Pay It Forward Stories 2022

I have chosen to give my pay it forward to a young gentleman with spinal bifida. With his condition he needs monthly medical supplies that are not completely covered by his insurance. This card will go a long way in helping with those expenses.

I gave the Pay It Forward card I received to a relative who is having a hard time making ends meet. This person will be using the card for basic living expenses. Thank you so much to the Washington Foundation for this generous gift it is appreciated very much.

I am donating my Pay it Forward to the Shriners Children's Hospital.
It is such a great organization.
My daughter went there to help her with her Scoliosis.
Every child is welcome there at no cost.
I can not say enough about the caring and hospitalization that they provide for children.
They were very thankful for the donation.
The Dennis & Phyllis Washington Foundation will be prayers.

Mitch Chapin

I chose a young lady who has been diagnosed with advanced stage cancer in her 20's. She will have to manage a treatment plan for the rest of her life. Despite having a full time job and health insurance, there are many expenses that simply aren't covered.

I am grateful to provider her with a pay it forward card to help with the extra things that are coming her way.

Thank you very much for the opportunity.

My giving card was given to a young family from the Butte/Anaconda Area. Their son, Quinton, was born with SMA, Kerrie, Quinton's mom, wrote the following.

Our son Quinton was born 12/22/2021. He has been quite an exciting little man since then, he had a short stay in the NICU in Missoula for a bowel obstruction at birth. Shortly after we brought him home to Anaconda, we were informed that he had tested positive on a newborn screening test for a disease called Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA).

SMA affects the bodies ability to make the survival motor neuron Protein. This protein is responsible for keeping your neurons alive and functioning. Without neurons your body will not be able to breathe, digest foods, or move normally. SMA is a rare disease that affects 1 in 11,000 births. The recessive gene that carries this condition is fairly common however, with 1 in 50 adults being a non affected carrier. In order for a child to get the condition both parents must pass the gene on.

Good news! There is a fairly new and promising treatment for SMA available. It is called Zolgensma and it is currently the most expensive drug in the world at a whopping $2.1 Million per dose! This treatment uses a harmless adenovirus to give an affected individuals neuron cells a copy of the gene that their body is missing, so that Survival Motor Neuron (SMN) proteins can be made by the body to keep neurons alive!

Little Quinton received this life changing treatment at the billings clinic on Groundhog day 2/2/2022 at 6 weeks old! His lucky day! As a result we are hopeful that our little boy will meet milestones like normal respiration, swallowing, sitting, standing, and walking, only time will tell!

However, we will continue to travel back and forth to Billings for Doctor appointments and for Quinton to attend Muscular Dystrophy clinics. Zolgensma is not a cure, he still has SMA and we must continue to monitor him closely for signs of Motor neuron damage. All the treatments available only slow/stop the progression of the disease, they cannot repair damage that has already been done.

We are so thankful to have been selected by Jackie Blom to be a recipient of the pay it forward card, we will use the funds to help pay for medical care, medicines, and travel back and forth to Billings over the next coming months!

Thank you Montana Resources! We are also thankful that SMA was newly added to the MT newborn screening panel in March 2021 as we had no idea, and no prior family history of this terrible disease.

Please everyone keep our family in your thoughts as our older son ( age 3) is still being tested for SMA! We hope that he does not have this disease!

Quinton was the first outpatient at the Billings clinic to receive this treatment, and he was the 1st baby to test positive for SMA on the newborn screening.

We are forever grateful to everyone who has helped us!

Sincerely,
Kerrie, Brian, Weston, and Quinton Berger

Check out:
www.curesma.org
together we can CURE SMA!

This year we gave the card to a homeless single mother we met camping by a local restaurant. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to help her out!!!!

I donated to a young girl that is a cheerleader that has a hard time making it to all of the competitions because of funds. Me and my wife have had three girls in cheerleading and know how expensive it is. She tries her hardest to fund raise and go to school and work we know that this will help her ease her mind on how much she needs to make to keep cheering and hopefully let her just be a kid and not have to try to run around and earn money to keep doing this sport. She is a good kid and I am proud that she is doing what she’s doing so that is why I decided to donate to her.

Thank you dpw foundation. I am giving this to a single mom that struggles to make enough money for bills and food. My wife and I will take her to a grocery store to stock up on food.

I gave my card to another co-worker. Chris Casagranda's wife passed way January 29th, 2022 leaving him 2 daughters to raise on his own.

