Barrie's Pay It Forward champion Frank Nelson is close to fulfilling his now famous bucket list and plans to wrap it up with a song.
The 59-year old cancer survivor wrote the lyrics to a tune while visiting his baby granddaughter in San Diego.
He won an auction to create a song from a local producer and the tune is now in development with possible release by end of March or April.
"It reflects all my experiences over the last 22 months and some of my personal thoughts on hope and helping people out," Nelson said as he revealed this last bucket list item. "I think it really reflects what I've seen and I'm really, really excited about that."
The past 22 months have been transformative for the former corporate executive, who was told in October 2013 that he had less than a year to live after a previous bout with cancer returned as incurable.
He retired from a 30-year career and wondered what he was going to do with his life while having regular rounds of chemotherapy to keep the cancer at bay.
Nelson started watching talk shows and was inspired by Ellen Degeneres.
"When I saw what she did for people, bringing them out, surprising them, helping them get through a very tough time. I thought my god she's got the best job in the world. I said gee I can't do what she does but maybe I can do a mini version."
And that's when he decided he wanted to give a $1,000 to a stranger who was going through a tough time.
His daughter posted the idea on Facebook and it took off like gangbusters.
In the first two weeks Nelson had 38 submissions for the $1,000 and 500 Facebook members.
Nearly two years later, 40 families have received a $1,000 Pay It Forward cheque and there are almost 11,000 Facebook members.
There have been all kinds of other giveaways like wheelchairs to people who need them, grocery shopping sprees, and Nelson's 12 delivery days of Christmas where he sent presents to families from Edmonton to Halifax.
"It's been a pure delight," said a beaming Nelson. "Nobody's gained any more out of this than I have. I honestly believe doing all this and getting excited everyday about what's next really has prolonged my life. There's no question."
Nelson's biggest vision yet began to unfold recently with the Community Give & Get in Barrie, a hub where people can donate gently used items which are then offered for free to people in need.
"There's nothing magic in it. There's nothing special in it other than the fact its really easy. Drop off stuff you're never gonna use again. Pick up stuff you might need. Save some money, have a coffee, meet somebody new in the community centre."
Nelson had already enlisted corporate sponsors to help with giveaways and now he's tapped more companies to support the Give & Get.
The temporary facility is phase one of Nelson's vision but in typical tradition, he has a bigger plan to help more people in more places in even more meaningful ways.
"Phase two is additional resources to help low income families," Nelson explained. "My vision is much more than just stay open. Hopefully we can grow it. Learn from the business model and build a prototype that we can build in other communities. I'd love to see a give and get in Orillia, Newmarket, in many communities."
In addition to the song, another "final-final" item on Nelson's bucket list is a website, coming soon, which will tell his story.
"Those are the two kind of final-final things that I'm looking forward to doing," Nelson said and laughs when asked if this is really it.
He says his wife doesn't believe him.
"Certainly I drive her crazy about this stuff," smiled Nelson. "She's been such a tremendous support for me and a rock for me in the rough battle I've had. I'm not saying there aren't tough days. There really are days after chemo treatment or just having a bad day, all of us cancer survivors we go through that but on the good days if you can make it the best you can be, it really makes up for all those days. "
Nelson never thought he'd see his 60th birthday but he's looking forward to celebrating it in June.
He concedes if something touches his heart, he might make his bucket list even longer and take up the cause.
Having gone from the privileged, hectic life of a successful businessman to fighting cancer on a fixed income, Nelson has great empathy for the less fortunate.
"I'm just a regular guy who sees people struggling. I've done very well in business but in the blink of an eye that can all change," Nelson said. "Fulfilling my bucket list has given me more pleasure than the whole 30 years of business."
