#ShovelItForward: Kindness crossing borders?
In a show of winter warmth, young people as far as Connecticut and Canada are turning the hashtag into action by helping others clear their driveways of snow.
In a show of winter warmth, young people as far as Connecticut and Canada are turning the hashtag into action by helping others clear their driveways of snow.
For the sick and the elderly, shoveling snow is not just a drag 鈥� it can be downright dangerous.
A social media campaign that first popped up in the Midwest is hoping to help ease that burden by calling on able-bodied people everywhere to grab their shovels and dig out their neighbors鈥� walks.
#ShovelItForward has now gone viral. In Connecticut, local teens Josh Elphick and Nico Bartelli offered to shovel a foot of snow from a neighbor鈥檚 walk so that her heating oil could be delivered, ABC affiliate聽WTNH-TV in New Haven reported.
鈥淚t puts a smile on my face, so I enjoy it,鈥� Mr. Bartelli told WTNH. 鈥淚 try to do what I can from time to time.鈥�
In Canada, auto retail company Canadian Tire has taken the hashtag to a new level with a dedicated website聽that includes an interactive map and聽infographics about shoveling safety.
#ShovelItForward began when local firefighters in Greenfield, Wis. were called in Sunday to take an elderly man to the hospital after he suffered what the fire department described as a聽cardiac emergency while trying to clear his driveway, NBC reported.
Their task done, the firefighters went back to the man鈥檚 home and finished his shoveling for him. One neighbor snapped a photo, which has since received more than 23,000 likes on the Greenfield Fire Department's Facebook page.
鈥淎nyone can make a difference,鈥� Greenfield fire chief John Cohn told CBS News.
The trend, if it continues to stick, could prove a relief to a lot of senior homeowners: The barrage of snow that began at the end of January is expected to last well into next week in the Midwest, New England, and upstate New York, according to The Weather Channel.