A local man’s idea of a random act of kindness, pay it forward movement, has taken over the community and will help not only one, but many families who may be in need.
Jamie Worman, tired of negativity and selfishness, decided to purchase a child’s bike from the Drumheller Canadian Tire.
Upon purchasing, Worman wrote a blog and posted a photo on his personal social media page about how he wanted to help a local family in need who might be going through a rough time, need a pick-me-up or might not be able to afford a bike for their child.
In his post from August 9, he said, “this is souly an act of random kindness with the hope that it may lead to a snow ball effect and if only for a day, stop all the hate, negativity, drama and selfishness.”
“I went to Walmart to get a bag of chips and saw that they were having a blowout sale on toys,” he explained.
“I looked at the bikes and there wasn’t anything I liked there, so I went to Canadian Tire and saw the Flames one and I figured why not? There is no real rhyme or reason behind it.”
In his post on social media he explained that people could send him a message if they knew of a family who should be nominated for the bike mentioning that he plans to keep the entire thing confidential. He further explained that on Tuesday, August 18 he would put all the names he received into a hat, and would randomly pick one.
This simple act of kindness has taken over Drumheller and this single bike purchased just a few days ago, has turned into a long list of items that have been donated. They come from as far as Calgary, Red Deer and Edmonton for families in need.
As of press time, Worman had received about 50 names that have been nominated or that have nominated themselves to be selected from. He said not all of the families are local, some reaching as far as Edmonton.
“It is pretty insane the momentum this has gotten,” Worman told inSide Drumheller.
He said he “absolutely did not” expect this to become what it has.
“I had no intention of this blowing up the way it did, I just wanted to do something nice.”
“It seems like every hour I am getting more and more stuff. I have had another half a dozen people who have said they want to come see me. They don’t know what they are going to do yet but they definitely want to do something. It is pretty crazy,” he said.
After the amount of donations and support Worman has received he said, “it really kind of regains your faith in humanity.”
“It is absolutely incredible the support that I have been shown. I knew there would be some people supporting it in the Valley because it is a tight-knit group. I have never doubted people in this town for that reason, but I have had people from Sedgewick, Red Deer, Edmonton, Calgary that are all willing to drive down and bring me things for people they don’t even know.”
He continued by saying that his social media notifications have been going off like crazy but that is a problem he is more than happy to have right now.
As of Thursday morning, some of the items that have been donated include: nine additional bikes, five bike helmets, a 1 hour professional massage, an Organo Gold Coffee Basket, a $100 gift certificate to Pane Management Window cleaning, a $75 bouquet of flowers from RJ Flowers, a $200 gift certificate to Blunt Beauty in Calgary for a beauty makeover, three kids backpacks full of back to school supplies, $100 worth of gift certificates to Mohave Grill in Red Deer, a razor scooter with a $25 gift certificate to buy a helmet, a family thermal tote, a professional photography session for a family, 10 gift cards for Walmart, two gift cards for Extra Foods, three gift cards for Freson Bros., two gift cards for Co-op all in various amounts per store, $20 in gift certificates for Tim Hortons, a $25 gift certificate for Boston Pizza and for Yavis’ Family Restaurant, one evening each for three families of babysitting, as well as two paid in full entrances to the East Central Hockey School in Settler.
Worman said the hockey school donations will be drawn before Tuesday, because the school begins on Monday.
Worman will be unavailable over the weekend but his friend and co-worker Scott Schinnour will be happy to accept any donations that anyone would like to provide. He can be reached at Drumheller Chrysler Friday until 5 p.m., Saturday until 4 p.m. and Monday until 5 p.m.
“I can’t explain how incredible this makes me feel,” Worman said in an updated social media post on Wednesday. “Life is full of ups and downs and uncertainty, but the compassion you have all shown will suddenly make those grey clouds clear and the sun will shine for some very deserving families. I can’t say thank you enough.”
