Pay it Forward Stories 2021

Our card was given to some close friends of ours. After learning our friend had lost his job of 16 years due to corporate reorganization we knew they would be good recipients. They are the type of people who always give, and it felt wonderful to return that to them.

Mr. and Mrs. Washington, thank you for the gift of Pay it Forward to help out our community! I was selected for a gift card this year, and chose a local start up non-profit called We! Montana to help. We! Montana is an educational non-profit that has struggled during the COVID pandemic. The gift card is being used to purchase tables to make the classroom more professional and usable. We! Montana teaches classes in Etiquette, Public Speaking, Constitution, Logical Thinking. They also offers Choir and a Skits class as well, and have performances that can be viewed on wemontana.org. It is all volunteer teachers, with any tuition received is used to cover rent, utilities, and equipment.

Thank you for your investment in Montana Communities!

I have chose to gift my pay it forward card to a former co worker of my wife. Being a single parent who suffers from pre existing medical issues, was diagnosed with COVID 19, causing her to miss work for several days along with being quarantined from her family. Some time later having to miss work again (twice) due to children having to be quarantined. With 2020 being a stressful year I am sure that this gift will help provide much needed relief for this grateful family. Thank you so much for the opportunity to help this family when it was needed!

Thank Again
Todd Vingom

I gave my pay it forward card to my co-worker who was recently diagnosed with a life threatening illness for the second time in 2 years. Several of my other co-workers also gave their pay it forward cards to this same individual.

I decided that his family deserves this card to help with expenses associated with the treatment.

He is one of the most positive upbeat people I have ever met. He is an inspiration to all who know him.

Thank you Dennis & Phyllis Washington Foundation for the opportunity to help a fellow co-worker and his family. It makes me proud to work for such an amazing company.

I want to thank the Dennis & Phyllis Washington Foundation for allowing me to be part of this amazing program. My wife and I looked at many worthy organizations that help people throughout Montana and settled on Missoula aging Services. Missoula Aging Services promotes the independence, dignity and health of older adults and those who care for them. It appeared to be an easy choice with both of our Mothers aging and utilizing some of the great programs that are out there when needed.

Thanks again.
Paul Richter

I gave my card to a elderly couple that is down on there luck . The couple are having a hard time getting there house put back together after a small fire that did a lot of damage to there house . It a great opportunity to help elderly people in need thank you .

Due to COVID-19, many of the children in our community have been struggling (Corvallis MT). It was our pleasure to give to the Needy Student Fund at the Corvallis Primary School to help improve a student/students life in this very challenging year.

As a relatively new employee of the Washington Companies I was thrilled to learn about the Pay it Forward campaign and even more excited when I found out I had been selected to participate this year. As I pondered how to best pay it forward given the generous latitude in deciding how to distribute the giving card I remembered a story that my daughter told me about a golden retriever dog named Scout that gives free hugs and donates money to people in need from time to time.
Scout has an Instagram page @scoutgoldenretriever with a tagline: Dog on a mission to make the world a better place one free hug at a time. Scout’s owner Mellisa Heinonen started up what she calls The Venmo Challenge where she asks her followers (Scout’s) to donate whatever they can and to nominate a person in need to get whatever she has collected. From what I understand this all started due to the Covid-19 situation and her desire to try and do what she could to help in her local community.
This may not be the most traditional way to Pay It Forward, but it warmed my heart to know that we are part of someone’s mission to make the world a better place. I am certain that Scout is going to pay it forward in a big way to someone in need.

I gave my card to CASA of Yellowstone County. I currently volunteer with them and I am a CASA 🙂

CASA of Yellowstone County is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to advocate for a safe and permanent home for abused and neglected children in Yellowstone County. This is accomplished through the work of volunteer Court Appointed Special Advocates, appointed by a judge to represent a child or group of siblings in foster care and speak up for the children’s best interests.

I donated the gift card to Buckets of Love. They help cover costs of services and necessities to families, schools, youths, veterans and many others in need.

In February of 2021, a friend of mine lost his 10 year old son in a tragic car accident. He has two other children which survived the accident. His ex-spouse was the driver of the vehicle involved in the accident, and (for reasons I would prefer not to broadcast as it is not my story to tell) this accident also rendered him a single parent.

Naturally, there are many expenses associated with being a newly single parent, including but not limited to unexpected childcare expenses, etc. I gave my pay it forward card to the father of these children for any of these unexpected expenses he may incur which have resulted from this terrible tragedy.

Barrett Foundation provides shelter and support services for women and children experiencing homelessness.

Thank you for the opportunity to participate in the Pay it Forward campaign! What a great feeling to help others. I chose to donate to our church to help enable remote worship using technology.

I donated $300.00 to the Missoula Humane Society and then tried to donate the other $200.00 to the Missoula Food Bank but they were unable to process the card since they use an online credit card service to process cards.
the remaining amount will be donated to the Missoula Humane Society the next trip to Missoula.

I chose to “pay it forward” to a friend that was involved in a terrible multi-car accident on her way home from work. She had multiple operations in the last two six weeks and is finally home from the hospital. It is going to be a long road of recovery for her and she will hopefully be able to walk again. At this point she doesn’t know when she can return to work again. The card is helping cover bills during this difficult time.

I am grateful for the opportunity to help a friend and would like to thank the Washington Family and The Washington Foundation for the generous gift.

Thank you so much!

2019 and 2020 were very difficult years for my Brother, in 2019 He had to get much needed shoulder surgery.
Then other symptoms began to spread throughout His body. Soon, He was diagnosed with Lupus, and the Lupus is affecting His
nervous system. He has been and still is in constant pain. Due to the pain He is not able to stand for more than a few minutes.
use His hands for work, and it is even near impossible play with His Grandchildren.
He has been a builder and owned His own Company for 25 years. Physical labor is not something He can do anymore, so He
is now trying to transition to general contracting. Even with health insurance the medical bills have been overwhelming, including
the out of pocket trip to the Mayo Clinic for $10,000. This pay it forward card with be very helpful with His Medical Bills.
My Brother is very Thankful for the Love and care through this Pay it forward program. Thank you so much for this generous gift
from your foundation!

