Pay It Forward Stories 2019

Havre Trails, Inc. is a nonprofit organization located in rural Havre, MT. Havre Trails (HT) has a mission to promote healthy lifestyles, safety, access to outdoor recreation, and a pride of place by improving the walking and biking trails in Hill County, MT. Havre Trails is the go-to organization in Havre for hiking and outdoor recreation and, each year, HT hosts a summer hike series, an outdoor Summer Brewfest, a fall stargazing event, and several other recreation-related events throughout the year. The summer hike series sees nearly 40 participants per hike, and the Summer Brewfest had nearly 1,000 attendees in 2018.

Hill County is proud to be home to the largest county park in the entire United States, Beaver Creek Park. One of the main goals of Havre Trails is to conduct outreach about the existing trails and outdoor activities in Beaver Creek Park and the surrounding Hill County area. HT is also dedicated to expanding the trail system in Beaver Creek Park. In the last year, HT has completed construction on 1.25 new miles of trail in the park. The new trail is called Rotary Canyon Loop Trail. This year, HT plans to expand the trail with an additional 1.25 miles of trail.
With the Pay It Forward Giving Card, Havre Trails was able to purchase a handheld GPS machine and a map chip to be used with the handheld GPS. This equipment will be extremely valuable in assisting Havre Trails to map existing trails in the Hill County area, to scout new trail routes for continued trail construction, and to create maps and marketing materials to help promote the hiking and recreational trails in Hill County. Additionally, being able to create data points with the GPS to create route maps will allow HT to upload trail information to popular hiking apps like Hike Wild Montana and All Trails.

Being able to market existing and new trail routes via Facebook, the local Chamber of Commerce website, brochures, apps, and other social media outlets will help to get residents outdoors and help to attract people from outside of the county, including out-of-state and Canadian visitors. With additional visitors coming to the area for hiking and recreation, the town of Havre and surrounding area will benefit economically with more people staying overnight in hotels, shopping at local stores, purchasing gas and food, and enjoying the other amenities that Havre and Hill County have to offer.

Havre Trails is very grateful to the Dennis & Phyllis Washington Foundation for their generous support of outdoor recreation in rural Montana through their donation to Havre Trails. Thank you!

Twin Bridges High school Arts program was facing large cuts do to reduction in school funding. We felt that that the art program gives kids an opportunity to experience different artistic techniques that they would not other wise get to experience. Art classes are an avenue that many students flourish in that may struggle academically. It is an avenue that they can express themselves and gain self esteem. The art teacher( Mrs. Meirs) was able to buy art pencils, canvases, mosaic tiles, and many other art supplies to provide for students that other wise the school may have had to charge students for. Twin Bridges is a small community and many are strapped financially with very little excess finances. The Pay it Forward donations has allowed the art program to continue normally for at least another year, making it possible for equal opportunity for all students to participate in with out undue financial burdens on some families.

We informed the hospital that we wanted to give the card to a family that had fallen on hard times/unexpected medical issues. The hospital did some research and found a family that fit what we were looking for. The card was mailed to that family.

Jim Miller in Butte has a delivery business. He started a backpack/school supplies drive for kids that can’t afford them. So I bought 48 backpacks and stuffed 12 with school supplies for 3-8 graders.

The card was donated to the Stevensville High School "food closet". This program is to help supplement food and personal hygiene needs for high school students as there is not a program like the "backpack program" that is funded by the state for this age group. The individual who is pioneering the food closet has been spending her own money to help keep food and supplies replenished when donations are not coming in. I was told she averages $200-$300 a month out of her own expenses. I felt this program was a great option for the Pay It Forward program. With the $500 on the card enough food, snacks and personal hygiene products were able to be bought to get them through the end of the school year and into the beginning next school year. The lady that runs this program was extremely grateful for the donation and was amazed at the generosity.
There is another amazing thing that happened for this program because of this donation. Word got out that there was a $500 donation for this program and a challenge was put out to the community to match it. A company in town wrote a $500 check to match the Pay It Forward donation and then $500 in cash and food were donated. This $500 Pay It Forward showed this community a model generosity and charity that they were able to mimic in a way that will further allow this "food closet" to help the high school kids at Stevensville High School.

