It does the heart good when the community reaches out to help a family besieged by bad luck.

Louis Arroyo, Luemily Melendez and their two children faced a stark Easter after a fire destroyed the apartment they had just moved into last week.

The family was stuck, left at the mercy of a charity with dwindling resources and limited to a temporary stay in a motel.

Neighbors – many who were strangers and anonymous – were not content to allow the problems to compound. After reading about the family, they showed up in numbers with Easter baskets and blankets, a grubstake to begin the rebuilding and a bathtub full of clothes. The generosity spread beyond just this family. They would share the help they received over the weekend with two other families who were also burned out of their homes.

There’s plenty wrong in the world. Plenty to be mad and sad about. Time and again, however, we are reminded of humanity’s great capacity for compassion. It’s worth noting.