Pay it Forward Stories 2022

One of my wife's coworkers experienced a tragedy where her house burned down in the middle of the night on March 8, 2022. Her and her husband were able to get their dogs out in time but unfortunately lost all of their belongings. I wanted to give them this pay it forward card as a way to help them get back on their feet during this challenging time.

Darrell Fenner Loon Lake 4-H Camp. A goal of the
camp has been to make it 100% handicap
accessible and this gift will enable the start of the
ADA ramp to the lake.

First Thank You to the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation for allowing me to participate in this great program. I gave my card this year to a sister of a coworker i have. She was involved in a serious car accident that caused her to miss some work. i thought the card could be used for medical bills or anything else she and her 3 kids could use. Once again thank you for allowing me to participate in this great program

I choose to give my card to a local family in town. They are struggling with bills, medical, and housing. They wished to stay anonymous but wanted me to let the foundation know that they are beyond grateful and honored to have received this card. I personally want to thank the Washington family/ foundation for allowing me to help this family. I hope this Pay It Forward never goes away. Sincerely Justin Fievet.

I donated my card to youth sports organization.

I donated my card to a local sports organization. This money helps families cope with the financial burden on families.

I donated to youth sports organization. It allows more kids to follow their passions.

Youth sports is expensive. I donated my card to help offset those costs.

I donated my card to a local sports organization. Equipment and costs for families that could use the help.

I donated my card this year to a young lady who loves playing sports. But sometimes financially can’t participate. The look on her face was amazing!!! Thank you DPF foundation!

After losing a best friend to suicide in 2008, I wanted to help raise awareness by donating my card to Project Tomorrow Montana. Their mission “is to reduce the number of suicides and suicide attempts through collaborative efforts that promote, support, and increase awareness, prevention, intervention and recovery.”

Thank you to the Washington Foundation for the opportunity to pay it forward.

Youth athletics were a big part of my life and taught me some great values. I donated my card to youth sports to help the kids out.

I gave the Pay It Forward gift to a friend who had lost her husband and she used it to help with the funeral costs. This gift is so meaningful to give to people who normally would never ask for help, but could use a helping hand when times get tough. Thank you for this program and for allowing us to be a part of it.

My card was donated to a family who had been struggling financially. The wife has been having some significant health issues and unable to work. Currently they were behind on some bills and needed some car repairs. The husband had been walking to work because his hours are prior to the buses running.
They did use the card to catch up on some medical expenses which allowed them to pay for the repairs needed on their car!

I decided to use my giving card to buy diaper wipes and youth clothing for children entering foster care. Often times, children are removed from their home and are in an emergency situation where they need PJs and an outfit for the next day until their personal belongings can be picked up. These children often do not get brand new clothes, so this will provide them a new set of clothing.

I donated my card this year to a individual who feel on hard times this past year I do believe the individual was going to use on every day needs for the family

This year I gave my card to Mr. Tom Steele. Tom is known around the Mine here, he works for Hoffman R & M Services. Tom comes twice a week & services the porta-potty's located through the property. About a year & a half ago, Tom's wife suffered a stroke and Tom became her main caregiver, while continuing to work. With all this going on, Tom received devastating news, his prostate cancer is back. Tom has been fighting this while still working to provide for him & his wife. Just recently, Tom has been to week to work & has had to concentrate on his health. I hope by giving him this pay it forward gift card, helps him not worry as much about his finances. Thank you very much in helping me provide this for him & his wife.

I used to my giving card to go to a close family friend and their foundation. Their foundation is the Jayden Fred foundation. "The Jadyn Fred Foundation was established May 25, 2001. Jadyn was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 3. Her condition, Pancreatoblastoma, was only one of two clinically identified cases of its type on record. The other case, 20 years earlier, was that of a young woman in the Seattle area; not another case could be found for reference of treatment throughout the US." I encourage people to visit their foundation page and learn about it a little more. The family is a very nice and genuine family. Losing one of their family members and then turning around making a foundation that helps others and their families take a lot of effort but they enjoy ot everyday. They will be using the funds to prep for other events they put on throughout the year to contribute to the foundation. They were very appreciative of the gift card and said it would help a lot with various things. Thank you for putting this on for us as employees to help build our community closer and learn of other people's needs.

