Returning to China more than two decades later, Ronald Sakolsky, a retired U.S. teacher who once helped fund Yin Yuzhen's tree-planting efforts in Inner Mongolia, saw firsthand how a small act of kindness could grow into lasting change. A tree, a helping hand, or one simple act of goodwill can all become the beginning of something bigger. "No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted," Sakolsky said.