Thank you to the Dennis & Phyllis Washington Foundation for the Pay it Forward Employee Charitable Giving Program. Chris Houck, with Envirocon, chose to pass the donation along to Jefferson Preschool's deaf and hard of hearing class, where his nieces attend preschool with 10 other kids who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have immediate family who are deaf or hard of hearing. The class provides a wonderful learning environment where both American sign language (ASL) and English are used. The educational support team includes teachers of the deaf, interpreters, speech/language pathologists, and paraeducators who work hard to meet the various needs of the students. This team does an amazing job of teaching the kids in a fun and exciting way - they've played musical instruments including the drums, guitar, harmonica, and harp; they've learned all about the alphabet in ASL and English; they've read so many books; they've sung and signed a lot of songs; they've played outside in the snow, rain, and sunshine; they've worked hard in ASL lessons and activities; they've made a lot of art with paint, crayons, scissors, and glue; and they've learned so much about the seasons, farm animals, bugs, plants and on and on! The teachers were able to use the donation for a field trip to the insectarium, classroom supplies, and early literacy materials. One of the special classroom supplies is a book stand so that the teacher has both hands free to read books in sign language to the kids. Thank you for your kind and generous donation!

My wife is the drama teacher at sentinel high school in Missoula, every year when their productions come around I see her and the kids make something out of nothing so I gave it to the drama department at sentinel high school. I usually help them build the sets for their plays and musicals and the tools they use are in very bad shape so they used this opportunity to buy some new tools to help with that.

First of all, thanks to the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation for the privilege to be a part of the Pay It Forward Charitable Giving Program. This is an amazing program, with incredible impacts being realized to many people and groups.

I donated the giving card to Silver Bow Kiwanis, which I have been a member of for over 9 years. The giving card was specifically given to support their Pancakes for Playgrounds initiative, with the giving card not only allowing for additional cookware and utensils to be used for years to come, but also for food for the 2019 pancake breakfast. The Pancakes for Playgrounds fundraiser is a key fundraiser for a major emphasis project that the Silver Bow Kiwanis group is undertaking. The goal of the project is to repair and/or rehabilitate multiple "pocket" playgrounds within Butte-Silver Bow that may have been neglected through the years. The purpose of this is to help to serve some that may be underprivileged, or merely lack adequate transportation to get to some of the larger playgrounds throughout Butte-Silver Bow. The donation was greatly appreciated, with a return on investment well into the future!

in the fall of 2018 a teenager in the community was diagnosed with optic nerve glioma and lost his vision in one of his eyes. The family has had to make a numerous trips to Salt Lake City over the past year for radiation and appointments. Just a super nice family and an awesome young man. The tumor has not grown and he has regained some vision in his eye. I do not know the family that well but the mother sent me this text

"Hi Josh, I hope its not too late tonight I just wanted to thank you from the bottom of my and my family's hearts for the gift card from the Washington Foundation. You will never know what that meant to us and to Max to know that someone did this for him. Thank you so much."

I donated my card to the local YMCA in Missoula. The YMCA has a long history of helping under privileged youth lead healthier lifestyles. The card was specifically used in the Y's swim program.

The card was gifted to the Sentinel High School Theatre Department. We used the money to purchase tools to help build sets for our plays. We were also able to purchase a new tool cabinet to keep all of our new tools organized.

My husband Tom was given the gift card and then gifted it to me as I am a troop leader for a Livingston girl scout troop. We used the card to buy supplies for our troop and used it to provide snacks for our troop meetings. We appreciate the gift card as it gives us an opportunity to come together and teach our young girls some awesome things.

Thank you so much,

Daisy Troop 2004

I chose to give this pay it forward card to Brittney and Kadyn Davis. This is the widow and daughter of Cole Davis. Cole was an employee of Montana Resources, who died in a tragic auto accident outside a company Christmas party in 2017. Cole's absence as a coworker has left a huge void within the MR organization. With that being said, it is unimaginable the void that is present with Brittney and their young daughter Kadyn. Although this card wont bring Cole back, I feel it might bring his widow and daughter some comfort and remind them that Cole is gone but not forgotten by MR and those that Cole so greatly impacted.

I gave the card to a couple who are trying to have a baby for them to put towards their expenses and medical bills that go along with in-vitro.

I gave my card to Brian Moody, father of two, who was diagnosed with stage 4 glioblastoma brain cancer in July 2018. He had his first surgery July 11, 2018 and went through 6 weeks of radiation and chemo therapy. They put him on a clinical trial that last two months but then the tumor came back. He was then referred to MD Anderson in Houston Texas. He had his second surgery and will have to go Houston every three weeks for IV infusions.

We were able to help a young man with schizophrenia meet some of his basic monthly expenses. Pay it Forward is an awesome program and very much appreciated.

I gave my pay it forward card to the laurel garden health and rehab center for their activity and craft fund. My mother is a resident there, and the money is used to purchase art supplies and pay for ice cream and movie outings for residents. I really appreciate Washington Corp and the pay it forward program that allows us to do this. Thank you

My gift card was given to two people who have spent their lives doing for others and it was wonderful to be able to give them a little bit of what they have always done for others, my parents. My father has incurable cancer and has battled it for almost 20 years. His spirit and will to live every day as a gift has inspired everyone who knows him. The gift card was used to help them with additional expenses incurred to modify their home for my dad to be able to continue to live in the house he loves. They are wonderful people and it was a privilege to be able to gift it to them.