I know a young single mother of two boys that not only has suffered due to the affects of Covid but is also getting out of an abusive relationship. She was the recipient of this years pay it forward. It will help here with groceries and other living expenses as she works on building a better life for her and her boys.

I donated to my local American Red Cross disaster relief fund. They helped my family and I when we were in need, and I am forever grateful. They were not only there with monetary support, but emotional support as well. With the money we received we were able to get a hotel room, food, and clothing the same day. It is important to make sure the next family is able to have their immediate needs fulfilled also.

I donated this generous gift to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research. My younger sister suffers from this debilitating disease. My hope is that this gift will help find a much needed cure or treatment for this terrible affliction, so that she and many others may get some relief from their pain and suffering. Thank you so much.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to give back. This particular year has been very hard on a lot of folks in my community. My wife works for the local health department and told me there was a young couple with very young kids who were struggling week to week. The husband had lost his job due to covid and was working odd jobs to make ends meet. After meeting these folks I told them I'd like to help. I told them that my company had chosen me for a pay it forward card. After explaining to them what it was for I handed them the card and after some hugs and handshakes they told me that this meant the world to them more than I could understand. Thank you again for allowing me to do this.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to give back. This particular year has been very hard on a lot of folks in my community. My wife works for the local health department and told me there was a young couple with very young kids who were struggling week to week. The husband had lost his job due to covid and was working odd jobs to make ends meet. After meeting these folks I told them I'd like to help. I told them that my company had chosen me for a pay it forward card. After explaining to them what it was for I handed them the card and after some hugs and handshakes they told me that this meant the world to them more than I could understand. Thank you again for allowing me to do this.

First of all I would like to thank the Dennis and Phyllis Washington foundation for giving back to our local communities year after year. I’m honored to have been chosen to be apart of the pay it forward program for the second time. This year I chose to donate to three causes specifically because of the current situation our world is in due to the pandemic. My wife is a pediatric nurse and this last year has really been tough on everyone in the medical field so I wanted to donate $100 to “nurses week” at ST. Vincent’s Hospital, which is an annual week celebrating nurses and all that they do. Many, many people in our communities have also been affected by the pandemic financially. I chose to donate the remaining $400 to two families in my community that I have personally witnessed the hardships the last year has had on them. Once again, thank you to the Dennis and Phyllis Washington foundation for the opportunity to give back with the Pay it Forward Program.

Thank you for the opportunity to Pay it Forward on behalf of the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation; the generosity is incredible!

I chose to give the Pay it Forward card to the Butte Emergency Food Bank, and more specifically toward their Backpack Program. Their Backpack Program provides meal kits to elementary students in need on a weekly basis. This was definitely well received, as they have been unable to conduct their main funding drive for this program (Empty Bowls Event) due to the COVID pandemic. With that said, they have remained diligent in their efforts without this influx of key funding to support the program, all the while during a time that it is needed the most!

Once again, thanks for the wonderful kindness that the Pay it Forward program offers!

I donated the card to the Special Education Department at Chief Charlo Elementary in Missoula. Here was the thank you letter from Extended Resource Teacher, Bethany Nagel, to properly tell how the card was used to benefit the students in her program...

"I am a special education teacher in a classroom with students who have high needs. I am so grateful for the monetary donations provided to our program. With the monetary donations we were able to fully fund needed sensory items in our classroom setting. We recently had a swing attachment installed in our classroom ceiling and with these funds we were able to purchase the following equipment:
• Abilitations Integrations Height Adjustment Systems
• Carabiner 4 pack
• Blue Hammock Swing -
• COSTZON 2 IN 1 KIDS DETACHABLE HANGING CHAIR SWING TENT SET, HAMMOCK
NEST POD HANGING SWING SEAT FOR BOYS/GIRLS, CHILDREN OUTDOOR INDOOR
SWING PLAY HOUSE WITH PLAY TENT, MAX CAPACITY 330 LBS (BLUE)
• Basket Swing
• Noise Canceling Headphones (x5)
• Fidget Pop its (pack of 4)
These donations will allow students to have access to an indoor swing to help support social/emotional/behavioral development and ensure students are regulated enough to access learning opportunities throughout their day. This will allow students to have access in all types of weather to ensure accessibility and safety.
In addition to the swing attachments, students will now have tools to help with focus and auditory needs through noise canceling headphones. These headphones are a necessity for many students who become dysregulated by loud sounds, require pressure on their ears, or may become easily distracted in their environment. We were able to purchase a pack of fidgets that will provide students with a tool to help them stay engaged in their learning while providing sensory input.
From the bottom of our hearts, thank you so much for donating these funds to our program. Our students are going to be able to access their education and remain regulated for longer durations because of the tools we were able to purchase!
-Bethany D. Nagel
Extended Resource Teacher Chief Charlo Elementary 5600 Longview Dr. Missoula, MT 59803

The last couple cards I received I was able to help friends going through cancer treatment but thankfully this year i was able to do something different with my card since I don’t have any one person in need. So after weeks of holding the card trying to figure out where it was really needed most I was driving by the local food bank on Good Friday and saw a line of cars sitting waiting their turn to get food for their families and knowing with the pandemic and all the people struggling I went home and got my card and gave it to them. It makes me feel good to know many families will benefit from my card this year and knowing that this foundation and myself made these families Easter dinner a little bit better is very gratifying. Thank you for the opportunity to help my community