HAY RIVER - When Michele Stephens first saw the movie 'Pay It Forward' - basically about paying back favours by helping someone else – it summed up what she tries to do in her life.

Michele Stephens, a well-known volunteer in Hay River, is currently doing an online course on children's mental health. - Paul Bickford/NNSL photo

Before she saw the film, which was released in 2000, Stephens called what she does 'pay ahead' or 'pass it on,' but she likes the term pay it forward.

"People need to just get involved," she said. "It doesn't matter what you do, but you need to do something because pay it forward is a lifestyle. It really, truly is a lifestyle that's not going to fail you."

Stephens, 50, said she doesn't try to help people with the thought she's going to get help in return, but that has often happened, especially when she was sick about five years ago.

The help and concern came from many people, she said. "It was really, truly amazing and I never ever did all those things all those years hoping someday it would come back to me."

Stephens, an Ontario native who has lived in Hay River for about 18 years, is often seen helping out around town, particularly in ways that will benefit children.

"It takes a whole community to raise a child ... People need to take on that thinking," she said. "It doesn't matter if you don't have children. If you're a member of the community, you need to be part of the decision-making. Don't hope other people are going to make the right choices."

Among other things she volunteers at schools and with minor hockey.

"Minor hockey is a two-word huge commitment," she noted. "I have three kids in hockey this year."

One of the ways she helps minor hockey is through a recycling program, which collects cans and bottles. For the last year, she has looked after a collection bin outside a convenience store.

"That's my pet project," she said, adding she removes two jumbo bags of recyclable cans and bottles from the bin every eight or nine days.

She is also a member of the Hay River Alcohol and Drug Strategy and was a member of a crime prevention committee, which is no longer in existence.

She is currently taking an online course in children's mental health from Mount Royal University in Calgary.

"I seem to deal with children with high needs and a lot of it I just kind of figured out on my own, but I think it's time to learn more," she said. "It's time to understand a little more."

She once worked as a special needs assistant, but decided seven years ago to concentrate on raising an adopted son. She hopes to someday return to work as a special needs assistant.

She now works as a substitute teacher.

Along with her adopted child, she has two grown children of her own and two stepchildren, and three foster children.

She is now trying to organize an association for foster parents in Hay River, and hopes a meeting will be held before the end of the month.

Stephens said, if she goes about doing something for the community or her family, she puts her best effort into it.

"It's full steam ahead," she said. "That's the way I do everything. There's no point in doing a job halfway. If you're going to do it, do it the right way."

We welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.