For the second year in a row, Kentucky State University spearheads the Pay It Forward Frankfort campaign.  KSU President Raymond Burse was presented with a proclamation from Frankfort Mayor Bill May on Thursday, on the steps of Hume Hall, marking the kick-off day of the 100 days of giving in the 2nd Annual Pay It Forward Frankfort project, which initially started from a class project (read more HERE).

The goal of the Pay It Forward Frankfort campaign is to promote community spirit through acts of kindness and encourage people to do good deeds for others in need.  The concept is simple.  That, as a whole community, we can make a difference by creating positive changes in both our community and in our world, one good deed at a time.  KSU, the City of Frankfort, and Franklin County will work as partners to promote 100 continuous days of unsolicited acts of kindness.  From something as volunteering at the local soup kitchen, to monetary donations through their “Give 9” campaign.  The “Give 9” Campaign urges supporters to donate $9, $19, $90, $900 — or any amount that includes the number 9 — “out of love and respect” for President Raymond Burse’s decision in the Fall of 2014 to donate $90,000 of his salary to raise wages for the school’s lowest paid workers.  A decision which made national headlines last year.

The origins of the Pay It Forward Frankfort Campaign actually stem from one professor on the KSU campus, Dr. Shannon Brogan.  An Associate Professor of Speech Communication, Brogan began a class project in April of 2014 in her Persuasive Speaking Class.  The class watched the movie “Pay It Forward” in order to “look for persuasive techniques in the movie”.  Shannon suggested that they all get ribbons that represented themselves and, as they do random acts of kindness for others on campus, give a ribbon to the recipient of the act.  Although the ribbon idea did not really take off, the students did embrace the idea of paying it forward towards others in the form of outreaching into the Frankfort community and building better, stronger relationships.  The idea snowballed and bled into the Frankfort community when Shannon relayed the story to her hairdresser during a hair stylist visit, about how her kids embraced the random acts of kindness and the concept of paying it forward.  In turn, the hairdresser felt the urge to partially pay for her styling during that visit.  When Shannon found out, she was so touched that she realized that the pay it forward project that her students had embraced, could reach even further than beyond Kentucky State’s boundaries.  She and Irma Johnson, with the Office of Regional Stewardship at KSU, came up with the Pay It Forward Frankfort campaign.  And in the Fall of 2014, KSU started a movement with the 100 days of giving in the Pay It Forward Frankfort campaign.

KSU is utilizing social media platforms to reach out into the surrounding community and beyond.  Please help us by giving a “LIKE” to their Pay It Forward Facebook Page, JOINING their Pay It Forward Frankfort 2015 Facebook Group, and by using the hashtag #PayItFwdFrankfort2015 whenever you do a random act of kindness.  Please feel free to share your stories and even ideas to either the group or the page.  These stories, posts and images will be shared at the end of the 100 days of giving at a banquet in December.

Together Frankfort, we can make a difference!

#PAYITFWDFRANKFORT2015

Check out the Lex 18 Coverage HERE