Pay It Forward Movement

Background: We started this to help the thousands of Katrina evacuees that were stranded in Jacksonville. They were perfect strangers to our city.

Then Hurricane Wilma, category 3, delivered a blow to south Florida in October, 2005, and with the help of the Florida Hurricane Relief Fund (at the Volunteer Florida Fondation), we started working with other areas of the state to encourage grassroots, short-term giving and volunteer activities that buid compassion and stimulate recovery in their communities.

A lot of communities had not yet recovered from 2004's Hurricane Charley, category 4, which was the worst hurricane to hit the U.S. since Hurricane Andrew. We knew we needed to think of "community" on a much bigger scale.

Catherine, Neighbors to the Rescue is not a program, but an adapted Pay It Forward movement.

It calls upon civic leaders to do "Just One Thing" and to get their friends, colleagues and associates to do "Just One Thing" on behalf of a victim of disaster. Like ripples coming off a pebble thrown in a pond -- how wide will they spread?

Usually, if you can engage someone for Just One Thing, they'll do a little bit more too, because after a disaster, there's no better cure for community anxiety than the feeling that comes when we help others less fortunate. The reward is immediate.

We're talking about situations where people not hurt by the monster storms help perfect strangers who have been ruined. Compassionate action builds stronger communities.

In return, we only ask that someday, when the disaster victims are back on their feet, they extend some like kindness to other people in their communities. Pay It Forward themselves.

Neighbors to the Rescue is now active in Martin, West Palm, Broward, Hendry, Lee, Collier and Duval counties. We'll be up and running in Manatee county this year as well. Some of the affiliates are run from volunteer centers, while others are out of faith-based groups or inter-agency disaster recovery networks.

An aspect that is unusual and unique (yes, really it is unique) is the Neighbors to the Rescue virtual warehouse, www.neighborstotherescue.org . It is truly one of a kind.

This virtual warehouse was created to be a web-based access site for people to make donations -- kitchen, furniture, baby items, food, clothing, or services such as transportation. Then, team leaders who are helping a disaster-stricken family, can look at the database and see what items are being offered as donations by the community.

The donors keep possession of their donations until a match is found, and then is encouraged to take that item directly to the family or person in need.

The idea is that after a disaster, everyone wants to help, so they clean out their closets and drop off their old clothes at Salvation Army -- just a the time when the Salvation Army has a lot of people to help and not enough time to sort clothes.

One thing we found is that the world has plenty of clothes. But if we can capture the good will and good intentions of clothing donors, and convert that willingness into something truly productive, we can get people the things they need, such as beds, pots and pans, diapers, kitchen tables.

So the virtual warehouse gives us a tool to talk to potential donors and see if they know of anyone in their sphere of influence that has the particular items our teams of volunteers are looking for. Redirecting good intentions into productive activities, and possible volunteerism.

Volunteer Florida Foundation gives the seed money to start the Neighbors to the Rescue affiliates around the state, with the idea that the money will be leveraged and multiplied by thousands of hours of time given and goods donated.

There is a lot of damage in South Florida, particularly in areas where poor and elderly people live, and you don't hear about it in the media. That is, in part, because Florida is doing a great job recovering. We've, unfortunately, had a lot of experience upon which to draw.

I am trying to summarize but I've gone on too long. What else might you need, other than my contact information? (Business contact e-mail is suzanne.yack@vfffund.org and phone is 904-403-6667).

I'm always grateful for any help in getting the word out, because that's the way we recruit more people to help and prevent burnout among those already involved. Burnout is a very big problem, so rotating fresh people in is a huge need.

Let me know if you think of any other ways to publicize Neighbors to the Rescue. I'm open to all ideas.

I'm currently trying to find people willing to go into the agricultural areas in Hendry County and help the folks there -- the devastation is indescribable, but you can read about it at my blog at https://suzanneyack.wordpress.com/2006/07/19/hurricane-country/. It is where I decompress.

Suzanne Yack

co-founder

Neighbors to the Rescue