The Pay It Forward Challenge

Joy Coleman, knows how to make $1,000 seem like $10,000. With tremendous energy and passion, she sets out to help as many people as she can with her challenge money.

The Cary, Illinois, mother of two starts by helping a man named Joseph build his house through Habitat for Humanity. She helps with the house and gives Joseph a gift card for furnishings. Next, she donates blankets, pillows, a DVD player and movies to a local organization that helps the homeless. She then pays for driving lessons for Jacyln, a single mother who needs a driver's license to get a better job. Joy then sends care packages to soldiers serving in Iraq, and finally, she donates toys to Friendship House, an Illinois day care center. She also buys spa treatments for the director and a mother who sends her kids there.

Helping the homeless shelter is especially meaningful for Joy. "I think about it all the time, when the wind is blowing hard against my windows I wonder if everyone found shelter," she says. "When I'm walking through the grocery store, I can’t believe how blessed I am to be able to walk through the aisles and pick out whatever I want."