Community Day set for April 26

Earth Day is quickly arriving. In 2024, Earth Day is April 22. The first Earth Day was in 1970 and day has evolved into the largest civic event on earth. Approximately 192 countries participate in efforts to safeguard our planet. This year, the theme is “Planet vs. Plastics.” Check out the various organizations to find a project that interests you.

In New London, the arrival of Earth Day is a reminder to set the date for its own special version. Some time ago, the school district students decided to combine Earth Day with the concept “Pay It Forward.” The students recognized the enormous contribution the community makes toward keeping NLCSD vibrant, relative, and meaningful. On Friday, April 26, staff and teachers will form small groups and respond to requests from community members to help with all kinds of projects to spruce up and clean up properties around town. Simply call the high school and talk to Kim Wagner at 319-367-0500 or email her at kim.wagner@nlcsd.org.

The history surrounding “Pay It Forward” is intriguing. First, a simple definition of “pay it forward.” When someone does something special for you, instead of paying the person back directly, you do something for another person. Most people became familiar with the concept when Catherine Ryan Hyde wrote her novel “Pay It Forward” released in 1999. It then became a major film in 2000. Actually, the concept is ancient. The idea is explored in literature in early Greek comedies, in Benjamin Franklin’s letters and many other philosophical essays.

Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay “Compensation” states “In the order of nature we cannot render benefits to those from whom we receive them, or only seldom. But the benefit we receive must be rendered again, line for line, deed for deed, cent for cent, to somebody.” The meaning is there, but it is not simply stated.

The actual phrase is believed to have been coined in 1916 by Lily Hardy in “Garden of Delight.” In her case, it was limited in scope “you don’t pay love back, you pay it forward.” Robert Heinlein is credited with making the expression popular when he used it in “Between Planets.” The Heinlein Society supports a pay it forward philosophy and is dedicated to teaching it to others. April 28 was organized in 2007 as Pay It Forward day. Some also consider the pay it forward philosophy as a basis for the theoretical economic model called “the gift economy,” where commodities and services are traded without explicit contracts or debts.

New London school district and students simplified and codified these ideas by bringing an annual “Community Day” to their town.

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