy journey for them. And just the month Daryl paid for that hormone therapy was the month that they got pregnant. And so now they're going to invite Daryl to their baby shower. He's a really good man.
ELLEN FINN: Whether it's helping completely change the course of a family's life or just lifting someone up at the grocery store, many Northfield residents want to thank Daryl for spreading kindness.
SUBJECT 4: If we could all just be someone a little bit like Daryl. He's changed my life. I really think that he did.
SUBJECT 2: You know It feels good when you can make somebody's day or do something very-- you know, do a mitzvah for somebody. I think he does it because he must have a really big heart.
SUBJECT 4: He certainly left a lifelong impact on me.
SUBJECT 3: Sometimes in hard times, it's hard to see the good in others and the world. And so I think Daryl is spreading that around Northfield.
NINA MOINI: A special thanks to Northfield resident Mary Hillmann, Sam Lencioni, Susan Warrington, and Holly Natvig, who spoke with MPR News producer Ellen Finn for this piece.
Do you have a story of kindness from a stranger to share? We want to hear it. You can submit it at mprnews.org.
[SOFT MUSIC]
ELLEN FINN: If you live in Northfield, Minnesota, you've probably heard of him, or even seen him around at the grocery store or gas station. And there's certainly a lot of chatter about him online. I'm talking about a man known to the town simply as Daryl.
SUBJECT 1: I definitely had seen people post about interactions with him on the Northfield Facebook group.
SUBJECT 2: People would post and say, I met Daryl. I met Daryl.
SUBJECT 3: I've seen many posts about Daryl and the blessings that he gives to community members.
SUBJECT 1: I'm sure he's helped countless people in town.
SUBJECT 2: I had heard about Daryl for over a year. I think he's apparently quite a legend in town.
ELLEN FINN: Why a legend? What does Daryl been doing around town? Turns out a lot of the same thing, over and over and over.
SUBJECT 5: He approached me and asked me if I would like some help with paying for my groceries or if I needed anything. And I had said no, but I had told him that I was excited because I had heard about Daryl.
SUBJECT 1: It was something like, would it help you if I paid for your groceries today? I don't know. It's just like a really nice way where it's easy to say yes or no.
SUBJECT 3: I took my nieces and nephew to Cub to get groceries and let them pick out some treats and things for the week, and encountered Daryl. He offered to purchase our groceries. I'm not sure how he chose us.
SUBJECT 2: And I'm in the frozen food section and I realize someone's coming up to me and he's in a scooter, and he had a dozen roses in the basket. He's got one in his hand, and I realized immediately, this must be Daryl.
SUBJECT 1: And he said, can I give them money to buy them a toy? And so he gave them a $20 bill and told them what aisle to go find the toy. They were so excited. To this day, it's still my son's favorite toy. I'll ask him, I'll be like, do you remember where you got that stuffed animal. And he said, yeah, that nice man at Cub Foods gave me money to buy it.
SUBJECT 3: It was just exciting, almost, to have encountered him in the wild.
SUBJECT 2: He said, Miss, if I offered you a rose, would you accept it? It was like The Bachelor. It was so sweet. And I'm 65 years old, so to be called Miss was really nice. I met the famous Daryl. And he said, "And do you need any help with your groceries?" I said, oh, no.
SUBJECT 1: That's his MO. He goes to Cub Foods, and he either buys a little kid a stuffed animal, he offers groceries, or he goes to QuikTrip and he offers to pay for gas, or ask people, hey, how are you?
SUBJECT 4: We started chatting, and that's when he gave me that piece of paper that I showed you.
ELLEN FINN: If you're lucky, Daryl might give you a piece of paper that helps explain his quest to hang around grocery stores helping people out.
JASMINE PAMULA: Daryl kind of had a fast lifestyle when he was young. And when he got older, he had a series of unfortunate events.
ELLEN FINN: That's Jasmine Pamula. She's a massage therapist in Northfield who has worked with Daryl. Daryl didn't want to talk about himself, though he said it was OK for Jasmine to tell his story. He wrote that he regrets some of the ways he used to live his life, and he wishes he had started a family of his own. He wants to spend his time now helping other families feel supported and connected.
JASMINE PAMULA: He came in one evening. He was talking about who he can help in our community. And I have a friend of mine who's been struggling with an IVF journey.
ELLEN FINN: Jasmine's friend, who wanted to keep her identity private, said she had suffered multiple miscarriages and was struggling to stay positive during the IVF process. Jasmine mentioned her friend to Daryl and at the end of their appointment, Daryl handed Jasmine $400 to donate anonymously to her friend.
JASMINE PAMULA: I sat down with them and I was so excited. I was so giddy. I told the couple, I said, do you remember or have you seen on the Northfield Happenings page about the Northfield Angel? Because that's Daryl's nickname. I said, the Northfield Angel wants to help you. And I slid $400 across the table.
And my very hormonal, broken-down, sad friend just starts wailing in the middle of the restaurant. It was so weird and comical, because she's wailing and I'm giddy, laughing, because I'm so happy for her to just give her a little bit of reprieve and a little bit of wiggle room financially. Because a hormone and pregnancy journey is expensive and it's emotionally draining, and it had been three years, right?
Their hormonal treatment per month was exactly $400. So she was like, did you know that my treatment was $400 a month? I'm like, no, I didn't know. And the month that Daryl gave them the $400, they got pregnant.
It gets me teary-eyed every time I tell it because it's just like, what are the chances? What a miracle, right? Because it was a three-year pregnancy journey for them. And just the month Daryl paid for that hormone therapy was the month that they got pregnant. And so now they're going to invite Daryl to their baby shower. He's a really good man.
ELLEN FINN: Whether it's helping completely change the course of a family's life or just lifting someone up at the grocery store, many Northfield residents want to thank Daryl for spreading kindness.
SUBJECT 4: If we could all just be someone a little bit like Daryl. He's changed my life. I really think that he did.
SUBJECT 2: You know It feels good when you can make somebody's day or do something very-- you know, do a mitzvah for somebody. I think he does it because he must have a really big heart.
SUBJECT 4: He certainly left a lifelong impact on me.
SUBJECT 3: Sometimes in hard times, it's hard to see the good in others and the world. And so I think Daryl is spreading that around Northfield.
NINA MOINI: A special thanks to Northfield resident Mary Hillmann, Sam Lencioni, Susan Warrington, and Holly Natvig, who spoke with MPR News producer Ellen Finn for this piece.
Do you have a story of kindness from a stranger to share? We want to hear it. You can submit it at mprnews.org.
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