Helping Others via "PIF"

Dear Pay it Forward,

 

At the end of the school year, my sixth grade peers and I saw the Pay it Forward movie. I thought that it would be impossible for Pay it Forward to actually happen.  Then my classmates and I were assigned a project to commit a small or big act, which we thought would be gracious, and I really took interest. In the beginning of summer vacation, I discovered from my ten year old sister, about a tornado that had occurred in Aplington- Parkersburg, Iowa, during late May. Somehow, I wanted to help the citizens of the unfortunate town, and my sister, Maheen, told me how.

 

Maheen told me that her ten under softball team, the Montclair Bears, were going to raise money for the Falcons, a local high school girls softball team in Aplington-Parkersburg. The Bears wanted to help the girls who play on the Falcons, by raising enough money so they could continue their softball season, and I decided to help out. Everyone on the Bears was assigned a station, where they would stand from six o’clock, to nine o’ clock, and ask people for donations. Of the three stations, Starbucks, Applegate Farms, and Coldstone, my sister, two other teammates, and I, were posted at Starbucks. We made posters, and we asked everyone that passed by for donations. Most people were kind and contributed for our cause.

 

All of our hard work paid off. In just three hours, the three locations combined raised one thousand, nine hundred dollars, which was enough to buy a pitching machine, equipment, and to give each teammate forty dollars to spend on other items. I gave ten dollars of my allowance too. Local reporter Emily Kaplan noticed our charity work, and we even got put in The Montclair Times! My sister and her team had written letters to the Falcons, and when everyone got replies, they were read aloud. I felt really proud of myself and the Bears when I saw how much the Falcons appreciated our help.

 

Minahil Khan

Glenfield Middle School

Montclair, NJ