When Jim Thorpe's cheerleaders heard that a fellow cheerleader from Schuylkill Haven was fighting cancer, they decided to pay it forward.

And because of that gesture, they were recently recognized by a local business trying to spread a "Kindness Revolution.""We are just trying to bring back good manners and kindness into the community. When we see someone doing that, we want to recognize them," said Graceann McNealis, of McNealis Insurance.The Kindness Revolution is a nonprofit aimed at spreading dignity, respect and kindness in workplaces and schools around the country.McNealis heard about the Jim Thorpe cheerleaders' recent gesture after it made headlines around the area. It came after the team's annual "Pink-out game" where they donate money to charity.As coach Julie Romaniskow recalls, the team was set to vote on a charity when one of the girls mentioned Schuylkill Haven cheerleader Carly Umbenhauer, who has been undergoing chemotherapy treatments."It was all the girls' idea," Romaniskow said. "They took the idea and ran with it."She said getting recognized for the donation was the furthest thing from their minds. The motivation actually came out of a tragedy that struck the team earlier this year.Olympian cheerleaders Taylor Shepherdson and Jasmine Fonseca were killed in a car accident on Aug. 20. Their loss is a permanent hole in the team."Every time we meet, there are two people who aren't here who should be," Romaniskow said. "Everything we do is for them now."But in the wake of the tragedy, the team pulled together behind Romaniskow and assistant coach Heather Formica. And they received a huge emotional boost from the people who helped them."We were very fortunate to have a lot of people paying it forward to us," she said. "Every cheerleader is connected."McNealis said that the tragedy the team went through made them an even more inspiring candidate for the award."They lost two of their own, and still extended themselves to do this," she said. "We just want to let kids know that no matter if they're an individual or a group, someone is always watching."