One of the lessons we learn in life is to give and take. We should be good to people who are also good to us. After all, the golden rule is about reciprocating. But there’s another rule we should remember in life. It’s a more noble rule that aims to spread goodness around: Pay it forward.
One man in Iowa lived by this rule. He was known for being hardworking and frugal had no family of his own. He had no kids, but in 2019, thirty-three strangers gathered together and called themselves his children.
Dale Schroeder passed away in 2005. That’s more than a decade ago, and when that happened, the man didn’t have anyone to mourn him.
He never married, and he had no kids. Dale’s friend and attorney, Steve Nielsen, had this to say about him:
“[He] went to work every day, worked really hard, was frugal like a lot of Iowans…. He had church jeans and work jeans.”
According to Steve, Dale lived a simple life. He worked as a carpenter for sixty-seven years in the same company in Des Moines, Iowa. One day, he walked into Steve’s office and said he wanted to help other people go to college, using his savings.
“He wanted to help kids that were like him, that probably wouldn’t have an opportunity to go to college but for his gift.”
Steve always knew Dale was a kind man who didn’t spend much on himself, but when he asked his friend how much money they were talking about, he nearly fell off his chair. Dale had amassed over $3 million.
So, Steve did as Dale asked. He used his friend’s savings to fund the college education of young Iowans. In the fourteen years that Dale’s savings had funded college education, many of those Iowans are now doctors, teachers, and medical personnel.
Recently, one of them was Kira Conard who wanted to be therapist. She had the grades and the desire to do it, but her family could not afford to send her to college, and getting a loan would be hard on her single-parent household.
But then she got a call from Steve. When she heard that her college dreams would become real, she burst into tears. In an interview with a local station, Kira said:
“For a man that would never meet me…to give me, basically, a full ride to college…. That’s incredible. That doesn’t happen.”
Kira was not the only one who felt that way, though. Dale’s savings just about ran out in 2019, after helping thirty-three strangers get a college education without any loans.
So, in July, all the people Dale helped with his savings gathered to commemorate his legacy. There was never any condition to Dale’s help–except one according to Steve:
“All he asked was that you pay it forward. You can’t pay it back ’cause Dale’s gone. But you can remember him, and you can emulate him.”
At the gathering, all the people Dale’s money helped called themselves his “kids,” a touching gesture, considering the man never had children.
But the thirty-three strangers he helped vowed to uphold Dale’s legacy. Some of them promised to use the knowledge and position they now had to help others in need–to pay it forward indeed.
Many people were inspired by Dale’s generosity. One can only hope that this inspiration will spur others into action. There’s no easier way in spreading kindness than paying it forward–especially to other strangers.
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