Recently, I reported a donation made for the children’s table. A seven year old wanted to donate her Leap Frog Learning System to the children’s table so that another ‘little girl’ could learn to read like she did. After a discussion with the child and her parents, we have decided that the best way to utilize this donation would be to add it to our eBay program.
We sold the item on eBay. With our net earnings, we purchased a book from the Junie B Jones series from the Children’s Book Month of the Club, we will be presenting them to the child to thank her for her unselfish attitude and reward her for her kind deeds, as soon as they arrive. We were also able to purchase 6 books [from yard sales] to add to our children’s section of the book exchange program. All in all, I would say this was an extremely lucrative venture.
In other Pay it Forward news; I reported that we received an unanimous donation, a couple of boxes filled with books and collectibles that we have either distributed through the book exchange program or are selling on eBay. At the end of each week, we will figure out our net income [or loss, as the case may be] any remaining money will be used in a variety of ways. With the request for plants [and vegetables] part of the money will be spent for potting soil and potting supplies; part of the money will be used to keep our book exchange program active; part will be used to assist those from neighboring counties who cannot afford the new user fee this county as inflicted upon them to use our libraries; and finally, with the budget crises still going strong within our county, our libraries will no longer be purchasing DVD’s or VHS tapes for the public to borrow, which will affect many people. Although, I do not anticipate making a great deal of money, we would like to purchase at least one new DVD a month for the library , so that their video program will be able to stay somewhat stabilized.
Over the next ten-day period [May 10 thru May 25] we will also be donating 10% of all net profits from our sales [whether they be donations or private] to the local volunteer fire department. [Collins Center} Living in a rural area, we are reliant on many volunteer services; the most important being our local Volunteer Fire Department.
Without these volunteers, the tax dollars necessary to fund a fire department would be astronomical, but that is only the beginning. These volunteers give generously of their time and their lives. They are trained in first aid, some are Emergency Medical Technicians or Paramedics, they respond to chemical leaks, fires, and first aid calls anytime of the day or night, in any weather conditions.
They have been called to gas well fires, structure fires, chimney fires, grass fires, auto accidents, etc; and they respond; endangering their own lives to protect and assist others. They also give generously of their time. They must be trained, just as a paid firefighter would be, they must recertify, the hours they spend away from family and friends, away from family celebrations, because someone else needs them more.
The Volunteer is far too often taken for granted. In the case of our volunteers, they must also raise funding to supply their members with quality equipment. The donation may end up to be small; but in a rural area especially, every penny counts.
Please make yourself familiar with the Pay It Forward Program: Pay It Forward started as an idea for a book, which was released in January of 2000. Since the book’s release, a real-life social movement emerged, not just in the U.S. but worldwide.
The Pay It Forward Movement is the real-life reaction to the novel; shortly thereafter the Pay It Forward Foundation was created. Later that same year, Warner Bros released the Pay It Forward movie.
It is an easy concept; do a favor for another person without any expectation of being paid back. Instead, request the recipient of your favor do the same for someone else: ideally for three other people. The unconditional favors can be large or small, as long as the person you are doing the favor for has no expectation of having a favor done.
As you can see, my favor was to set up a local book exchange program. Since that time, a seven-year-old has picked up on the program and donated Leap Frog Learning System to sell so that more children would have access to books. It may seem a small thing, and it may not be moving quickly, but it is moving and people are doing for others.
Now, I would like to challenge all of my readers to participate in a pay it forward adventure. I will even make it easy for all. Simply do one favor. I will even help you with some ideas. Omce you have completed your favor [please remember you cannot expect anything for doing the favor] request the recipient of you favor do a favor for three other people, and request that each of those people do a favor for three other people, and on and on and on...
Please, let us know about the favor you did and have the recipient of your favor tell us about their favors. Email: reallyfreeny@yahoo.com put pay it forward in the subject line.
So let's see if we can get the largest Pay It Forward/ Friendship Organization on Earth! Make sure you let us know what you have been doing and how things are going for you. Send an email to reallyfreeny@yahoo.com
