Pay It Forward Stories 2021

I grew up playing sports. Some of the coaches helped form my character into the man I am today. I love helping kids achieve their dreams of simply affording to be able to play sports. I donated my card to a local sports organization to help with expenses.

The expense for youth sports is crazy now days. I know what team competition can do for a child’s future. There is no reason for kids not to play these sports simply because of money. This card went to a close friend of mine. His daughter has a passion for competition but the family has a hard time with funds to let her chase her dreams. It gave the card to her because our youth is our future!
Thank You DPWF!!!💝

We used our Pay It Forward Giving Card to purchase supplemental earth science materials for our sixth grade curriculum! We were able to purchase four experiment kits, giant magnetic and 3-D glow in the dark solar system models, and four curriculum mastery flip chart kits. These purchases will enhance student engagement and understanding in all areas of our earth science lessons.

The four flip chart kits thoroughly cover the areas of; sun-earth-moon system, Earth's atmosphere and weather, Earth science, and our solar system. Each of these kits includes a colorful, informative, reusable flip chart, teacher's guide, student activity book, two learning system board games, and a one year free subscription to multi-media lessons. All of the flip chart materials are aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards, as well as our district adopted science program.

The four experiment kits include:
- Climate and Weather Kit - Students can discover our planet's climate system, investigate wind and ocean currents, and model the Earth's atmosphere.
- Weather Station - Students can observe and record the weather with their own multi-functional weather station. They can also experiment with the greenhouse effect and create a terrarium in a bottle.
- Solar System - A planetarium model of our Solar System. Students can watch the planets move around the sun under the sunlight, as this model is solar powered!
- Weather Science - Students can experiment with static electricity that causes lightening, make clouds in their palm, build a desktop water cycle model, watch air currents that produce wind, and study the greenhouse effect and acid rain.

We would like to send a heartfelt THANK YOU to the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation for your generosity and support of our amazing students! We are so very excited to used all of our new science materials to enhance student engagement and learning!

I have a dream to make books accessible to more students! Our small school has a wonderful collection of books, but the current library is not conveniently located for the older students to borrow/use these resources (different building, limited hours, difficult scheduling). I approached our school board with the vision of converting one of the JH/HS classrooms in that building into a computer lab & library for JH/HS, and they are supportive. So I spent the Pay It Forward funds on items that we can use in the current library while we wait for the completion of the new library and then transfer these items to their new home. These items include a book truck, shelf labels, book ends, book stands and a barcode scanner. We are so thankful.

I am honored and grateful to participate in the remarkably generous D&PW Foundation Pay it Forward initiative!
It was my pleasure to share this gifting with the following worthy entities:
1) Family Promise. In support of new Meadowlark facility on 3rd Street in Missoula, I was able to purchase bedding, linens and towels for one of the bedrooms for a family transitioning out of homelessness.
2) Lifeguard group home in Victor, MT. Purchased an area rug for the home in Victor that serves victims rescued and transitioning out of the sex-trafficking industry.
3) Missoula - Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (MOLLI). Made a modest contribution in support of this wonderful program that promotes educational opportunities, both in-person and on-line, to those that are age 50 or older.
4) First Presbyterian Church food pantry. Made a modest contribution of purchased food items to this neighborhood pantry that supplies clothing, books, food and other support to those in need.

On April 2nd a local family lost their home and all their personal belongings in an house fire. This was only a few blocks away from my home which made it even more tragic to witness. Thankfully no one was hurt in the fire but it really made me think how in a matter of minutes our lives can so easily be turned upside down, until then I was still undecided on what to do with my pay it forward card. Thank you Dennis & Phyllis Washington for helping me help a family in need. This is truly an amazing program and I hope a continues on for years to come.

Thanks, Phil Tuccillo

I donated my card to a single mom with two kids, that is struggling financially. They greatly appreciated it.

