Pay It Forward

Dave and I watched the movie Pay It Forward. The message in the movie really got me thinking. The general concept is that if everyone does three positive things for random people, lives would get better and doing good would be contagious. I am so grateful for the people who have payed it forward to me and my family this week.

• I ordered a Diet Coke from the McDonald's drive thru. I pulled up to the first window to pay and was told by the cashier that the person in the vehicle in front of me paid for my order. It made my day.
• A woman posted on Freecycle that she needed a pack-n-play for a home daycare. I remembered that Davey's was in the basement and that we never use it. She picked up the next day. Then Landon's cell phone broke. I asked Dave to post a wanted ad on Freecycle. It read,"Wanted: Phone with Texting Pad". Landon was not too hopeful and said, "Mom, why would anyone give away a cell phone that they could sell?" Within an hour we heard from someone in our community who had a cell phone for Landon, a like-new Android with a texting pad. I was immediately reminded that there are still good people out there.
• The person who gave us the phone visited my blog through the URL attached to my email signature. He emailed me for more information about soliciting donations for charity. As it turns out he is the director of  Deeper Missions, a non-profit dedicated to improving African communities by instituting clean energy and water projects, and providing education about sanitation and hygiene. Mission number 4 on the Deeper Missions website...Pay It Forward. 

Hard Work Will Pay Off

I am so excited about the page I just put together on Soliciting For Fundraisers. It will make planning silent auctions so much easier. This summer I was the co-chairperson for the silent auction portion of our summer swim team's annual swim-a-thon fundraiser. We raise money for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, a charity dear to me since my favorite grandmother died from Leukemia. I spent countless hours and days examining different corporate giving programs and filling out applications. We received such generous donations including an American Girl Doll, and a great coffee maker from Keurig. I decided that applying for corporate donations would be so much easier if I compiled all of my research in one place. So here it is, with links and everything! Honestly, I did it for selfish reasons. Next year's auction will be so much easier now.