Pay it Forward

​Global Pay It Forward Day – April 28, 2025 - National Today

​Pay all the good deeds you’ve ever received forward on Global Pay It Forward Day, celebrated annually on April 28. If you’ve believed in paying back kindness all your life, allow us to introduce you to a more refined and helpful initiative — paying kindness forward!

• The concept of paying it forward does not only apply to acts of kindness, although that is the most popular related topic. 

A Pay it Forward Culture 

The key underlying concept to the Neighbors-helping-Neighbors USA group culture is the demonstration of the pay-it -forward concept.

This culture has members who even though they themselves are in a difficult situation with unemployment come out each week and help others in a similar situation to network, give tips and feedback to help them with their job search.

Then this is being done its done with no expectation of immediate return favors and as the concept was so well demonstrated in the movie its others who end up helping the original pay it forward participant.

There is no expected quid pro quo to this culture and the act of helping others is selfless.
A vivid example of the paying it forward concept appears in the novel “Pay It Forward” by American novelist Catherine Ryan Hyde. This novel instantly became a best-seller and was adapted into a film in 2000. It’s then no surprise that this book is also the foundation on which Global Pay It Forward Day was established.
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International speaker and author Blake Beattie was inspired by Hyde’s book to create this day in 2007. It is now celebrated in over 80 countries worldwide, to create a global change caused by spreading kindness and also to reach over 10 million acts of kindness around the world. It is celebrated annually on April 28.

My youngest son Tyler came up with this
idea of making up a "Token of Appreciation"
to be used within NhN as a way to share and acknowledge the great pay it forward culture that occurs every day.

"Pay It Forward Token"
These "tokens" magnets will be issued by the founder to each of our lead facilitators to be given out at the weekly meeting to new members based on establishment of seeing the new member attend meetings regularly, as we know that members who come each week not only benefit for themselves but are helping others which is what the group is all about.

Each new member then holds on to this token until a nhn members does a significant pay it forward act for them. They then will give their token to the next member who does a pay it forward.and then so on and so on.

There will be a small supply for the facilitators and the founder to give to selected non nhn members or if you will "Friends of NhN" who do a Pay It Forward action, that either benefits a member or the organization. When someone preforms a Pay It Forward Act we want that announced at the regular weekly meeting and reported back to me the founder so we can make members aware of our great culture. We want members to tell when they get this token from someone else and the Facilitators are asked to share the  great stories in our LinkedIn NhN group.

I will select some and will post them here on this page. This program will be rolled out meeting group by meeting group and is partially funded by our plaque recognition and appreciation program, so we do need to find sponsors for each library as we are zero funded.

Success # 313 - Tyler of NhN River Edge said.” My Dad forwarded me a posting for a Digital Marketing and Web Communications Specialist  from a NhN member Carolyn and it was very timely, because I was feeling particularly down about my future job prospects. I read through the description and decided it was something I was interested in. I spent that whole day researching the company and the whole night writing my cover letter. I submitted the application and heard back from the company within a week to set-up an interview. I traveled to the city, met my current boss and some other employees, and went home hoping they liked me. A few days later, I received an offer to start with the company on a one-week trial basis to see if I was a good fit. On July 15th, I started working there and I haven't looked back.

I'm very lucky to get this position and it was thanks to the network offered by NhN that serves as a wonderful extension of all our eyes and ears.

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The second year of Nhn ended with the incredible Pay It Forward that actually occurred during our Two Years and Counting.... Annual meeting. We saw it develop in front of our eyes.

I was thrilled that everyone was able to get a free copy of Abby's book. And I soon will have a cell phone. This is the story of NhN and as we continue to grow and expand we are seeing more and more of these situations occur. As i have said many times you need to have your antenna up as you never know where the Pay It Forward will happen. Many times these occur without being recognized or acknowledge,  Hopefully this program will be fun and increase all our awareness of the great things that happen around us.


1.25.13 - at NhN second Annual Meeting
Abby Gilbert Kohut · Today my friend John Fugazzie and I were touched by an angel.

John, the founder of Neighbors-helping-Neighbors, invited me to speak at his 2nd anniversary celebration. The last half of my speech was about paying it forward and helping your neighbors who are in need. I decided to set an example for the audience by donating a portion of the proceeds of my book sales to NhN so that John could buy himself a cell phone. He has been without one since he lost his job.

After I finished my speech, someone ran after me and told me that they would buy all of the books so that none of the job seekers would have to pay for them. After we both shed a tear or two, I made the announcement to the group of happy job seekers.

This person has chosen to remain anonymous so I will respect their wishes. This angel taught us the meaning of paying it forward, in a big way and I will never forget them.

1.23.13 - Super Cuts River Edge

So I go into our local Supercuts to get a hair cut so I can look good on Friday in all the photos at the Annual Meeting for NhN.

Jullian of River Edge Supercuts while getting my hair cut I tell her all about NhN. As always everyone is interested in hearing about our great work, when I go to the desk to pay she will not take my money.


​Isle of Man Angel coin