For several years, I have been involved with Home ReSource, a Missoula-based non-profit organization, whose goal is to operate as a sustainability leader in the area, while providing opportunities to those who have encountered barriers a better life.
The organization operates a store which sells donated construction and home renovation goods received from individuals and businesses throughout Missoula County and beyond. While the store provides regular operating income to the organization, it is the generous giving from those in the community which provide prospects for the entity to grow and extend its reach to people of all walks of life.
I sincerely appreciate the opportunity from the Dennis & Phyllis Washington Foundation to support a group that has meant so much to me personally.

They say that when all is said and done, grief is the price we pay for love. Unfortunately grief will come into all our lives at some point. And it came into my children's and my life with the death of their father in a tragic accident last year. We were lost; and could not find a way to navigate our new reality. As Elizabeth Gilbert said ““Deep grief sometimes is almost like a specific location, a coordinate on a map of time. When you are standing in that forest of sorrow, you cannot imagine that you could ever find your way to a better place. But if someone can assure you that they themselves have stood in that same place, and now have moved on, sometimes this will bring hope”

And we stumbled onto that hope with the help of Tamarack Grief Resource center (www.tamarackgrc.org). And I chose to “pay it forward” to Tamarack. Tamarack brings compassion and care to individuals and communities navigating grief and loss. They know that grief is unique to each individual, influenced by many factors, and goes on forever. TGRC was there for us every step of the way. And with their support we found bits of strength, hope, and insight.

Thank you to the Washington Family and the Washington Foundation for the Pay It Forward card.

It was a hard decision since there are so many people and organizations that would benefit from this card.
I decided to donated the Pay-It-Forward card to the Montana State Volunteer Fire Department in Corvallis, Montana. it is not fire season quite yet, but I hope it will help these volunteer firefighters. It was a very mild winter and going to be almost 100 degrees already in June, it looks like they will be working so hard this fire season.

Thank you so much for all you do: Firefighters, Emergency workers, Medics ,and Pilots needed to keep Montana beautiful and Safe.

I donated some of the funds to Spokane Hospitality Coalition. I felt it was important to keep the money local, and SHC works alongside local bars and restaurants to keep our local business' doors open. Their mission is to keep our community safe and save local business.
The rest of the funds were used to buy items to put in the annual fundraiser auction that American Childhood Cancer Organization Inland Northwest is holding online in September. I am putting together a Pacific Northwest themed basket, with several items from local businesses. I am hoping to not only get the value of the items but beyond the value of the items, so the donation is increased.
ACCOIN is important to me as they support families in the PNW who have children who have been diagnosed with cancer. Their efforts are personal to me, as my niece Marleigh was diagnosed with cancer in 2012 at the age of 4. She passed away in 2013, but my debt to ACCOIN is lifelong. I will always be grateful for their never-ending support and care for my niece and whole family.
I appreciate the gift of being able to donate to these causes. Thank you, D & P WA Foundation!

So my Wife and I gave the donation to our local Animal Shelter here in Twin Falls, Idaho this year. We found out that they were in need of extra funds due to lack of adoptions. They were very grateful to receive the donation and will be using it to get extra supplies for all their fury friends.

Thank you.

The Accelerate Anaconda team is working hard to create places in the community and revitalize and Anaconda's downtown. Ten years into our downtown master plan significant progress is being made to make downtown Anaconda an exciting place to work, live, and play. One of those projects is creating beautiful art and lighting in a heavily walked alleyway between areas of the downtown. The funds on this card were used to purchase equipment and lighting for a phase of the alleyway.

First off, I would like to thank the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation for the opportunity to once again give back to the community in which I live. This year I decided to donate the $500 to the Big Sky High School Track and Field/Cross Country program here in Missoula. As with most programs that depend on donations this past year, Covid made it difficult for Big Sky to fund raise in a manner that they normally would. I donated near the end of their fund raising period during the spring track season and the $500 at the time was close to what was needed to reach their goal for this year. The track program has somewhere between 150-200 student athletes participating so you can imagine the costs involved that are beyond what the district can supply.

