2015 Casino Night 10th Anniversary. February 6, 2015 @ 5:30 pm - 11:00 pm. Event Navigation. Under the festive theme of Venice Carnival, the student-run Challenge for Charity’s annual C4C Casino Night raised more than $20,000 for its selected charities, Special Olympics, Junior Achievement and Project ECHO. It’s a record for C4C’s biggest social event of the year, which raised $9,000 last year and clearly exceeded.
The Pay It Forward Foundation is a 501(c)(3) Non-Profit Organization, established in September of 2000, by Catherine Ryan Hyde, author of the 1999 novel, Pay It Forward. The next year brought the success of the motion picture Pay It Forward, which starred Helen Hunt, the adorable Haley Joel Osment and even Jon Bon Jovi.
The philosophy of Pay It Forward is that through acts of kindness among strangers, we all foster a more caring society. In the book, Reuben St. Clair, a social studies teacher in Atascadero, California, challenges his students to 'Change the world'. That's something we would all like to do, right? What if we could change the world, even in some small way? One of the students in the class is Trevor, who takes the challenge to heart. As he goes about his day, he wonders what he could do, just a twelve year old student, to change the world. He starts by showing kindness to a stranger, and from there, moves on to the next person he can help.
We want you to know about the Pay It Forward Foundation, and our work.
The Pay It Forward Foundation was established in 2000, as a catalyst to inspire growth for the Pay It Forward philosophy, acts of kindness among strangers, generating a ripple effect from one person to the next, one community to the next.
Following the success of her book, Pay It Forward, author Catherine Ryan Hyde established the Pay It Forward Foundation. Over the seventeen year history the Foundation has inspired countless acts of kindness and served to inspire people all over the world to make the philosophy part of their lives. As the Foundation grew and new and younger generations sought to learn and get involved in the movement, the publication of the Young Readers Edition of Pay It Forward was written which has come to be a special resource for teachers and other educators to use as a teaching tool for classes. The shared learning experience has motivated parents and students to participate in community service programs as well as raising money to further support kind acts of the Foundation as well as other kind organizations.
As we work to spread acts of kindness around the world we seek innovative ways to introduce new generations to the concept and to share the countless uplifting stories. So in addition to our expanding our book program and support of individuals, families and like-minded organizations we are now fundraising to bring an exciting new coin program. These unique coins will greatly increase the rate of kind acts globally and make those stories known to many many more through social media and other electronic communications. More news to come on it very soon. We thank you for your support!!
Learn more about the Book Partnership here.
We seek to perform and support acts of kindness to people, to animal welfare and to the environment to be compassionate to all sharing the planet.
We hope you will register to Be Involved.
We hope you will make a gift to support the movement.
We hope you will Pay It Forward.
What about other Pay it Forward groups? Please know that we are the original and official Pay It Forward group.
We are excited that people across the US and around the world have been motivated to launch their own pay it forward programs. To say that our founder 'wrote the book on this' is accurate. Catherine Ryan Hyde, wrote the novel, and was so moved by the reaction that she established a charitable foundation to help grow the philosophy.
We appreciate and respect others who represent the movement well. We ask that our logo and name not be used without permission. We hold trademarks on the name Pay It Forward Foundation and the logo you see above. Thank you for respecting the work we have put into defining this image.
Please know:
The Pay It Forward Foundation is not designed to be an urgent need response organization. We wish we could be. At the same time, organizations such as the United Way, local places of worship and other community organizations are better equipped to respond to urgent needs.
In the future, we will be partnering with organizations who CAN respond quickly to urgent needs. Watch this space for updates. In the mean time, these groups might be helpful:
This post may contain affiliate links. That means if you click and buy, I may receive a small commission at no cost to you. Please see my full disclosure.
Do you need to raise money?
For your school or for extracurricular activities? Or maybe you want to raise money for charity.
This past weekend I helped my son’s Cub group do some fundraising for much needed camping tents. Taking 6 young people around to collect bottles makes for an interesting day.
Going door to door fundraising taught the boys about work, entrepreneurial spirit and the need of funds to buy things. They encountered positives and negatives in their journey but they all handled it with manners and acceptance. I was very proud of their fundraising efforts.
Fundraising tips and tricks
Organization and planning is a must. The better the planning and organization the more profitable the activity. Simply putting out a jar with a note saying “I’m raising money” is not going to work.
Set your time, place and plan in motion. How much money do you need to raise? What are you doing with that money – what is your goal? What type of fundraising would best suit your group and your goal?
Figure out how much time you have to set your plan in motion? Are you doing this as a group or as an individual? Set some rules and guidelines. Store the funds raised in a responsible place.
Be aware that some people are just not financially able to support your fundraising events. Pay it forward. Have grace and be kind. Say thank you.
Below you will find a list of 50 fun and easy fundraising ideas you can use for your school fundraising, group fundraising or charity fundraising.
50 Fun & Easy Fundraising Ideas:
Craft sale
Bake sale
Christmas cookie jar sale
Donut sale
Garage sale
Bottle drive
Flower sale
Spring carnival
Dinner fundraiser
Sports game fundraiser
Charity ball
Prize draw
Movie night
Art in the park
Selling popcorn
Selling wrapping paper
Selling pastries
Crowdfunding
Charity auctions
Holiday wrapping events
Community cookbooks
Golf tournaments
Walk/Run events
Charity picnic
Chili cook off
Car wash
Charity calendar
Coin drive
Christmas tree collection & mulch
Lunch and learn
Jeans day
Fitness challenge
Ice cream social
Photo contest
Book sale
Charity concert
Sport-a-thon
Burger and beverage night
Casino night
Holiday pictures fundraiser
Santa Breakfast
Scavenger hunt
Fantasy football
BBQ cook off
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make it unique
The 50 ideas above are just the tip of the list. What are you raising money for? Could you create a unique fundraising idea around your reason.
For example my son’s group is raising money for camping supplies. They could always approach a local camping supply vendor and see if they could donate some camping supplies to raffle off. I could tell you right now I know 40 people who would buy those raffle tickets no matter the price – simply because it’s camping gear and raising money for kids camp.
The same goes for most things. I am sure you know people who would support an arts fundraiser or a cooking fundraiser. The key is to relate to your audience. Show them the benefit of the fundraiser. What are they gaining and what is the group gaining.
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Spread the word. More voices make for a louder audience. More voices means your fundraising idea travels farther and raises more funds. Get out, have fun, organize, raise funds and support.