CHCS launches Pay It Forward Fund

Community Health and Counseling Services has officially launched the Christopher Paul Pickering Pay It Forward fund. This fund is used to support individuals involved with CHCS who face an immediate and urgent need. The gifting of resources to address an urgent need is not the only goal of the program.

The fund is used to help others at their time of need. It is not a loan or a handout. It is the first step in the process of overcoming a challenge through an act of kindness. Recipients of the CHCS Pay It Forward funds are encouraged to share their unique resources, skills, and caring when an opportunity arises to help someone else. It is through this action that the spirit of Pay It Forward is realized and the ultimate reward is found in the giving to someone else.

The fund has been named to honor the life of Christopher Paul Pickering. The philosophical tenet of Pay It Forward is the recognition of our ability to help someone else. Christopher lived with a serious brain disorder that impacted but did not define him as a person. Authentic people like Christopher change people’s lives because of their willingness to give to someone else with no expectation of the gift being returned. One simple way of paying forward the legacy of Christopher is to recognize that brain disorders are health conditions. Stigma can be replaced with understanding if we are open to learning.

You can learn more and contribute to the Christopher Paul Pickering Pay It Forward fund at https://www.chcs-me.org/chris-pickering-pay-it-forward-fund/.

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Community Health and Counseling Services is a private, nonprofit agency serving northern, eastern, and central Maine.