About the time I received my giving card, I learned that an old friend was diagnosed with a brain tumor. She is a self-employed photographer and the primary breadwinner for her family. She specializes in weddings and as her symptoms have escalated, they have gradually disrupted her ability to work. I hope this card helps offset some of the medical costs they will incur or at least support the family with everyday necessities.
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She gave birth to her first child about a year ago (healthy baby boy) but has been experiencing severe health issues since. After multiple misdiagnoses, she ended up in the ER one night after exhibiting stroke-like symptoms. The hospital discharged her with migraine medicine. Exasperated, her husband demanded a CT scan, which revealed a sizable brain tumor over 3” in size on the front right lobe of her brain, near both her sinus cavity and her optic nerve.

She underwent surgery on February 21st to remove the tumor. There were a few complications, and the surgery ended up lasting well over 20 hours. Nevertheless, the medical staff successfully removed the tumor, and she was transitioned to the ICU. After several days, she opened her eyes and began being responsive.

Since that day, she continues to improve, but the recovery period is long. The initial pathology report indicated cancerous cells in the tumor, but a grade of intermediate aggressiveness. Doctors remain optimistic that the entire tumor was removed; they will continue to do regular brain scans to confirm.

We used the giving card to support our son's speech teacher for the Washington Public School in Livingston. Our six year old had speech delay, something we have been working on since he was three years old and is now flourishing thanks to the dedication of the public schools and the speech department in particular. We are grateful for the opportunity to provide this gift to a program that has been so good to us.

I gave my Pay it Forward card to the Ronald McDonald House of Billings. When my brother was diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor as a young teenager our family was able to stay at a similar establishment where he was being treated. It made a big difference being able to stay next to the hospital and to not have to worry about accommodation.
Thank you for the opportunity to pay it forward.

This year we discussed as a family the best way for us to pay it forward. Having recently moved back to Portland we have been overwhelmed by the homeless situation within the city and felt we needed to find a way to help. We decided to gift our card to Rose Haven.

"Rose Haven is a day shelter and community center serving women, children and gender non-conforming folks experiencing the trauma of abuse, loss of home and other disruptive life challenges. We break the cycle of homelessness by providing meals, clothing, first aid, mailing addresses, hygiene, restrooms, showers as well as educational programs and guidance through medical and social services. By meeting basic needs and building trust, we empower our guests to explore long-term change." (www.rosehaven.org)

We were invited to tour their facility and to meet with their staff to get a first hand look at what they do. So glad we chose Rose Haven to Pay it Forward.

For the second year in a row now I feel blessed to have participated in this program. No doubt it has benefitted the people we have chosen, but it has also pushed our family to have some wonderful discussions regarding giving back to the community. Huge thank you to Mr. and Mrs. Washington, this is such an amazing thing that you allow us to do.

I split the Pay It Forward funds between Animeals and Albert's Angel Fund, both animal rescues here in Western Montana. Both organization help feed and find homes for dogs and cats.

I gave the card to ducks unlimited as I have done in the past, the money was used for the banquet where we raise money to help preserve the wet lands.

I gave my card to my Granddaughters kindergarten teacher. The reasons for my choice are: 1 My Granddaughter is a student and I like to use my card for something I have a connection too. 2 My girlfriend, who was a grade school teacher, passed away this past January. So I am giving my card in her honor. 3 Schools in general are terribly underfunded and the teacher I gave my card to was so appreciative of the donation. It really made me feel good to see her excitement at being able to better help her students.
Thank you to the foundation for allowing me to help out my community.