City Commissioner Pamela Smith-Wright’s annual Pay It Forward campaign kicked off this week and will run through Aug. 17. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, she has added one request: wear face coverings to prevent the potential spread of the virus to those with compromised immune systems.
Smith-Wright started the Pay It Forward campaign in 2011 with former Mayor Ron Payne, and the idea behind the event contains a simple yet important message that “asks citizens to do something nice for someone else during these two weeks.”
Smith-Wright said there are a lot of Owensboro residents in need of a lift-up they don’t often get. Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has left the elderly, homeless and low-income families most vulnerable, doing something nice for someone else means more than ever, she said.
“This isn’t something that takes money to accomplish,” Smith-Wright said. “It’s as simple as mowing your neighbor’s yard. It’s as simple as helping someone elderly cross the street.”
And though there are a lot of healthy people in the community who might not feel the need to wear a mask, Smith-Wright said wearing one is a great way to show care for others.
“If you’re healthy, that’s fine, but there are a lot of people in our community who aren’t healthy,” she said. “It’s just the right thing to do, so I would ask you to please wear your mask. That would be paying it forward for everyone.”
Smith-Wright said offering to pick up someone’s groceries, or even stopping in to check on them and see what they need, would be a great way to pay it forward during these trying times.
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