Operation Paying it Forward continues to show the Plant City area that any random act of kindness can go a long way.
On June 8, the group announced the Tice family as winners of its Jeep Liberty giveaway and held the reveal event at the OnPoint IT Solutions office that morning. The Tices came thinking they were just getting $300 for groceries, which was bumped up to $500 shortly after they got there, but OPIF president Michelle Valdes brought them back outside for the surprise reveal shortly after they completed some paperwork.
The Tices were chosen from a pool of around 50 families from Plant City, surrounding counties and even outside of Florida, who entered themselves or were nominated by others.
“I wish I had more vehicles,” Valdes said. “My heart broke when I read all the nominations… I was reading these and I was just full of tears because I wish I had more to give away.”
Though the submitted families’ stories were compelling, Valdes said the OPIF board and volunteers voted collectively June 4 to give the independently donated Jeep to the Tices because of their own dedication to helping others in need. This big, blended family is always looking to help the homeless in Plant City and around Tampa Bay and Lakeland by donating blankets and clothes and cooking food for them, whether it’s groups of people or individuals in need. They even shared the OPIF giveaway details on Facebook for others to jump on while nominations were open.
“We’re people who always like to give rather than receive, so it’s different to be the ones receiving something,” Nichol Tice said. “We’re firm believers that what you put out into the universe comes back to you, and we want to teach our children that… it’s just important that we make the world a better place as long as we can while we’re here.”
Their story especially struck home with Valdes, who said Donnie and Nichol Tice’s commitment to service reminded her strongly of her own mother’s.
“You can’t tell from the outside that they struggle, themselves,” Valdes said. “It touched me. It was like my family, growing up. You couldn’t tell that we were struggling and my mom worked two jobs and all these things that happened. But no matter what happened, my mom still made time to go down to Metropolitan Ministries and cook meals several times a week. Just like them, no matter what they’re doing, they make time to go out and pay it forward, also.”
The Jeep was donated independently and Huff Muffler helped with several minor repairs to make sure the SUV was in top shape for its new family.
Valdes and OPIF weren’t done that morning, though. Two days later, they had another vehicle sitting in the parking lot of the Daniel’s Auto Sales branch at 4001 State Road 574 waiting for another family to take home, free of charge thanks in part to an anonymous donor’s handling of the tag and title fees.
When Tina Daniel heard about Levi Delemo, 4, who was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in November 2018, she figured her husband Josue and business partner Elias Fajardo would also be moved. It didn’t take long at all for the group to spring into action and find a vehicle to give to the family through Operation Paying it Forward, which they chose because they admired Valdes’ commitment to service.
“(Josue) didn’t even think about it,” Tina Daniel said. “He just said, ‘Let’s do it.’ I’ve seen the work that Michelle Valdes is doing with Operation Paying it Forward. She’s doing amazing things in the community. We have a common vision in helping families here and I’m sure that we’re going to be more involved here in the future with other families in need.”
Delemo’s family didn’t know what to expect when they got to Daniel’s Auto Sales on Monday afternoon, but they were pleasantly surprised to learn the Ford Escape in the parking lot with a yellow ribbon on the hood was now theirs to keep.
“They called and said they had something for us, and to meet them here,” Thomas Corsi said. “I didn’t know what was going on. It’s gonna help out because the truck that we have, it’s nice but it needs work.”
Operation Paying it Forward is planning its next moves for 2019 and hopes the rest of Plant City will catch the kindness bug. Valdes said the group is currently focused on helping people in Plant City, but hopes it can one day grow in other parts of the Tampa Bay area and beyond to make a difference wherever people need help.
“I will take shoes, I will take clothes, I will take money, whatever,” she said. “When I started the organization it was going to be a shoe-based paying it forward type of deal, but it’s kind of grown from that. I welcome it. I’m willing to do whatever.”