I gave my card to a single mom in need. I didn't just give the card away, i waited until she had all her grocery picked out and went up to the tile to check out, i got into line behind her and when they got done totaling it all up the balance was about $425 and i just said you can consider that paid for mam . I told the person running the tile i would pay for it. I explained this pay it forward program, and work has allowed us to do and give back to the community . She broke down into tears and couldn't thank you guys enough. i than gave her the remainder of the cards balance and told her she could use it like a credit card.

Thank you again for this wonderful experience

I split the funds between two Special Eduction teachers at Chief Charlo Elementary School in Missoula, MT, Sara Abgeris and Bethany Gardner. Both used the funds for classroom materials and educational supplies. Both teachers work hard for the education of mentally and physically disabled children and frequently have to pay out of pocket for materials and supplies. For the 2019-2020 school year, Bethany will be assigned, for the first time, a full sized classroom and is using the funds to set the classroom up for the betterment of her students.

I split the card into smaller gift cards. I gave them to family's i have known to be in need.

I gave the card to Shawn Lannen, 4H archery instructor for Sweet Grass County 4H. He used the card to purchase 3 new genisys bows. He was also the recipient of last years card which he used to upgrade archery equipment for two shooters that qualified for the national event. Thanks to the upgrades, both shooters did extremely well one finishing 15th overall and one 7th overall. Their successes led to an increase in new shooters joining the program, over half under the age of 12. The 3 new bows purchased with this years card are designed for smaller, younger shooters just learning how to shoot but are versatile enough for the shooters to use as they grow older and stronger. Thanks to the DPW Foundation this will allow them to have quality equipment to learn to shoot for years to come. Thank you again!!

The Meridian Library received a Dennis & Phyllis Washington Foundation “Pay it Forward” giving card from Dennis Gerwig, a Modern Machinery employee. Michele, a Community Specialist with the Meridian Library Outreach department, had been looking for memory tools to provide the library patrons she works with. What followed was exciting! The giving card was used to purchase items to create Memory Care Kits for caregivers to check out and use in helping memory-impaired adults. Each kit includes a Dementia caregiver guide book, a community resource guide, a DVD, book and a hands on activity all centered around a theme. The kits were designed to use sensory to stimulate memories. Books in the Memory Care Kits were developed specifically for memory-impaired adults to revisit and share memories through the reading experience. The Memory Care Kits made available for check out were checked out within hours. The demand has been high and the library plans on creating additional kits. The “Pay it Forward” giving card became a catalyst to help the Meridian Library make an idea into a reality. As a result of the Memory Care Kit development and success, additional kits are being prepared, library collections are being expanded to include more memory-impaired items and additional needs in the community have been identified.

Dear Dennis & Phyllis Washington Foundation,

Thank you for the opportunity to give a $500 Charitable Giving Card to a well deserved Billings Public School.

I chose to give the 1st/2nd multi-age classroom at Arrowhead Elementary School in Billings, MT my Pay it Forward card. Arrowhead Elementary is my neighborhood school and is an exemplary K-5 school in our district. This neighborhood school works very hard to promote a positive, safe and academically challenging environment. Their school motto is “Building knowledge, character, and community in each child.”

Arrowhead was fortunate to be able to make each of their primary classrooms, kindergarten through 2nd grade 1:1 iPad classrooms. These classrooms have also been given extensive training on using those iPads to create pieces of work and journal about those works in SeeSaw for Schools. The 2nd grade team was in need of some good quality, kid-friendly headphones to make creations easier to edit and listen to in this open-classroom school. These headphones will also be used in facilitation of classroom centers using technology such as Listening to Reading, math fluency applications and sharing of created videos throughout the very diverse curriculum.

I appreciate your awarding me the opportunity to share my Pay it Forward story and look forward to gifting another deserving classroom in the future. It feels great to give back to our community’s most worthy investment, the children of Montana.

Sincerely,
Bryan Tieszen
Train Master/Road Foreman -Billings/Laurel Yard

normally I donate to women's health to help out women who could not afford to pay for their annuals but this year I recently watched a very special lady that I called my second mom and she referred to me as her daughter number 2 die from Alzheimer's. I watched her go from a very active kind lady who loved life and her family and harassing and teasing me to just sitting in her wheelchair staring not able to feed herself, talk or recognize any of her family to just lying in her bed not able to get up or barely move to passing away in her sleep. that was the hardest thing I have ever had to do.