Jenny's Pay It Forward

Part 1:

What is "Pay It Forward"?

        Pay It Forward is doing something nice for someone in need. Meaning that if you help three people by doing some random act of kindness and they do it too, it means that the one thing you did for someone has created a ripple effect. Pay It Forward is what helps the people in need become a better person and do something nice for another person which goes on and on and on... It may not seem like it's helping but in the end, the littlest things can make a big difference in the community or even in the world.

Part 2:

What was your Pay it Forward act of kindness?

        Well, I decided to team up with Nicole Valencia and Erika Rego and do a group project together. We chose to collect used/new toys and books and wrapped them to donate to the Heart of Worship International Church, so that the kids there could have toys/books they can enjoy. The toys and books we've donated also went to the victims of the Haiyan Typhoon in the Philippines. We also decided to bake sugar cookies and decorate them very festive to celebrate the holidays and the upcoming new year. We gave them to people who we walked past by at The Forks and asked each and every one of them to pay it forward by doing something nice for someone else! 

Why did you choose this activity?

        We chose to do these activities because since it's the holidays, people around us locally or just in our community, they shouldn't care about how many presents they get, not getting what they wanted, wanting more... etc because they should think about how thankful they are to even have such wonderful people around them that care and love them. We chose to donate toys and books to the Heart of Worship International Church because it was just Christmas not too long ago, we could brighten children at the church and the victims in the Philippines day by giving and doing something nice for the kids who were affected by the Typhoon and don't have anything to play with or read, and also for the children in the Church alone too because sometimes, just giving even the littlest thing can make a change. We chose to bake sugar cookies and give them out to people at The Forks because what's more nice than giving out cookies while asking them to 'Pay It Forward' to someone else? I mean, it would sure make my day a lot better getting something that someone has spent time on and them asking just for a small favor to do something nice for someone else.

Who did you help?

        We helped children at the Church and also the victims in the Haiyan Typhoon in the Philippines by donating our used toys/books; and going out just to buy toys/books for them. We also helped people who passed by at The Forks, by brightening their day by giving them cookies that took time to make and asking them to make a change by helping other people and just make them better individuals just by doing so.

What did you do?

           We did sort of like a toy drive but with only the three of us and instead, we went to the Heart of Worship International Church to give the children toys and books to have and enjoy. We also baked and gave away what we spent time on which I think made an huge impression to those who we gave cookies to!

When did you do your act of kindness?

        We did our act of kindness on separate days. First we baked the cookies on December 28th, 2013(around 6PM) then packaged them on December 29th, 2013(around 7PM) then gave the cookies out at The Forks, and donated the toys and books to the Church on December 30th, 2013(around 4PM). 

Video of us 'Paying It Forward':

Part 3:

How did your act of kindness go?

        I think our act of kindness went very well although we did have some difficulty baking the cookies since we didn't have all the right materials and didn't have much of a schedule planned out. In the end, now that I think about it; we all work very well together and our result of this project is very well done in my opinion.

What happened?

        What happened was that we split up the whole Pay It Forward project by baking the cookies on the first day and on the second, we went to Walmart and bought materials we could use to package the cookies in. After we bought the materials, we spent our time packaging and tying on ribbon with tags to explain what the cookies are for also. The next day, we all gathered all the cookies, and donations then got ready to give out the cookies to people we passed by. Nicole's parents dropped off the toys and books we all collected and bought to the Heart of Worship International Church while we were at The Forks but as proof, we got a letter from the Church saying that we've donated and that they're for Pay It Forward.  Meaning that since we took a while to collect/gather, donate bake, package and deliver, we took about three days in total for us to do our act of kindness.

How did you feel?

        Honestly, I felt so happy knowing that all those people we've gave cookies to, to show that even the littlest things can make a change really made them think about what they can do for the other people. Seeing all those people smile and tell us that what we're doing is such a great thing really made me feel good and they looked so appreciated about us using our own time to bake and organize everything made them smile a ton! Which in a result, made me smile as well seeing them like that. I really feel like donating the toys and books to the victims of the Haiyan Typhoon in the Philippines and children of the church really makes me feel good about what we did together! It's a really great feeling knowing that you've made a difference in someones life.

How did the person or people react?

        The people who we gave cookies to and asked them to 'Pay It Forward' by doing anything nice for someone else, were in such awe then asked us what school we were from and said that our school is so great for doing such a project like this! Which really feels great knowing that we're apart of a great school that even strangers appreciate our hard work! The sadly didn't get to see the children of the Church or the victims of the Haiyan Typhoon in the Philippines's reactions but I'm sure they're very thankful and happy!

Did you ask the person or people to "Pay It Forward"?

        Yes, my friends and I did ask people to "Pay It Forward" by doing a good indeed for someone else.

How did they react to your request?

        The people we gave cookies to, mostly gladly accepted the request to do something nice and sure there were bumps in the road where a couple of people didn't accept the request but overall, everyone was all happy and glad to accept the 'challenge' we gave them.

Part 4:

Why is the idea of "Pay It Forward" important?

        The idea of Pay It Forward is important because it shows that just by helping one individual, and they help someone else, it creates a chain reaction that can have such a great affect in the world to the world locally and globally

Has your act of kindness made a difference?

        I think that our act of kindness made a difference because showing people around your community that just by doing good deeds just for anyone in general can create such a chain reaction in the world even if it was just giving out cookies with a tag saying 'Pay It Forward! Do one good deed for three people and watch the chain reaction grow!' while asking those we gave out to do something nice for someone else for example, just opening the door for someone or just donating toys and books to those who don't have any made a difference in their life because they'd know that someone has took the time to go out and buy toys or just gather their old toys for them so they have a chance to play/read and have a good time in general.