BARRY COUNTY, Mich., -- While a lot of people use Facebook to keep up with family and friends, Stephanie Repp is using the site to change strangers' lives for the better.
"That's just who I am. I have to help people," Repp told FOX 17. "One person can make a difference."
Repp, a busy mother of six children working nine part-time jobs, has been known to help the homeless in the community for years. A few months ago, she found a new opportunity to give back while scrolling through her feed on Facebook.
The page is called "Barry County Paying it Forward".
Beverly Pennington, Repp's friend and the creator of the page, explained that it's meant to connect people in need with the resources they don't have.
"If anybody's in need, whether it be a crib, or diapers, or sometimes it's just food, they can go on there and ask," Pennington said. "Just to help them get through
until they get back on their feet."
Repp quickly joined. It didn't take long for her efforts to set her apart from the group's other 2,000 members.
"At first I thought, well, I'll get rid of everything that I don't need to see if I can help people, and then I just wanted to do more," said Repp.
Along with giving away items behind the scenes, she began creating special giveaways on the page, gifting various items like gift cards, busy bags for kids, and even Easter baskets to winners who are selected randomly. Repp uses her time and money to come up with the ideas and items for each giveaway.
"She'll go without to give to others and it just amazes me how she does it," Pennington told FOX 17 News. "She has a big heart. If everybody could do that, that
would be nice. It'd be a better world."
Repp said it's not about the "likes" she will get on her posts, just the smiles she gets when she delivers the items in-person.
"They're just really grateful. I get hugs when I deliver them, just huge smiles," said Repp. "Whenever I have extra, that's where it goes, just to see what I can
create and give away... I wake up every day, making a decision to be happy, be comfortable, be giving... Why not be that way? Your reward is putting a smile on someone else's face."
As the September Pay it Forward Person of the Month, Repp is receiving a $500 prize.
To learn more, or to donate "Barry County Paying it Forward", email Barrycountypayingitforward@gmail.com.
Know someone who should be featured next month? Nominate them here.
Meet Terence Reuben, our August Pay it Forward Person of the Month.