 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
The Daily & Sunday Review |
 |
| Pay it Forward campaign receives dozens of entries BY THE REVIEW 05/18/2008 The Pay it Forward campaign to publicize and support acts of kindness has received some 50 entries for the $1,000 cash prize to be donated for a worthwhile cause. If someone pays you a good deed, don’t pay it back — pay it forward. That’s the idea behind The Daily Review and Gannon Associates’ “Pay It Forward” challenge. In the challenge, The Review and Gannon’s will award a $1,000 cash prize to the area resident who submits the most innovative plan to carry out a good deed using the winnings. The money is to be used to finance the good deed. The next step is for a judging panel to narrow the field of entries to 10. Those entries will be published soon and readers will have the opportunity to vote on the idea they think is the best. The deadline for voting will be in June. George V. Lynett Jr., publisher of The Review, was impressed with the response. “We are extremely happy with the large response we have received for the Pay It Forward campaign,” he said. “Clearly, there are many caring people and dozens of worthy causes represented in the 50 submissions. It will be very difficult to narrow down the pool to one winner when so many deserve recognition.” Mark Gannon, chief operating officer of Gannon Associates, the campaign sponsor, had high praise for the participants. “The amazing thing about the campaign is the responses have come from individuals of all ages. There are great submissions from students and adults from our community,” he said. “It is nice to see the values that have made our area a great place to live, being passed on to the next generation.” The entries received included such diverse suggestions as helping national charitable organizations like the cancer society or the March of Dimes, to helping area church groups that perform good works such as the Grace Connection and Hezekiah’s Hands, or helping other groups and organizations, like Big Brothers/Big Sisters or volunteer fire departments, to helping individuals with debilitating or life-threatening illnesses. Other special causes included straightening up crooked mailboxes to help letter carriers, performing yard work for senior citizens, feeding hungry children and supporting a religious revival. Entries were received from throughout the Review’s circulation area, from Sayre in the north; Dushore in the south; Troy and Canton on the west; Wyalusing, Stevensville and Laceyville on the east; and Towanda and Wysox in the middle. Other communities include Rome, Milan, Ulster, New Albany, East Smithfield, Granville Summit and Sugar Run. It’s estimated that more than 20,000 readers turn to The Review for local news coverage each day. With this kind of reach and influence, The Review felt that participating in Pay It Forward would be an excellent way to encourage acts of kindness throughout the community. The Review plans to run feature articles on the winner and his or her act of kindness. The Pennsylvania Newspaper Association Foundation created this version of the Pay It Forward campaign, which is being carried out by The Daily Review and Gannon Associates, as well as more than 60 other Pennsylvania newspapers. |
|||