What would you do with $1,000fi

It's not enough to take a fancy vacation, get a brand-new car, buy a big diamond or start a business. So what is it enough to dofi

Oprah Winfrey thinks it's enough to change the world. Utah County sisters Karen Acerson and Ellen James agree. And they've got a week and a video camera to prove it.

"We're supposed to document the good that we can do with this thousand dollars," Acerson said.

Acerson, a Lindon resident, and James, a Cedar Hills resident, were in Chicago last week for the filming of Oprah's Pay-It-Forward challenge, which aired Monday. The 350 audience members, intrigued by the link on her Web site to make a difference, were each given a debit card, a video camera and a week from Monday to go to their respective communities and creatively change the world. After a week they send the cameras back, and a few of the participants will be invited back to discuss their work.

"I have never done this before," Winfrey said on the show.

James and Acerson went to the taping after James, while on a phone call, went to the Oprah bookmark on her computer to pass the time. She saw the link, typed a brief statement about changing the world and left to run errands. Two hours later she got a phone call inviting her to bring a guest and come to Chicago.

"I was just shocked," she said.

James called Acerson, who begged off an engagement to accept an award for Volunteer of the Year in Orem, and the two jetted off to visit Oprah. They accepted the challenge, returned to Utah and have been frenetically doing good since.

Acerson picked four families in her area who could use some financial help and contacted Dream Dinners, expecting to buy $250 worth of food for each family. She did so, and the company donated half. Then she thought of a family who had adopted a number of special-needs children and decided to treat them to a family night out. She called a friend who owns the Pizza Factory to make reservations and ask if he would give her a deal. He volunteered to pay for the whole meal. She met another family who needed a bathroom makeover to care for adult children with disabilities. A woman volunteered her brother's expertise in bathrooms.

Plus, people have already donated $1,300 to help with Acerson's project and there's a box in the Lindon City Center for anyone who wants to keep the service going, in keeping with a report released in June by the Corporation for National and Community Service ranking Utah No. 1 in volunteerism nationwide.

"Isn't that funfi" she said. "I want to tell Oprah on the thing, to say, 'Hey, it was really hard to spend your money, because all these people want to donate.' "

She's not too surprised, though; that's just how people here are, she said. Her biggest worry now is being responsible for all the money coming in and making sure she's accountable for the people who are donating. Her video will include people donating, giving the donations to the recipients and all the stuff she's gathered.

"This is just what our community does," Acerson said.

James took her grand and started making phone calls. She began with Primary Children's Medical Center in Salt Lake City, with the memory of a little boy she knows who was in the hospital getting cancer treatment. He had a problem with double vision and couldn't see to read or watch TV, so, knowing the power of storytelling, she brought him a couple of CDs to enjoy. His mother told James that was the first time she'd seen him smile since the treatment started.

"For them to sit and just close their eyes and just listen to storytelling, that helps a lot," she said.

Next she called storytellers from all over the country, many of whom have performed at the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival in Orem. They agreed to donate CDs and have them sent overnight. James is using the money to buy portable CD players and donating the whole shebang to the hospital library.

"I'm trying to focus mostly on stories that are uplifting and funny so that it'll make them happy," James said.

She's also contacted Utah Valley Regional Medical Center about donating some equipment, but nothing has been finalized yet, she said. Everyone -- hospital staff, storytellers and the like -- has been excited about the idea and interested in moving forward, she said, especially the hospital workers who deal with sick children every day.

"They have a hard time finding things that'll make their patients happy," she said.

Her video will be of her presenting a couple of children at the hospital with the equipment for their use.

Both women, who are admittedly having a great time making a difference, said they would love to be selected to go back to "Oprah" and talk about what they've done, but the bigger thrill for them was being able to participate in the first place.

"I think it's a neat thing she's doing, by spreading the money around the country, and I think it'll be interesting to see what everyone chooses to do with it," James said.

Heidi Toth can be reached at 344-2543 or htoth@heraldextra.com.

There is a box at the Lindon City Center for anyone interested in donating. Acerson will be accepting donations until 9 p.m. today.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page D1.