Easterns Blog

For the past month, thousands of Afghans have been fleeing Afghanistan. Some of these refugees are starting a new life here in America with nothing but a Maryland resident named Manizha Aziz has decided to pay it forward and help.

Aziz understood how these families felt since she came to this country as a refugee with her family years ago. She first volunteered with local groups and helped distribute donated items, but soon, refugees reached out to her directly because she spoke Farsi.

They felt comfortable with Aziz because she was once in their shoes. Aziz worked for weeks and had a trailer full of items ready for the families until it was stolen from a parking lot in College Park, Maryland. 

Aziz didn’t let that stop her with the help of family and friends; she started over and began to collect more donations and distribute items needed to families. Many families asked for things like diapers and winter clothes because of the upcoming winter months, and that has been her current goal.  

Heartbroken by what happened to Aziz’s trailer, we wanted to help replace some of the stolen items. Joel Bassam, President of Easterns Automotive Group, told Azizi that the company would be donating to help clear her wish list on Amazon. Manizha was speechless and grateful as she received the check for $2,000.

If you know someone who should be featured on Pay It Forward, you can nominate them by emailing wttgpayitforward@foxtv.com. In your message, be sure to include who they are and why they deserve to be recognized.