Now I have proof.

When Jill Wolford, a Cary mother of two, was diagnosed with advanced-stage breast cancer in 1999, her friends rallied around her family, tending to their every need.

Afterward, Wolford and her husband threw a party to show their gratitude. It was a thank-you cookout -- with a twist.

At the end of the evening, the Wolfords passed a hat, asking everyone to chip in what they would've paid for a burger and beer.

Jill and Eric took the proceeds and "paid it forward" to another cancer patient, one without the support network the Wolfords enjoy.

That woman was named Luanne Goodwin.

Like Wolford, Goodwin was battling breast cancer. But Goodwin was losing the fight.

The two patients never met. They shared an oncologist, who described how Goodwin wept when she was handed the check for $724.

Later, Luanne Goodwin sent Wolford a thank-you letter. She called the Wolfords and friends her angels. She included a copy of a poem written by her 10-year-old son, Christian.

Since then, Wolford has read Goodwin's letter and Christian's poem at what has become an annual event.

Her pay-it-forward idea has blossomed into something called the Community Caring Foundation. The charity has raised more than half a million dollars, all of it going to Triangle families -- 400 of them -- dealing with cancer.

Wolford credits Goodwin's letter and Christian's poem with helping to expand the organization -- and with keeping it grounded in its original mission.

But the funny thing is, Luanne's family had no idea all this had occurred.

Months after receiving the Wolfords' check, Luanne Goodwin died.

Still mourning, her husband and son moved to Tampa, Fla., where Bernard Goodwin worked as a fundraiser for Florida State University.

But when Goodwin came to a career crossroads last summer, Christian asked whether they could move back to the place his mom had considered home, to Cary. They did.

This summer, they ran into Luanne's oncologist.

They were stunned to learn that the thank-you letter Luanne had written had helped create a foundation.

Christian said he still remembers his mom writing the note.

"My mother was the strongest person I've ever met," he said. "But there were times she felt so alone. She appreciated this so much."

The money was a big help, Bernard said, but "it was the love that really came through."

So this weekend, Christian and his dad and his mom's two older children from a previous marriage will be special guests at the Caring Community Foundation's annual soiree.

This time, Christian said, he will read his mom's letter -- if he can maintain his composure -- and he will read the poem he wrote for her in the fifth grade. Now he's a high school senior.

"My mother always told us that she wanted to be someone remembered for making a difference," Christian said.

Now they know -- she is.

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