Michael Donovan’s health class helped collect
clothing for the U.S. Veteran’s Center.
A Not-So-Random Act of Kindness
A movie seen at
school turns into a
real-world charity.
By Paul Glasser
T
his fall, students at Carlynton High
School will make their Pay It Forward
project even bigger and better.
At the end of the 2015-16 school year, about
60 freshmen decided to organize a clothing
drive after watching the film “Pay It Forward”
in health class. In the span of a month, they
collected about 200 pounds of clothing, which
was donated to the U.S. Veterans Center on
Baldwick Road. Physical education and health
instructor Michael Donovan helped the
students organize the clothing drive.
“Knowing the response the students got,
it will now become one of my first units and
be held for an entire semester,” Donovan says.
“The project got kids to think about things
outside their lives.”
Sophomore Maclaine Greiner says the “Pay
It Forward” film started off slowly but ended
up being very touching. The film tells the story
of a seventh grade student who does good
deeds for people and asks them to return the
favor by helping others. “It made me want to
go out in the world to make a change,” he says.
“It made us think we wanted to do something
special.”
Sophomore Patrick Carlson agrees and
says that the movie shows that one person can
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make a difference in the world. “One splash can
make a big ripple,” he says.
After watching the film, the students
brainstormed ideas and decided to collect
clothes for the U.S. Veterans Center.
“It just clicked in our brains that there are a
lot of homeless people and people in need in
Pennsylvania,” Maclaine says.
The students divided the project into
different segments and created teams to work
on each part. Maclaine was part of the team
that obtained permission from the high school
principal to complete the project. Patrick helped
create fliers and posted them throughout the
school. The students also sent out a promotional
email throughout the entire school district.
Donovan says he was surprised by how quickly
the students organized themselves.
“I told them, ‘It’s your show — you run it,’”
Donovan says. “It was neat to see all different
groups of kids working together. It was awesome
for me to sit back and let them drive this project.”
“The project
got kids to think
about things
outside their
lives.”
The teams created lists of contact information
so they could stay in touch outside of school
hours. Maclaine says Snapchat and Instagram
were the easiest ways to communicate because
the apps are very popular and most students had
already installed them on their smartphones.
Patrick says leadership and teamwork were the
keys to success.
The students had high expectations because
they had promoted the clothing drive so
heavily, but they received only a few donations
at first. However, as the end of the school year
approached, the donations began to pile up.
They received about 40 large bags of donated
clothes, which Donovan says filled his truck,
including the passenger seat.
“Their jaws dropped at the veterans center,”
he notes.
Patrick says he is pleased with the results. “I
am proud of our whole community and our
class,” he says.
Maclaine agrees but says he hopes the Pay It
Forward project this year will be even bigger and
more successful. “I think we can expand and try
to find more shelters,” he says. “That way we can
spread it throughout the community more.”
Donovan says the clothing drive was
important because it encouraged students to
think outside the box and address real-world
problems, but adds that he learned more from
them than they learned from him during the
project.
“I cannot state how proud I am of them and
how lucky I was this past year to teach them,”
Donovan says. n