Pay it Forward Stories 2022

Last year I was chosen as a pay it forward giving recipient. I chose to give it to the Theodore Roosevelt conservation project. Since then, I have gotten emails and phone calls from then thanking me and wanting to know what conservation projects were important to me. I never would have imagined I would receive this much thanks and gratitude on a personal level from them. It truly gives me confidence that donating to them was a good choice. This year I chose to donate to the Theodore Roosevelt conservation project again because I truly believe they are making a difference in improving habitat for western big game animals and working hard towards finding a solution to a terrible disease that is severely affecting and expanding in deer, elk, and moose populations, that is Chronic Wasting Disease. I am so lucky to live and work in Montana and enjoy the outdoors. The Theodore Roosevelt conservation project protects and improves many of the recreational activities Montanans enjoy. I would like to thank the Dennis and Phyllis Washington foundation for the pay it forward program and choosing me to participate.

We gave our card to a family in our community whose child had been diagnosed with a rare cancer. (To help with medical travel costs.)

Thank you Dennis and Phillis Washington for giving me this chance to give to a very good organization that helps all the animals in need.
The gift card of $500.00 was sent to World Wildlife Fund.
To help the animals that cannot help themselves. World Wildlife Fund has be protecting the future of nature for awhile.
Saving wildlife and Wildlife recoveries.

Again thank you - Dennis & Phillis

I passed on my giving card to a Butte family with a young boy battling cancer. They have been spending most of their time traveling for doctors appointments and treatments, which is mostly out of pocket expenses. I know this donation will be very helpful to them. Thank you Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation.

The giving card that I received went to the Lone Rock Middle School science department. Lone Rock is a small K-8th grade school located on the east side of the Bitterroot Valley between Stevensville and Florence. I have 2 boys who attended this school in the past and the science teachers they had at the school were amazing. The science teachers at the school made learning fun and furthered their interest in science through to high school and college.

Most people know that teachers are not nearly paid enough for what they do. Lone Rock School is one of the lowest paying schools in the state with an average teachers salary just above $22,000 per year. Many of the teachers have to use their own money to buy supplies and extra things for their classes. I don't understand how they do this on the poverty wages they are paid.

We ended up giving the card directly to science teacher Mrs. Amy Reed. She was so appreciative of the card that she broke down crying when she received it. She is going to use the card to buy science supplies for her classes. Mrs. Reed and teachers like her are the real hero's and hopefully this little bit of giving will help her and more importantly help the students .

My wife Mary is type 1 diabetic and has been since the age of 6. She is the secretary for the Montana Youth Diabetes Alliance, (MYDA).
MYDA is a 501C3 organization that started in 2019 to fulfill the unmet needs of the Montana Type 1 diabetes community. Here is their mission statement:

"Our mission is to enrich the lives of youth with Type 1 Diabetes and their families while offering safe, fun, and educational opportunities through camps and other events. MYDA provides financial assistance for out-of-pocket expenses associated with self-management supplies and networking resources to navigate diabetes-related support systems."

I donated my card to this organization to help offset the financial needs of providing these camps and supplies to these children and their families.

I gave my pay it forward card to Anaconda snowmobile club. They are a non profit that keeps snowmobile trails in our area cleared and groomed. Always doing maintenance on trails. They have been hit with some unexpected break downs this year and I hope they can use this to pay for parts or buy something to use to raffle off to generate funds to help the club.

I gave my card to my parents. My dad had a extensive neck surgery two years ago an never fully recovered. My mom decided to quit her job to help my dad with work and everyday life at home. It seems sometimes they struggle to make ends meet so i figured they were the best people I knew to give the card to. They've always been there to help me throughout life so I decided it would be good to help them a little bit.

This gift will be used for a young Hospice patient and his significant other. They both struggle with medical limitations and this patient requires continuous Oxygen. Neither one have been able to work and their electric bill has been over $400 a month. They are also struggling with obtaining consistent nutritional resources. This gift will go towards electric bills and nutritional support, directly impacting this patient and his significant other.

I reached out to the school where my children attend, Hellgate Elementary. The school counselors notified me of a family that in was in need due to a recent death of a spouse and a newly single mom. Hellgate will be providing this mom and family with the Pay It Forward card.

Yellowstone Valley Animal Shelter put out a request for help with 16 dogs that were rescued from an abuser and they were malnourished to the point the survivors need special food. I donated the Pay It Forward card along with blanket and puppy pads to help them with the cost of taking care of the animals in need of assistance.

There’s a family I know that due to Covid and all these unseen unfortunate events was struggling to pay power bill and other house hold bills. So I offered the card to them to pay power and other bills. But I knew that there winter heating cost were high and they were adding up. There were young kids in the home so by doing so I hope I helped ease some of there pressures with all this and the winter months coming to an end. The feeling of seeing the look on the family’s face was more than heart warming. They look at you in complete disbelief when you present the card to them. It brought tears to there eyes as well as mine!! Thank you Washington corp for allowing me to be part of such an amazing foundation!!😇😇

First off, I'd like to thank the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation for allowing me the opportunity to give back to my community. I chose two organizations to split the funds evenly between: The Gathering Place and the City of Alvin Adoption Center.

When my mom was the sole caregiver for my dad, The Gathering Place offered respite care a few hours once a week where she could run her errands or simply just take a much needed break. The Gathering Place is a non-profit that serves Brazoria county and helps families who are affected by dementia and Alzheimer's disease. It allows a weekly four hour break for the caregiver while offering activities and ministry for the patients. When my mom passed, I took over as my dad's caregiver and was incredibly grateful for this organization.

