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Tooele residents spread holiday cheer through ‘Pay it Forward’ campaign

Posted at 7:03 PM, Dec 08, 2017
and last updated 2017-12-08 21:03:12-05

TOOELE – Some Tooele residents are inspiring others to pay it forward this holiday season.

A group of people launched their effort on Facebook to help struggling families, and it’s taken off.

It all started with Don Jarvis, who posted his intentions to pay it forward on the Tooele County 411 Facebook page. For his birthday, he would deliver $100 to someone in need. The nominations came pouring in and he chose Sherry Hammond – who is taking care of three grandchildren.

“It's fun and especially when the lady that I surprised didn't even know I was coming,” Jarvis said.

That good deed got the ball rolling.

“After reading Don's post, we figured we'd pay it forward too as well,” said Gabriel Mead.

Mead just moved to Tooele a couple of weeks ago. He doesn’t want his new neighbors to go without. He’s giving out $100 gift cards to two families.

“One, the husband was in an accident," Mead said. "They're trying to survive. The other family just had a newborn. You could tell that they could use the spirit as well.”

Patty Bullock-Drochner was touched by the gesture as well.

“I messaged my husband and I said, 'You know we have a little extra. Why don't we do the same?'"

She was touched by the nominations she received. A couple had premature twins and will have to travel to the U of U hospital for the next 12 weeks while the babies recover.

“That one really hit home for me because I remember; I remember it's awful,” said Bullock-Drochner.

She will give two families gift cards.

“We can't save everyone but that will get them through the holidays," she said.

The contagious giving spread to Patty’s friend, Patty Deakin-Daley. She will donate four gas cards.

“There are a lot of really hard working people that are just scraping by," she said. "Just living paycheck to paycheck. So that extra $50 really can mean a lot to them.”

The group didn’t set out to launch this challenge. But after seeing all the good from it, they hope to inspire others.

“To me, I feel like giving is very addictive," Deakin-Daley said. "Once you've started the feeling that you feel it becomes an addiction and you have to keep giving and giving and giving."

For more information about the Pay it Forward Challenge, click here.