Paying It Forward

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Added: Sat. Dec 22, 2007 3:57pm
Posted in: Volunteering

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You’ve heard of paying it forward? It’s the concept that if someone does something nice for you, you do something nice for someone else. Then that person will do something nice for another person, and so on, and so on. Instead of paying the original “gifter” back, you start a cycle of giving that continues.

It can be something huge: donating blood so that many people receive your help, or dropping off clothes for a charity so several families benefit. It can be expensive, or it can be free.
And doesn’t it feel good to make someone else happy?

Here’s an example of a small move that made a big difference, in Washington state.

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MARYSVILLE, Wash. (AP) — One woman's kindness to a fellow Starbucks patron resulted in more than a thousand others spreading the holiday-season generosity in this northwest Washington town.
A regular patron at the chain had paid for the person in line behind her a few times before, according to The Everett Herald. But on Wednesday, her good deed set off a chain of 1,013 customers paying for the next person's drink.
Many coffee shop patrons tacked on an extra $10 or $20, which shift manager Sarah Nix said Starbucks Corp. will donate to its ongoing holiday toy drive.
The seemingly spontaneous pay-it-forward run ended at 6:20 a.m. Friday, a store employee said. The name of the iced-tea drinker who started it remains unknown.
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Wouldn’t it be neat to try this in your own community? Pay for the person at the toll behind you. Or hand a $5 to the person behind you at the grocery store. How about shoveling your neighbor’s driveway, or just putting his newspaper on the front stoop so he doesn’t have to walk to the end of the driveway?

I’ll try it in my community. Then I’ll share the results! I hope you do the same, and either send me a private message, or leave a comment below.