The City of Alvin Animal Adoption Center provides animal control in our area and has a no-kill policy for their kennel. I opted to donate to the medical side of the organization because if an animal is found needing medical care, they will offer the best care possible until the animal can be reunited with their owner, transferred to a rescue group, or adopted into their forever home. It's important to me that these lives are taken care of.

We, at Horse Creek School, would like to say THANK YOU SO much for the generous donation! We are a one room schoolhouse, grades K-8, located on the ND and MT border. The school has been around since the early 1900’s! We are one of the only functioning schools like it around!

I have struggled to find funds to properly engage all the grade levels. I am in my last year at Horse Creek, after teaching here for 5 wonderful years. There will be 7 grade levels next year and I will use the money to purchase supplies to get the new teacher acclimated to this new environment, along with books that are leveled to each age group. I also plan to purchase some much needed P.E equipment! We appreciate your kindness!

Sincerely,

Ms. Tosch & Ms. Monica
Ledger(K), Rosie(K), Hollis(2nd), Ivy(2nd), Penelope(1st), Elice(4th), Henri(4th), Jaden(3rd), Shay(6th), Hoyt(6th), Jude(6th), Avery(8th)

Gave the card to Animeals, a no kill animal shelter to use for food, blankets or whatever they need.

I donated the card to the Billings Scorpions Lacrosse team. This is a lacrosse league that is relatively new. There were some team members that wanted to play that couldn't afford all that is required with a travel sports team. These girls are loving the sport and it is good to see the enthusiasm from them. The card will definitely help the league and team!

I was lucky enough to receive a Pay It Forward card this year and I passed it along to a struggling friend of mine that is having a hard time just making ends meet. She was very grateful and was able to pay most of her house taxes with it. Thank you Dennis, Phyllis and the Washington Foundation for making this a possibility to "Pay it Forward".

I gave the card to a lady who broke her leg and after 6 months of not being able to work, due to not healing correctly, she needs to go in for another surgery on it.

My card was given to a young woman in the community that is trying to get ahead in life. We asked that she use the card for gas and other increasing expenses in today's economy.

Was able to donate the card to the Bonner Wrestling club. We were able to buy some more singles, shoes, and coaches shirts.

We used the card to purchase diapers and pajamas. We donated them to our local child and family services. Thank you for the opportunity.

I donated the gift card to the U of M Dance team. These hard-working girls train multiple days of the week and perform at all Griz home football games, men's and women's basketball, and volleyball games. Unfortunately, they receive no funding or scholarships from the university and therefore everything needs to be paid for out of their own pockets. They have different fundraisers throughout the year, but ultimately they pay for their uniforms, supplies and all travel. Therefore, I donated the card to help the team pay their expenses as they headed to Boise, Idaho to perform for the Griz basketball teams and all the Griz fans at the Big Sky Conference tournament. The card will be used to help pay for gas, food and hotel expenses.
Very thankful to be a part of the Washington companies and extremely grateful to be given an opportunity to help in some way.

I was happy to give a Pay It Forward gift card to a family with young children that has faced difficulty this year due to one parent unable to work for several months because of an injury. The family told me that this gift card is going to be incredibly helpful to buy some much needed supplies for their 2-year-old that will make life easier.

The Recipient that received the “Giving Card” were individuals that were unable to pay for their prescribed medications

To whom it may concern:
I would like to take a moment and express my gratitude of receiving this “Giving Card”. I have been selected in years past and have been fortunate to see the benefits that this card gives to those less fortunate.
What I have done is given my card to a pharmacy in Butte Montana with instructions to help those individuals who are not able to pay for their essential prescription medications.
I had a conversation with the pharmacist about using this card to help those that are less fortunate and help pay for essential prescription medications. The pharmacist knew the folks that I was wanting to help and agreed to maintain the card and keep balances. The pharmacist had informed me that I had just missed an elderly woman who had to decide on what medications she could afford for the month. The pharmacy staff stated that this donation will help many people that find themselves in unfortunate times. I asked that if an individual were to ask who helped pay for the medication to state that it was a giving card from the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation. Both the pharmacist and clerk were inspired by the generosity of the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation and the pay it forward program.
So again, I would like to thank the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation for starting this act of goodwill. I do believe that this does benefit the community in which my family and I live.

On November 9th my wife and I welcomed a healthy baby boy into our family. On November 19th at 10 days old our son was hospitalized for RSV. Things took a turn for the worst on day 3 of being hospitalized and our son was fighting for his life. He had to be on a breathing tube and was life flighted to a higher level of care facility in Missoula MT. My wife and I drove to Missoula not knowing what would come next, but knew our son was getting the best possible care. We were offered to say at the RMHC at no cost to us. This took so much stress off of us (financially) to be able to have a warm bed, hot shower, and something other than hospital food. The staff was incredible making sure our needs were met all while showing us so much support. They provided us a home cooked Thanksgiving dinner. We spent 11 days here. We couldn’t of thought a better way to give our Pay it Forward card, we sent this card to the RMHC to be used. (They provided just about everything, shampoo, soap, laundry soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste, etc.).
Our son is now 4 months old and healthy as can be. We hope by giving the pay it forward card to the RMHC can relive some stress to another family like it did for ours when going through such a tough time.