Matt's Pay It Forward

Part 1:

What is Pay it Forward?
Pay it Forward is a chain, it's that you help someone with no reward, because they want you to do the same to other people with no reward. As it multiplies it becomes a huge chain with various people who have been affected by it.

Part 2:

Who did you help?
I helped an old man down my street whom I don't know, but I always see him struggling to walk down the stairs on his way to the gate, so I thought I should help him by opening his gate for him so he wouldn't have to do it himself, and I did that countless times for him, then now it's the time of season where you need to shovel, and this winter for Winnipeg has been a snowing outburst, so as soon as I heard this assignment I automatically thought about the old man who I open the gate for. So I see his front yard and back yard and all you see is snow piling up to a great amount of snow, so I thought that opening the gate wasn't enough and how is he even supposed to get to the gate with all that snow in his yard.

What was your Pay it Forward activity?

I guess my answer above pretty much tells it all, but if you still haven't figured it out, well then I shoveled his front and back yard for him.

Why did you choose this activity?

You see, simple things such as shoveling someones yard is cliche and I totally understand. But if the person living in that house that needs shoveling is elderly and struggles to even walk down the stair, well, I'm pretty sure that the man would really appreciate it. One day I will be elderly like that old man whom I helped, and as a wise man once said, "If you want respect, you need to earn respect." So if I help an old man now, then you never know if a much younger person than me saw me helping the old man and might think "Hey, that guy has a heart, so maybe I should do the same cause maybe when I get old maybe kids will help me too!" The things you think that exceed the level of simplicity may have a huge effect on an individual. Let's say the old man needed medication, but he can't get it cause his path is filled with snow, so his life is in risk cause of some snow, but it only takes one person to change a person's life. I quote "It doesn't matter who you are, where you're from, or even who you are, you can change an individual's life, but you just need a little hope."

When did you do your act of kindness?
December 3rd, 2012. (Posted today because my video was not uploading to blogger."

Part 3:

How did your act of kindness go?

Splendid. I had a very fun time shoveling the snow cause I'm a "Winnipegger" and I love snow. It was a nice day, a little chilly but not enough to stop me and I took me about and hour.

What happened?
As I knocked on his door he opened it and I showed him what I did to his front yard. He had a nice innocent smile like a child opening a brand new present on Christmas Day. He reached for his wallet, but I interrupted and told him I don't want money, I said "No need to pay me, just have a nice day."

How did you feel?
I felt a hard tug on my heart, a good one. It made me feel so heroic and so mellow cause I walked out his yard with a smile on my face that looks like I got an A+ in Math. Yeah, right.

How did the person react?
Like I said, he was very thankful and had a nice innocent smile like a child opening up a present on Christmas Day.

Did I ask the person to Pay it Forward?

Well, yes but I really don't expect him to do anything that requires too much physical capability but I asked him if had any grandsons or granddaughters and he said yes, and I asked him if you can tell them about Pay it Forward.

Part 4:

Why is the idea of Pay it Forward important?

It is important because it gives other people to have an opportunity to make a difference in someone's life.

Has your act of kindness made a difference?

Yes, because now that old man has a the freedom to walk out of his house to go wherever he wants whenever he wants so if he ever needs medication then he can get it, and also it's a thing that he can check off something of his "Tell Grandson/daughter to do list."

Since my video could not upload I had a cousin who took a part of the video and made it as a picture. This is the part when I finished shoveling and I posed for the video with the job that I have done.