RANDOM ACTS OF By Melissa Walsh Photo Yanni
I
t was the 2000 American romantic drama film 'Pay It Forward' that started a world-wide phenomenon, and caught the attention of local woman, Jeannie Matthews, who started a Facebook site of the same name for the Mornington Peninsula. The mother of seven and grandmother to twenty-three had always been a battler and knew only too well the importance of the kindness of strangers. “I would drive along the road and see perfectly good couches or tables on the nature strip, just being thrown out for hard rubbish, and it broke my heart,” said Jeannie, who had raised her children alone. “I remember thinking how much I would love a couch like that.” For Jeannie, the film with Kevin Spacey and Helen Hunt left an impact although she admits that she had always been a “bit of a closet greenie”.
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42 | PENINSULA
July 2019
“I always hated seeing waste and had grown my own vegetables as much as I could. I was born in London just after the war and came from a background of women who were extremely good at making do. My mum and nana would make paint out of flowers and always found a way to get around not having much money,” said Jeannie. “I guess that’s why it bothered me when I saw things being discarded. Nothing was ever wasted in our house and I felt there must be a way to reuse the discards.” For the past eight years, Jeannie has made a massive difference to the local community through her Facebook page Pay it Forward – Southern Mornington Peninsula. “I started the Facebook site and, before I knew it, we had 5000 people,” said Jeannie, who ran it alone for the first two years. “I had no idea how much work it would be but I was well aware of the amount of people in need. I am proud of the fact we have changed