Pay It Forward Movement

Students can go shopping at Jennie F. Snapp Middle School.

But their money is no good.

Only a good deed will settle the bill.

Check out the inspiration behind the Tiger Shop.

'Come and stop at the Tiger Shop... Where everything is bought by paying it forward.'

That's the slogan for this tiny store with an enormous vision...

Sparking a chain reaction of kindness.

"It feels good to do good, it feels good to help people and to give students the opportunity to experience that feeling," says guidance counselor Heather Esposito.

Esposito says a third of the students at Jennie F Snapp Middle School live at or below poverty level.

That's the driving force behind The Tiger Shop.

Businesswoman Connie Gault donated 5 thousand dollars to the project in memory of her mother.

That money helped pay for brand new undergarments and all kinds of hygiene items....

The store is also filled with donations.

"Girls shirts and then boys shirts"

When a student picks out items, their receipt is this card which reminds them, they need to do a good deed for someone else.

"They can give the card to the person they do the kind thing for to have them pay it forward to someone else," says Esposito.

A log book keeps track of what students buy and how they pay for it, like one girl who let mom nap while she watched her sister.

The Tiger Shop also comes in handy for kids like Taylor Fehr who had to walk to school in the pouring rain.

Taylor paid for her dry shirt by carrying groceries for an elderly neighbor.

"He was like thank you! Thank you so much and I was like I gave him the card and he was, I was like Pass it on and he said, I'll try to do that," says Fehr.

Although it officially opened on Monday, the shop sold about a dozen items in February.

Spreading the seeds of a dozen good deeds.

Esposito says the Gault's original donation will keep the Tiger Shop open for at least 5 years.

If you'd like to donate to the store call Jennie F Snapp at 757-2889.

Esposito says she hopes the idea will expand to other schools in the Union Endicott District.