Recently, the nonprofit helped Gina Damiano acquire a motorized scooter after knee surgery limited her mobility. In return, the Trenton woman organized a summer crafts program for youngsters in her building at Rowan Towers.
Carol Feldman of Lawrence is a strong believer in chain reactions. She and her charitable organization, Shine and Inspire, have seen the phenomenon in practice too many times not to be.
Recently, the nonprofit helped Gina Damiano acquire a motorized scooter after knee surgery limited her mobility. In return, the Trenton woman organized a summer crafts program for youngsters in her building at Rowan Towers.
Who knows what those children are likely to accomplish down the line? Damiano and Feldman have every reason to believe it will be something that will benefit others.
The notion of "pay it forward" is written into the DNA of Shine and Inspire's application process. It requires that those asking for something - help with college tuition, say, or a house alteration for an ailing child - describe how they in turn will give back to the community.
"We can make a bathroom handicapped accessible, or we can give a beauty and wardrobe makeover to a mom re-entering the workforce," Feldman says on the organization's website.
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Areas businesses and members of the community supply the materials and the expertise to make the gifts possible.
Feldman is always on the lookout for contractors, painters, hairdressers, career coaches, Realtors - anyone who can help the 501c3 charity fulfill its mission of making life easier for someone who needs a little break.
But it's what happens afterward that sets Shine and Inspire apart.
That college student who needed a hand paying her tuition? She went on to tutor special-needs kids at her alma mater. A single mom who was sleeping on an air mattress and a married mom looking to rent an apartment to reunite her family? They're volunteering at the Trenton Crisis Ministry.
An elegant geometry is at work here.
Helping people not just by offering them a handout but also by urging them to help the next person down the line fosters a sense of community and interconnectedness.
"I wanted my nonprofit to not just be about us giving, but about empowering the people we give to by encouraging them to also give something," founder Feldman says. "If we help you to shine, what will that inspire you to do?"
For Trenton's Damiano, it was creating art projects for some 40 children from 2 to 14, paying for the supplies out of her own pocket and hosting a tie-dye T-shirt party for them at the end of the seven-week program.
It's not about paying back. It's about paying forward - and it's a commendable model for what public service can look like.