The Pay It Forward Challenge

Kim Humpal and Kay McCurdy use their challenge money to help several people in Iowa who are coping with cancer and terminal illness.

Their combined $2,000 touches many lives on a personal level. They buy toys and furniture for Tyler, a 3-year-old boy with cancer. Then, they pay to have his family stay at the Ronald McDonald House in Des Moines. And they donate money for one-night stays for another five families!

They also give cash to the family of Vicky, a woman preparing for a bone marrow transplant, and they buy gifts for Esther, a 78-year-old woman in the last stages of lung cancer. Even Esther is "paying it forward"—the gifts are for her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren!

Following on a unique idea from workers for Iowa Hospice, Kim and Kay purchase 70 journals for terminally ill patients. The staff will use the journals to record special moments or wishes for their patients, which can be a keepsake for their families when their loved ones are no longer with them.

"The power of doing a small deed for someone else and the pleasure of seeing them happy is a huge reward," Kay says. "This was an experience I will treasure for the rest of my life," Kim says.