Gift from a Stranger — Giving the Little They Have to Always Pay It Forward

A humbling story of selflessness and the generousity of a stranger

“I can’t pay the hydro bill or make rent. I’ll got three days to figure this out and I don’t know what to do.”

I could hear the dread in their voice. The last minute phone call and a cry for help.

They are not one to reach out. But, they are unravelling in their dire situation and keeping a roof over their head it not a worry anyone needs.

“I might lose the kids.”

Providing support in as best as I can, but with my own bills to pay to do the same, there’s only so much I can do. To extend the offering, I began a bottle drive — involving my children.

Life is filled with teachable moments and I was presented with another.

We put a call out on a local community group to see who might have bottles that we could sort and return to the depot for deposits.

We gathered and sorted, and gathered and sorted again — responding to each of the messages.

Among them a note explaining that they had ample bottles to donate but that they needed me to pick them up.

Upon arrival, “a lot” proved to be an understatement. They, too, had been gathering bottles and cans to pay for their own bills. This action has become a more common action with the cost of living skyrocketing in teh area and interest rates feeling like they are out of control.

However, they wanted to pass them along because they were able to pay their bills that month and were looking okay for the next as well.

It seemed that this family didn’t have objectively “much” as modern day society describes it: the modular home in clear need of repairs, likely less than 600 square feet and yet, what little they had — this family wanted to pay it forward.

I sent a message to the family when I arrived back home to sort the bottles with the kids to further extend my appreciation. To which, they shared:

“someone did this for me once and it made all the difference in the world. Please encourage your friend to reach out to the food bank as well. It’s a great resource and helped us get by when times were tough, too.”

Their response humbled me.

I don’t know their story, but I question if I could give to the extent they did.

That’s a hard question to asked yourself: are you as giving and selfless as you hope to be?

I know where my next pay check comes from and yet, even with this being more uncertain for them, this family didn’t hesitate to help a stranger out.

Is there something you can do to today pay an act of kindness forward?

Looking for more inspiration?

Read this story by Charles Amemiya:

Or, this one by Susan Wheelock:

Mom first in everything I do. Career in local government. Writer is somewhere in the mix. Editor for The Shortform on Medium. Join me and gain access to unlimited stories (using this link, I earn a small commission at no additional cost to you). Thank you for your support!