My giving card went to Camp-Mak-A-Dream and the annual RATPOD (Ride Around the Pioneers in One Day) Bike Ride fundraiser. Camp-Mak-A-Dream is basically a ranch, near Gold Creek Montana, that provides a "Montana ranch experience" for children dealing with cancer. The "campers" come from all over North America, traveling to Missoula and then out to Gold Creek. Those that attend the week long camp experience all sorts of activities, most of which are exclusive to life on a Montana ranch. The RATPOD bike ride is a 127 mile, one day ride, with as many as 650 riders. Each rider solicits donations and the proceeds go to Camp-Mak-A-Dream. Riders have raised as much as $640,000.00 in a single year!! The ride is the single largest source of funds for the Camp. Campers have zero cost to attend and can now bring a family member with them to camp...due to the substantial funds raised by RATPOD riders. I have ridden RATPOD 18 times and have enjoyed meeting hundreds of campers and even more riders...from all over the United States. The most amazing part of the weekend is listening to the stories told by the campers. They may be in treatment, in remission or even in a terminal situation. Stories are funny, uplifting, life changing and, sometimes, heart wrenching. One thing the stories have in common...they are all filled with gratitude and memories of a wonderful time in a very special place.

I used my gift card to help a neighbor out. He is a retired veteran, on a fixed income, and was recently diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. The cancer treatment and medication is a big drain financially, on his monthly expenses. I went with him to our local Walmart and maxed the card out on a mix of household items that he needed.

I gave my card to my nephews family. My nephew was murdered in January. One left behind his wife and 4 young children ages 13,8,1 1/2, and 1 month old. He was tragically taken from his family leaving them all behind while trying to build a new home and just having a brand new baby. Baby was 7 days old when he was shot and killed. This has put not only emotional strain on this family but also financial strain. I felt giving them this was the least I could do to help with groceries, diapers or paying bills. Thank you for this wonderful opportunity and help for my nephews family.

My Father and Mother in law have gone through terrible things at the hands of a former employer in the last few years Including wrongful discharge with no severance pay. He was a pastor. They have struggled immensely and need so many things for their home which to save they had to do a reverse mortgage. I just hope this wonderful gift from the Washington foundation will help them.

A friend of our family (who is a cop here in Billings MT)
Have medical issue,
So I gave the card to his family!!!
Thank you very much.

I chose to give my Pay It Forward giving card to the Flagship Program in Missoula. My son is an enthusastic Flagship participant, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to help a program that plays such a big role in the lives of children in this community.

Flagship is unique to Missoula and provides out of school time opportunities for youth in eight Missoula County Public Schools from kindergarten through 12th grade and offers a school-based experience in mentoring and skill building. Flagship offers these programs to all youth, free of charge.

Thanks to the Dennis & Phyllis Washington Foundation and the Washington family for allowing me to support this great program in this way.

The card has been donated to a family for the cost and care of their daughter Paige. February 2nd Paige was life – flighted from Butte, where they live, to Kalispell where she received a blood transfusion and bone marrow biopsy. February 7th she was diagnosed with ALL Leukemia Type B. The next day she underwent surgery to have her port put in and received her first dose of chemotherapy. Their family will be staying in Kalispell for at least a month while she continues her first round of chemo.

This year I elected to give my card to the animal shelter. As the economy tightens and more people are displaced, animals are being surrendered at an increased rate. Many of these animals are older and harder to place. The animal shelter is regularly at capacity and needs donations for food, supplies and medical.

I gave my Pay It Forward card to The Ronald McDonald House.
My family has a bit of a history with The Ronald McDonald House. My younger brother had a daughter that became Ill years ago. They were able to stay at The Ronald McDonald House in Minneapolis while his daughter was being treated.
It is a great way to keep the family together. On occasion the stays are for extended times. And always at no cost to the family.
My mother and my younger brother have both been volunteers at the Missoula Ronald McDonald House.
The House is always in need of supplies and volunteers. All of the dinners at the House are done by volunteers, either purchasing or cooking of the meal.
They have a sign up list and are always in need of donors for the dinner meal.

This is an amazing program. I chose to give this to a family member battling cancer. She have previously beaten cancer and unfortunately it has returned. Because of the stacks of medical bills and lost time at work this money was an unbelievable help to her and her family. The smile on there face said it all. I am already looking forward to this next year thank you so much.

