Ten years ago when I watched the movie Pay It Forward for the first time, it moved me in a way that shaped and directed the purpose of my life forever. For nearly 20 years before the movie was released I had been Paying It Forward without giving it a name or even asking those I helped to do the same for someone else. I'd did things such as pay bridge tolls for the person behind me, bring dinner to new moms or the sick and bring people homemade chocolate chip cookies. In high school I was known for bringing teachers and students cakes on their birthday.
Two years ago I showed the movie in my leadership academy and the kids fell in love with it. We gave them a challenge to go pay it forward for the next month in any way they could find. They were even given a choice to pick $1 or a bracelet worth $40 to use when the moment came to help someone out. The stories that unfolded as they had the chance to brighten a strangers day became something the kids wanted to adopt.
That started us thinking about encorporating this movement into our every meeting to impact more lives. We stumbled upon a PIF website started by Charlie Johnson where we could get silicone Pay It Forward bracelets and have given out close to 2,000 of them so far. We decided to take it to another level by adding the "movement" to our website and starting this blog. We want to hear YOUR stories of how you are paying it forward. If you want to be part of our KHK PIF movement send us an email with your name and address and we'll send you a bracelet payitforward@kidzhelpingkids.org.
