Sierra Coastal District’s Granada Hills Letter Carrier Kevin Wonten wanted to pay it forward to his long-time friend and co-worker Frank Betancourt.
While Wonten was shopping with his wife on his off day, he spotted KABC TV7 Personality Elex Michaelson, host of the news segment Pay It Forward.
“My wife and I were in the parking lot of Target at the same time Michaelson showed up, so he came up to us and asked if we knew anybody that deserved to get $500 as part of their Pay It Forward campaign? The only catch is that is that it had to be someone other than us. My wife immediately said Frank, and I wholeheartedly agreed,” said Wonten.
Wonten next called his station to see if Betancourt was working. Indeed he was. Wonten drove to Betancourt’s route with KABC TV7 in tow.
When they reached Betancourt, he was diligently delivering mail when he was happily ambushed by Wonten, Wonten’s wife and Michaelson.
Wonten spoke first. “You always think of everybody, your daughter (who has cerebral palsy), your family, all of us at work, people on your route,” Wonten said. “You just care so much, so we wanted to pay this forward to you because of all the love that you give to everybody else.”
When asked how it felt to receive this $500 gift from his co-worker, Betancourt was speechless and became emotional when he finally spoke about what paying it forward meant to him.
“Life hands you what it hands you. You have to make what you can of it, that’s all. It’s rough, it’s tough, but you got to keep going, you can’t give up,” he said, tearing up. “I’m grateful for friends like Kevin, my family, KABC TV and the Postal Service.”
