Pay It Forward Movement News

Contents of Dickinson State Alumni News Vol: 48 - Iss: 4

Pay It Forward Challenge

Last fall an anonymous donor issued a challenge to the alumni and friends of Dickinson State University to help establish the Dickinson State University Pay It Forward Scholarship fund. Inspired by the movie, “Pay It Forward,” the donor believes that he has a personal responsibility to inspire young students to realize that they can change the world one favor at a time and wants to provide them with opportunities to do so.

The philanthropist has pledged $5,500 a year to the fund that will be matched by his employer dollar for dollar. He wants to entice other alumni and friends to provide a total of matching gifts of $32,000 during the next three years to create an endowed scholarship fund totaling at least $66,000. Dickinson State University alumni and friends have raised over $11,000 thus far. Thanks to the support of Clarence and Marcella Storseth, Dickinson, N.D. and Audrey (Diede) ’63 and James Williamson, Littleton Colo., part of the challenge has been met. The Storseth family gifted appreciated stock while the Williamson family gifted an entire life insurance policy that had a principal balance.

“These two families have made a difference in the lives of Dickinson State students and encourage other alumni and friends to help meet the challenge of the Pay It Forward Scholarship,” said Kevin J. Thompson, Foundation executive director. In order to meet the challenge, $22,000 needs to be raised in the next two years. The goal of the endowment fund is to provide an annual scholarship for deserving students in the Department of Teacher Education. Recipients of the scholarship, who will receive $3,300 when the endowment is fully funded, are required to “pay it forward” with gifts, good deeds or volunteerism.

The movie, “Pay It Forward,” tells the story of one young boy, Trevor McKinney, who made a big difference in the lives of many. When the seventh-grader is given a social studies assignment to think of a way to change the world, he takes the assignment to heart and devises the “pay it forward” idea.

McKinney explains his idea as “doing something for somebody they can’t do themselves. You just have to do that three times and the people you help each do it three times, then it gets bigger. It goes from three to nine to 27 and on and on.”

The “pay it forward” movement has swept the nation, touching the lives of many and inspiring others to do good deeds. The movement can also sweep through Dickinson State University with the help of donors to contribute to the fund so the challenge can be met. If you are interested in the chance to “pay it forward” or would like more information about the Dickinson State University Pay It Forward Scholarship, please contact the Office of Alumni & Foundation at (701) 483-2004.

9/21/2006 1:18:33 PM