This week’s Pay it Forward is in Hummelstown, Dauphin County, where a chance meeting between two strangers inspired one to help the other.
Cristina Jimenez is packing up for a big move and she’s also getting rid of a lot of things.
She recently put up an ad on Craigslist to see if there were any takers, and one of the responses came from John Hill.
“It just happened to be that I contacted him and not somebody else, and asked him to come and pick up these things,” she said. “He came in and he was just an incredible guy from the beginning.”
Hill told Jimenez he goes around collecting scrap and other items people don’t want, to sell them to help support his family. Jimenez noticed Hill was having trouble hearing her and learned that he uses hearing aids in both ears.
“He said well, ‘I would really like to get some new ones, but he said they’re more than 700 dollars and I can’t afford them,'” she said. “So after I had given him the things, I said, ‘I wish I had something more to give him.'”
Jimenez then thought of FOX43’s “Pay it Forward,” where a deserving person is surprised with $200. Jimenez called Hill to tell him she had more things for him to pick up.
Little did he know, it would include $200.
“I just wanted to give you something because last time when you came, I just thought you were an awesome person and so I just wanted to surprise you, so surprise!” Jimenez told Hill when he showed up at her house. “They’re giving you 200 dollars.”
Hill was stunned.
“Totally surprised. Nothing that I would ever expect to happen to me,” Hill said.
Before packing up his van to hit the road, Hill just couldn’t believe the generosity of a stranger he met through Craigslist.
“She was great for everything she did for me,” he said. “It just couldn’t have come at a better time.”
Hill has four kids between the ages of 13 and two. Two of his children have special needs. He said he’s looking forward to paying off some bills.