Pay it Forward Stories 2019

My Pay-It-Forward card was given to Travis and Kari Wafstet. The Wafstet's became foster parents a little over two years ago to two children who needed a home after the childrens' parents were incarcerated. Since that time, Kari and Travis adopted these two children, and had another child of their own. My wife got to know the Wafstet's a few years ago. The Pay-It-Forward card was given to the Wafstet's to help them with their everyday needs in raising their children.

I gave the gift card to a woman from my church. She is a refugee from Eritrea, where Christian's have been persecuted openly by the Eritrean government since 2003. She walked to Ethiopia where she lived as a refugee for six years. While she was in Ethiopia, she was reunited with her childhood sweetheart. They were married became pregnant. Her husband had an opportunity to leave Ethiopia and go to Switzerland while she was still pregnant. She has not seen or heard from her husband since he left Ethiopia. She was finally able to leave Ethiopia in January of 2017 after four years. She came to Missoula through Soft Landings and lived in a motel with her child for six weeks in the middle of winter. She learned how to drive and passed the drivers test, including the written portion, without knowing English. She has since learned English and works tow jobs to support her six year old daughter. Recently, she was contacted by her brother, who told her that he had been contacted by her husband in Switzerland. She is traveling to Switzerland to see her husband for the first time since he left Ethiopia. This will be the first time her daughter will meet her father. I gave the money to her and her daughter to use for this trip. Haman's positive outlook and hard work in the face of adversity is inspirational.

Help For Homeless Pets Is a small non profit no kill organization. We have helped thousands of dogs and cats in our community For over 20 years.
We could not do this good work without the support of employees like Kenneth Goodman. Also Employers such as Montana Rail Link and foundations like yours that helps support the efforts of organizations like ours.
This donation came at a critical time when we were left unexpectedly with 20 young baby kittens with no mothers and kittens were in very bed shape. Respiritory problems and malnourished. They needed bottle fed and antibiotics. Our volunteers spent many hours caring for them requiring 20 cans of kitten formula and lost sleep. Then came vaccinations and prep for their new homes including spay and neuter.
Thank you for your support from these little faces and many more tha that benefit from your good work.

I donated my Pay It Forward $500 gift to Alexa Bachler, daughter of MRL Locomotive Engineer Josh Bachler. Alexa suffers from a rare disease called Juvenile Dermatomyositis. It is a chronic illness that she will have for the rest of her life. The goal is to get it into remission.

Alexa goes to Children's Hospital in Seattle twice a year, and gets treatments in Billings, and one treatment at home every week. It is a skin and muscle disease, and she is highly sensitive to sunlight. The treatment she gets weekly is a small dose of chemotherapy. Alexa has been getting treatments since December of 2017, after being diagnosed at the age of nine. Dad Josh says, "She's tough and we have learned a lot from her."

As an MRL Locomotive Engineer myself, I have personally worked with Josh over the last several years, and have learned firsthand of the emotional and financial challenges he and his young family have been coping with. I feel his daughter Alexa is the perfect candidate to Pay It Forward to, and I proudly offer her this gift of $500 on behalf of the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation.

Andrew G. Guirguis
Locomotive Engineer
Montana Rail Link, Inc.

THE PAY IT FORWARD CARD IS ABOVE AND BEYOND WHAT ANY WORDS CAN SAY. WHEN YOU SHOW UP AT SOMEONES DOOR WITH A GIFT
AND TELL THEM WHAT IT IS ALL ABOUT, HAND THEM THE BOXES OF FOOD. THE SMILES, HUGS AND TEARS ARE MORE THAN THE WORD THANKS CAN EVER SAY. MY PAY IT FORWARD CARD WENT TO TWO FAMILIES THIS YEAR. I PURCHASED GOODS FROM THE MEAT BLOCK IN BUTTE MT, STEAKS, ROASTS, PORK AND DELIVERD TO THE TWO FAMILIES, THEY WERE VERY VERY APPRECIATIVE AND SMILES FROM EAR TO EAR. ONE LITTLE GIRL EVEN ASKED “MOMMA WHAT IS A SEASONED STEAK?” THANK YOU FOR GIVING MONTANA RESOURCES EMPLOYEES THE OPPORTUNITY TO CHANGE AND BRIGHTEN SOMEONES DAY THROUGH THE DENNIS AND PHYLLIS WASHINGTON PAY IT FORWARD CARD.

SINCERELY, MONTANA RESOURCES EMPLOYEE
TYKE GALLE

Our giving card enabled our program to throw our first annual Open Your HEART Summer Block Party to celebrate the end of the school year and the beginning of summer. Since we work through the school district with hundreds of students experiencing homelessness, summer can be a hard time for students who will lose integral support systems the day that school ends. We decided to try and educate the population we work with about summer programming, resources, and organizations that exist to help them thrive during the summer months without school. Families and the community as a whole were invited to a COMPLETELY FREE event on the last day of school that was filled with music, fun, food, prizes, and games! Over 600 people attended our event, learned about our program, and also learned about other programs in our community. Over 24 local nonprofits, organizations, and businesses set up tables with information and giveaways regarding summer resources they offer! In addition, the local hospital system sponsored over 700 meals of hamburgers and hot dogs. For fun we had a petting zoo, fire trucks, carnival games, a rock wall, bounce house, face painting, horses, and so much more! The best part about the event was the ability for anybody to attend since we were able to utilize generous donations from places like the Dennis & Phyllis Washington Foundation to cover overhead costs and assure that every thing was free for all community members. It was warm and sunny, and hundreds of students & families had the time of their lives. And more importantly, the families that we serve were able to learn about programs and resources that are out there to help support them that they did not know about otherwise.