Thank you again!

I selected Beartooth Christian Camp (BCC) as the recipient of the $500 pay it forward award.

Last year, BCC was forced to close the camp due to Covid-19 restrictions. The camp lost the staff and had to reorganize to reopen this year.

BCC provides a weeklong camp experience to youth of various age groups. I watched my children and grandchildren grow and mature through experiences at camp.

This award will help fund needed maintenance and repair during the reopening process.

Thank you Dennis & Phyllis Washington Foundation for making this possible.

I chose to give my Pay It Forward card to a very deserving family that lost everything they worked so hard for in the Bobcat Fire this past year. Not only did this family lose their home but their daughter and son-in-law lost theirs as well. This family has an autistic son that had a very hard time being “displaced” from his home until they could temporarily set up something as home. They decided to rebuild their home in the same location and this card will help them buy supplies.

The card was given to an indigenous LGBTQIATS activist, Steven Bear Twoteeth, who spend countless hours testifying and advocating during the legislative session.

We used our giving card to purchase a computer which is being used by a number of our clients who have developmental disabilities. It is being used for informational and recreational purposes.

We want to thank the Foundation for its generosity.

Sincerely,
Dave Eaton
Executive Director
Counterpoint, Inc.

I chose to donate to the Billy Poole Foundation of Anaconda MT. The Billy Poole Foundation was founded in 2008 in honor of big mountain skier, Billy Poole. Their goal is to give disadvantaged kids an opportunity to learn to ski and inspire a love for the outdoors and the mountains in the process. All funds donated to this non-profit are used to support programs that get at-risk and disadvantaged kids outdoors to experience the beauty of the sport of skiing.
Each year at Discovery Ski area, ski and snowboard pro athletes from around the world gather to expose kids to the joys of winter sports. It is pretty remarkable to see the smiles and joy of kids who would never have experienced snow in they way they just did.

I chose to donate to the Watson's Children's Shelter. The Shelter provides a safe haven as well as food, clothing, counseling, and nurturing to families and children who are in need - often because they are the victims of abuse or neglect and are not safe in their home environment. Thankyou to the Foundation for giving me this opportunity to Pay It Forward.

This year I wanted to find a non profit group in the area that I live north of Spokane. I found a place called Hero's Homestead they host several events that help bring former service members and first responders families together. The primary goal of the homestead is to provide activities for the family to help deal with the hardships of PTSD. On the day I visited them they gave me a tour of the homestead which is located in Clayton, WA. They had recently just finish putting in a swing set play area for the kids, and with the help of several Seattle Seahawks players who came over to help assemble the swing set. Hero's Homestead is in their initial phase of development and had their grand opening in 2020 so they are in need of as much help as possible. They have several barns and gardens located on the 40 acre homestead. The host several events please visit the website at www.heroshomestead.org

or reach out to info@heroshomestead.org

It was a hard decision but I knew I wanted It to go to my community.I wanted it to be used be people truly in need.Meals on wheels was
my choice because it serves many people in my community.Its a great organization and serves a purpose I believe in.

I have a coworker who is one of the most hardworking men I have ever met. In 2019 he was diagnosed with cancer. He fought through it only for it to return with a vengeance in 2021. He continues to fight not letting go of his hard working spirit. I chose to donate my "Pay it forward" to him and his family as they continue to persevere through this time.

I gave my pay it forward to Dog Tag Buddies. It is an organization that rescues dogs and trains them and gives them to a veteran of need. Not only do they rescue an at risk animal but train it and match it with a prospective Veterans. I visited the organization in Billings and it is well run and has a fantastic reputation as well as keeps the money local.

I gave my pay it foward to dog tag buddies.
Dog tag buddies is dedicated to providing veterans with hidden injuries the opportunity to lead more fulfilling lives by providing no cost services in the adoption and training of rescued dogs to become companion or service animals. I am very happy that I got the chance to help two causes. Thank you