PAYSON, Ariz. -- Jo Freeman uses two words to describe her friend Arlene Stastny: “elfkin” and “angel.”

She calls her “elfkin” because Stastny, 82, stands just 5 feet tall with extremely short, white pixie hair, Freeman said.

She calls her "angel," Freeman said, “because she is an angel.”

According to Freeman, Stastny is “always giving, never asking for anything in return.”

That includes offering rides to the Phoenix International Airport for her fellow senior citizens living in Payson, Ariz.

It also includes supervising a church effort to pick up litter along State Route 87 in Payson. One Saturday during each month, a group -- led by Stastny -- picks up trash along the side of the road.

Those are just two of the things that Freeman said Stastny does to help her community. For example, according to the letter Freeman wrote us, “when a church member or friend is ill, you can count on a very specially-selected greeting card to be in the mail (from Arlene).”

Because of all of these things, Freeman asked to pay it forward to Stastny. Earlier this week, CBS 5 News gave Freeman $500, which she then gave to Stastny.

“This is very unexpected. I don’t have a clue,” Stastny said, after receiving the money. “It’s fun to do things for people – that’s what it’s all about.”

Stastny plans to use the money to pay for a trip to Las Vegas in January, so she can attend her sister-in-law’s 100th birthday party. Stastny was not sure she would be able to afford such a trip before receiving the $500.