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Paying It Forward with Day Care |
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'Pay it Forward' campaign begins A local day care center's effort to aid and inspire people during the failing economy is under way locally and soon will reach millions of people nationwide. Alphabet Soup Child Care II's "Pay It Forward" campaign began Monday, offering local residents facing unemployment one half-day of free child care and asking them to do a good deed for someone else in return. And as those deeds ripple throughout Wausau, the national Woman's Day magazine is preparing to feature day care owner Debbie Mohelnitzky as one of three "recession angels" in its July 4 issue. "I was just hoping to do something good for our local community," said Mohelnitzky, who hopes the national attention will make the goodwill "contagious." The concept of passing on good deeds was made famous in the 2000 book and film "Pay it Forward." Despite the attention, Mohelnitzky said there still is space available at her day care. The number of spots available fluctuates as the day care works on scheduling. Three children enrolled Monday as part of the campaign, though the day care could have handled about 12. "I was hoping it'd be more by this point," said Mohelnitzky, who hopes people aren't avoiding help out of a sense of shame or pride. Lisa Ricci's reaction was anything but. Ricci, who lost her customer service job in January, found herself unable to pay for child care. She since has received some leeway on back day care payments and will drop off her son Keion, 1, while she follows up on job applications. "I was so overwhelmed, I just cried and I hugged her," said Ricci, 26, of Wausau. "It's just very touching." Touching enough, in fact, for the production team of Woman's Day, which reaches about 22 million readers. Freelance writer Lisa Collier Cool said Mohelnitzky's effort breaks a "vicious cycle" facing some families. Ricci said she plans to help someone spontaneously, or volunteer at a nursing home as her way to pay it forward. |
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