COLUMN: Keep paying

I respect Southwestern Community College’s Pay It Forward week held every spring.

During PIF Week, students, faculty, and staff get involved by encouraging positive behaviors and service to the community. The hope is that these efforts will ripple and spread community-wide in Creston, Osceola, and Red Oak " according to the college’s website. Lots of great stuff happens that week within the college and throughout town.

I also hope the ripple and spread happen throughout the year. It has for me. You might be surprised at what happens to help you pay it forward.

In late February, I was visiting a friend recovering from surgery at a Des Moines hospital. It was in the evening during a weekday. On the drive home, my car had some mechanical problems. Fortunately, I was still in Des Moines and safely made it to a store’s parking lot. But how do I get home? A friend of mine in Winterset was the closest. I called him and fortunately he had the time to come get me and take me home. Family members were not close enough at the time to be of any help.

Last week it was my turn.

Another friend was stranded in Des Moines, also with car problems. I remembered what was done for me earlier this year. I had the time to go get him and take him home. I never thought twice. I never thought of an excuse to avoid doing it. The friend was grateful that I was able to pick him up. While he was explaining his speculation on his car problem, I was thinking what was done for me earlier this year. It was my turn to pay it forward.

Another moment that I’ve been told, and not often, is when someone who has used certain assistance programs (like food, utility bill payments, etc.) reach a point where they no longer need those services. They are fully sustainable. I’ve heard those people have gone back to the same providers and ask what they can do to get another person or two off the list.

A free meal to the public for those who may not have a place to go or someone to share on Christmas Day, is from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. at St. Malachy school in Creston. A holiday dinner in Greenfield has already been held. When I worked in western Kansas years ago, I assisted with one of those meals for Thanksgiving. Like providing a ride for another who has car problems, those feelings of assistance are genuine. Just don’t let it go to your head.

There’s nothing wrong with traditional gift giving for the holidays. A great addition to a gift is letting a younger person have an opportunity to assist others, especially during the holidays. Hopefully the person will better understand how some people struggle more than others and offering a hand creates humility. Maybe the seed has been planted for that person to pay it forward when the opportunity arises.

###

Rotary Clubs and their members are not encouraged to make their clubs political. Despite the guideline, there comes a time when something can be said tactfully.

On our front page Monday was a story about Robert Kennedy Jr., who is nominated for Health and Human Services Director under the incoming Trump administration, suggested ending the polio vaccine requirement. Kennedy has a history of questioning vaccines and their effectiveness.

Rotary, a worldwide volunteer community service club with a chapter in Creston, has been heavily involved worldwide in ending polio. According to its website, “Rotary has been working to eradicate polio for more than 35 years. Our goal of ridding the world of this disease is closer than ever.

As a founding partner of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, we’ve reduced polio cases by 99.9 % since our first project to vaccinate children in the Philippines in 1979.

Rotary members have contributed more than $2.1 billion and countless volunteer hours to protect nearly 3 billion children in 122 countries from this paralyzing disease. Rotary’s advocacy efforts have played a role in decisions by governments to contribute more than $10 billion to the effort.

Today, polio remains endemic only in Afghanistan and Pakistan. But it’s crucial to continue working to keep other countries polio-free. If all eradication efforts stopped today, within 10 years, polio could paralyze as many as 200,000 children each year.”

I fear what will happen to polio if the vaccines end. Several years ago I attended an event where people from older generations spoke about their battle with polio during their childhood. They were all grateful the vaccine was available to prevent others from experiencing what they did.