We would first like to thank Dennis and Phyllis Washingtin Foubdation for the Pay It Forward. We chose to give the pay it forward giving card to a brave and courageous 6 yr. Old in Butte. They call this little guy Hulk. He is going to have to battle cancer for the third time at the young age of 6 yrs old. I'm sure the emotional and financial burden of this battle has been hard for the family. Hulk you are Buttes toughest little superhero. Once again Thanks for the Pay it Forward Program. PRAYERS FOR HULK. Scott and Sandy Zemljak

Thanks to the Dennis & Phyllis Washington Foundation's Pay It Forward Program I was able to donate to The Lifeguard Group. The Lifeguard Group is a local non-profit that is working to end human trafficking in our communities. They rely 100% on donations to save children and others being exploited. Their vision: To FIND, RESCUE, SHELTER and RESTORE exploited persons to a place of HOPE, FREEDOM, and a FUTURE for every survivor. We can longer believe that this doesn't happen in our communities - it happens EVERYWHERE!

*The average age of an individual that enters the life of human trafficking 12-13 years old
*A victim will return to their pimp/exploiter an average of seven times before she stays out of the life.
*75% of trafficking survivors noted that housing was the greatest area of need when trying to get out of the life.
*There are only 1044 beds exist in safe houses across the country. Only 150 of those beds are available for children who need protection.
*80% of victims end up back in their traffickers hands because of the lack of available resources.

My mom is the Executive Director at Tumbleweed in Billings, MT. Tumbleweed serves youth and young adults who are at-risk, homeless, run-away, throw away, and human traffic. She speaks often of the youth and young adults she works with as having "food insecurity." I wanted to help provide food for the youth and young adults at Tumbleweed by donating my 2022 Pay it Forward Giving Card to Tumbleweed's food pantry. Thank you to the Dennis & Phyllis Washington Foundation for partnering with me in this effort.

First of all I want to sincerely thank the Dennis and Phyllis Foundation for this opportunity. As a fairly new employee, I had no idea about this program and was thrilled to be selected!!
I chose to support a fund raising event to purchase a new set of books for a low income elementary school near Dallas, TX. I called and learned that the librarian had spent her own money to purchase the first set and they desperately needed a second set as the children had a contest with prizes for reading a certain number of books. The problem was, there was not enough books on hand. So, she posted it on the "Donors Choose" website, which is a trusted classroom funding site for teachers needing things for their classes. I was included in an email blast about this need, so the timing was perfect as I just received my gift card! Her post on the website: "Today's students are used to the fast pace of images and sound via technology. Getting them to listen to stories read aloud by a person or to read anything on their own is a challenge. Capturing their interest through high-quality, visually dominant texts will provide them with the opportunity to practice their reading, leading to better reading skills and success in the classroom. Reading aloud high quality, eye-catching books can make learning fun and create a bond between the adult and the child. This collection of books was chosen by a committee of librarians and includes poetry, science, folktales, and social-emotional stories with lessons featuring a diverse cast of characters. Children will be sure to find something they enjoy reading or listening to as they browse the shelf."

Our donation completely fulfilled her project and allowed her to purchase 10 more books! In all, we purchased 30 books that will be in the library for many years. She sent a heartfelt note of gratitude to the Washington Foundation and is so grateful for the blessings it provided.

I donated my card amount to a non-profit organization called Lowcrawl Hugs. It is a husband and wife team that helps new Marine recruits and their families navigate the boot camp experience. They post day to day updates of the activities of the recruits, travel information for families regarding graduation and family days at the base, and answer any questions that may come up for families. Each and every week, they attended the Marine graduation at San Diego MCRD to support new Marine graduates that do not have family attending. They offer cell phone use, free food, travel planning and any other service that may help the Marine through an exciting, but maybe lonely time. My son is about to graduate in March, and knowing there is a group of dedicated individuals standing by to help him in any way is a comfort to me.

I gave the gift card to a lady that was off work for over a month and a half due to Covid, her name is Kurenda Boyd. Being off work put her family in a very hard spot. She has kids and the bills were piling up. She is a care giver for kids with special needs, and a hard working mother. They are going to use the card to help them pay bills and or buy groceries. I just received a text message today from Kurenda thanking me again and told me how unexpected it was and how thankful she is. She also said "it could not have come at a better time". She is now back to work but has had a hard time getting caught up with the past due bills from her time off.
I am also thankful to the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation for the opportunity to "pay it forward". This gives back to the community in which we live and can has such and impact closer to the employee level. Being apart of this is such an honor and I look forward to participating in this again.