Wednesday, October 17th we had a Pay it Forward activity here at our building. (If you’re not familiar with our Pay it Forward service club, check out this link.)
Since it’s October and we get a lot of pumpkins in from the Vineyard Gardens(thank you!) we like to celebrate Halloween by indulging our creative sides.
I downloaded a ton of templates on painting pumpkins from the internet, and our resident artists on staff (Sabrina, Treva, Amanda and Ryan from Wasatch) always have great ideas. I’m not that artistic and definitely on the clumsy side, so as likely to paint my clothing accidentally as paint a pumpkin. Needless to say, sharp blades are out for me, so we use paints instead.
As a Pay it Forward activity, we asked everyone to paint at least one pumpkin to give away, and then they could paint at least one to take home. The pumpkins painted go to some of our community partners and some of our neighboring businesses who are always so good to us.
I think this is the fourth year that we’ve painted pumpkins to give away. We had 25 people in attendance this year, which tells me that we’re going to need more paint and maybe more pumpkins next year!
The Pay it Forward service club means a lot to me. I like the opportunity to interact with our clients in way that we can join together and do service for other people. I find a lot of meaning in uniting for a common goal-the goal of doing good for someone else. I think it’s important for people to remember that everyone has something to contribute, even if we feel like we don’t have anything to give. So often in the daily service that we provide, we fall into two categories—the staff and volunteers who are serving, and the patrons who are receiving service.
Uniting for a Pay it Forward activity each month feels so inspirational to me. Status is irrelevant. Job titles are irrelevant. Whether I drove here or took the bus here is irrelevant. For those two hours or so, we (clients, staff, and volunteers) forget the day-to-day stress and focus on someone else. Whether you’re giving service here or receiving service here, it’s a nice change of pace and a nice change of perspective to be able to interact as equals, something I feel is inspiring about the Food and Care Coalition. For those several hours, John Doe is simply someone I’m making a mess with instead of someone who needs to set up an appointment, and I’m just a girl with paint on her nose.
Pay it Forward helps me remember why I work here, and why I love my job—because I love the people I get to serve with every day.
To see more of our artwork, check out our Facebook page.
