Pay It Forward Challenge Stories
Original Content | January 01, 2006
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Courtney Octave and her friend Melissa Myer look for a recipient who, down the road, might have a chance to pass on the kindness, too. They contact Save the Family, a Mesa, Arizona, organization for homeless families working to support themselves. Save the Family puts Courtney and Melissa in touch with Sheila, a single mother of two. Sheila was a stay-at-home mom for 10 years. When her marriage ended, she and the children were on their own. Now, Sheila is in school to become an air-conditioning technician. Courtney and Melissa are happy they found Sheila. "We [wanted] to make sure it got into hands that could use this money and could potentially have the opportunity … to do something like this for somebody else," Courtney says. The friends spend $400 of the challenge money on tools Sheila needs to start her new career. They spend the remaining $600, on new clothes and shoes for Shelia's children, Jennifer and Tim. "I felt really amazing," Melissa says. "It was great to make such a needed difference in the lives of strangers." |
