With Help From Their Friends Facebook Group Continues To Bring Hope In A Bad Year
It may be a bad year for many people because of the COVID - 19 pandemic and other factors but Christmas 2020 just got a little bit brighter for some Moose Jaw people thanks to a Facebook page dedicated to helping others and the page’s supporters.
Started in May 2014 The Original MJ Honest Pay It Forward was established originally as a means to help others by offering re-usable household and other items for free.
“It was a way of rather than sending re-usable good things to the landfill to offer them for free to others….things that were still good could be passed to other people who could use them,” Sandi Nixon one of the page Administrators told MJ Independent.
Despite the Facebook group’s original purpose of being a means to facilitate the reuse of lightly used or even new goods the page quickly grew where people in need came to ask for help in tough times, Nixon said.
In 2020 the Facebook group with 2,300 members continued with its unpaid work but at a renewed vigour as the COVID -19 pandemic has hit many working people hard this year.
“This is the way it has always been and it is getting worse,” she said, adding “there are a lot of people without a job or not earning enough this year because of what is happening. But with that said there seems to be more people coming forward willing to help out.”
“I find this year because people have less that people are giving more,” Nixon said. “There are no jobs and many people’s income is affected but yet this year people are giving more.”
The group that was set up to re-purpose household goods has found itself coming together to help Moose Jaw people who find themselves in dire need especially at Christmas time with many people asking for help. And 2020 is no exception.
Nixon said in 2020 the group was not going to help out people for Christmas until a woman with children asked if there was going to be any type of help this year as there had been in others.
Feeling there could be a need this year the group posted on their page if there was someone who could use some help and if there was anyone interested in helping out.
The response to the call was phenomenal from both sides of the equation with people saying that they needed help with Christmas and others willing to donate to ensure people had a decent meal, gifts for the children, a tree and a bit of happiness to end out the year.
On the side offering help Nixon said there was an outpouring of support.
“It wasn’t an offer to help from the richer people per say but just ordinary working people who wanted to help out others for Christmas. People who do not live in mansions but just ordinary everyday people.”
Nixon said she had come forward as a way to thank the people who gave and give them recognition for their anonymous assistance.
This year there are some memorable giving she said with one regular helper saying “here are eight $100 gift cards give them to people who need them the most.”
While another woman said she would like to adopt a family and then went out and then bought them a tree, gifts and food to have Christmas.
Then there are others who have simply said I do not have time to go shopping here is some money can you go out and buy people some things.
Others gave a few dollars or gifts to help out others.
“It really snowballs.”
“They all do it anonymously but somehow I feel they deserve some recognition for helping others,” Nixon said. “They are just helping out of the goodness of their heart.”
People anonymously providing help to others at Christmas - although not the initial intent of the Facebook group - has happened in other years with one anonymous donor going out and buying 20 turkeys and showing up and saying “can you give these out to people who need them.”
“I would really like people recognized that despite what some people might think there are lots of good people out there,” she said.
Asked what she thought about people reaching out to help those who have little Nixon said “I find it humbling.”
About the donation of the eight $100 gift cards Nixon said the act of kindness hit her really hard.
“I stood in the street and just cried….I am not emotional about the bad things in life but it is when people do things like this that really affects me.”
Asked why people would give such large gifts anonymously to total strangers Nixon said the best she could tell by guessing was it was being done because the person involved believes in “good karma” and people who do good things for others have good things in turn happen in their lives.
Anyone who would like to help out others this Christmas are welcome to do so as there are still more who could use a little bit of help. To do so contact the group’s Facebook Page.