In 2007, Jolena Rothweil was in the midst of a divorce. The process was overwhelming and expensive; most of her paycheck was going to her lawyer fees.

"I had just gotten backed into a corner where I felt like I was drowning," Rothweil said. "I didn't have any extra money for food or gas."

One especially difficult week, with her bank account empty, she asked a friend at work, Steve Green, if she could borrow twenty dollars to make it to payday. He said he'd be happy to help.

"Fast forward to the next morning, and on my desk is a little note with $200 in it. And all it said is, 'You can't pay it back, but you can pay it forward,'" she said.

Rothweil cried as she held the note in her hands.

 "His gift made me really feel seen in what I was going through," she said.

A few years later, tw

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