Pay it Forward Stories 2022

A co-worker of my wife's was diagnosed with Stage 4 Cancer (Squamous Cell Carcinoma) in January. With how deeply rooted the cancer already was, the local hospital was not able to before the necessary surgery to remove the affected areas. John & his wife were quickly swept off to a large medical center in Tennessee, where they still remain as he recovers from 3 extensive oral surgeries and undergoes radiation. This Pay It Forward will be a huge assistance to them to keep their household in Montana going while they are thousands of miles away.
Thank you for providing the opportunity for us to help families in our communities.

This year I donated my card to my church who in turn helped a single mother that had car troubles. She in turn was able to fix her car so she could find employment. Thank you for choosing me again this year.

I donated the card to the Bear Creek Buckaroos 4-H club. There are over 20 kids that are members of the club and they are planning on using the money for other charitable acts by paying it forward and also providing scholarships to 4-H camp for kids in need.

The club was extremely excited about the gift and especially the story of the Washington's Paying it Forward.

Thank you for this opportunity to help a group of young adults with a financial boost.

Tim Wolsky

I'm lucky enough to have been selected as a Pay-it-Forward winner several times, and each time I've donated to the USO. During my years in the Air Force, I went to some pretty remote and sometimes very unpleasant places. The USO was always there with care packages, prepaid phone cards to talk to family and friends, toiletry items, entertainment and so much more. The USO was a little piece of home that always traveled with us. It's my distinct honor to give back to the organization that gave me and my fellow Airmen so much aid and comfort so that they may continue to provide unwavering support to our men and women in uniform, no matter where they are. Their organization runs on donations from people like you and me; even a small contribution can make a big difference in a serviceman's life, just as they made a difference in mine. Thank you for the opportunity to give back in a big way!

I gave my giving card to a close family friend Ceaira and Dante Casselman who's daughter was born at just 25 weeks to help with their bills that have been adding up. Little Mia Casselman was born at 25 weeks at
1lb,11oz and 13 inches. She has been in the nicu now for 16 weeks and just hit 7 lbs on March 25th, 2022. As of now they do not know when she will get to go home, but hopefully soon. This family has a long road ahead of them and anything helps.

It was a hard decision this year for paying it forward. I decided on individual the question was how and who. After taking time to consider the options, I over heard a conversation while eating out. A young couple were saying how expensive everything is to live. They had to sell one of their cars and take on a second part time job. That's who and when I decided to pay it forward. I waited for them to be done with their meal and approached them. They were very thankful and grateful with some tears. These moments are a blessing and thank you Dennis and Phyllis for this opportunity to make a difference in a time of struggle for many people.

I gave my gift to Billings Scorpions Lacrosse. They will use it to ouch se equipment and help athletes succeed.

Our colleague Jamie Redmon has a close friend who recently received some devastating news that their daughter was diagnosed with Leukemia Type B. I gave my card (through Jamie) to this family to help cover costs of care and travel for their daughter Paige Nichols. Paige was life flighted to Butte on February 2nd and has undergone surgery as well as begun chemotherapy in her battle. Paige is a fighter and is in my prayers along with her family.

Thank you to the Washington Foundation for providing this opportunity to help!

My giving card was donated in full to a non-profit in our area called Little Critter Crew. This non-profit is run by three individuals that donate their time, resources, and houses in an effort to foster, rehabilitate, and re-home small animals such as rabbits, mice, rats, and Chinchillas. These animals are often purchased as "pets" for young children without the understanding by the parents that they require significant time and resources to be adequately care for.

Often times these animals will suffer injury from young children handling them too roughly, or the animals will fall into neglect as children quickly lose interest in an animal that isn't "entertaining" enough.

As the owners of two Chinchillas, we understand the amount of care and attention these animals require and the expense that just two exotic animals can incur. These animals also have a lifespan of up to 20 years, so the investment is very long term.

Little Critter Crew scours social media for animals that are being given away or sold cheaply and would likely go directly to another home that does not understand the responsibilities involved with owning and caring for them. They also perform rescues of animals living in abusive or inadequate care homes. All their intakes are fostered and taken in for health inspections and spaying/neutering before being made available for adoption. As a result, these animals may spend several weeks or even months being brought back to health and learning to trust humans again. As each animal requires a visit to an "exotic" trained veterinarian, expenses add up extremely quickly for each animal.

The individuals running Little Critter Crew are often short of funding and find themselves out of room to accept new intakes simply due to the overwhelming amount of animals that are discarded, especially after the holidays. Everything that they are able to do for these animals is due to donors helping to support them in their efforts and their own personal contributions.

We chose this non-profit simply because they are the voice for the smallest of critters and they have the biggest hearts for these animals. Their purpose is to rescue and re-home, and they can't do it without support from the community.

Although $500.00 was a mere drop-in-the bucket for their needs, they were overwhelmed by this gift and expressed true gratitude for the generosity of The Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation.

Hello, I chose to give my giving card to FtR as they provide a positive service for our area that benefits the horses and participant.

Equine partnerships allow the connection of mind, body & soul
Faith Therapeutic Riding Service, or FtR, was created to provide all people with disabilities a professionally supervised riding experience; Creating equal opportunity for all people, at all levels of ability; And to offer everyone the immense benefits and positive impact of equine assisted activities.
Therapeutic riding has provided social, educational, and recreational opportunities to individuals with disabilities for more than a century. By utilizing the special bond between humans and horses, Equine Assisted Activities benefit students of all ability levels both inside and out.

•Students can begin our therapeutic riding program at four years of age.

•Safety is our number one priority, for the rider and the equine alike.

•Students will learn skills for independent horseback riding as well as enjoy fun activities while on horseback.

•Adaptations are made as necessary so that students can reach their fullest potential

•Classes are taught in a private or group format by PATH Intl. certified instructors in conjunction with trained volunteers. (Private lessons are available for an additional fee.)

•Students become prepared to participate in other exciting events including: Special Olympics, horse shows, inclusive summer camps, and other continuing education series.

Lessons are performed by a PATH Intl. certified therapeutic riding instructor, and riders participate in activities on our safe, calm, and patient horses.

Therapeutic Riding teaches skills to participants as a recreational activity. The participant influences the horse to reach the goals.

Your timing is impeccable as the exec just mentioned this morning that she is going on our spring supply run. Your generosity is going to help us get the care and supplements necessary to get the equine team all up and ready for another riding season. Also, we provide forever care for our retired equine partners and are therefore always appreciative of the ability to spoil and care for each member of the herd, whether they are actively serving or enjoying some well deserved time off.

Earlier this year, our friend's toddler started the year with some medical mysteries which were causing their son extremely swollen lymph nodes and facial swelling. After various doctors appointments, surgeries, and sleepless nights, their son endured his third big procedure and finally got the troublesome lymph nodes removed in his neck, some of which were almost grape-sized. Also, recently he got to meet with an infectious disease doctor and was given the green light to be officially off antibiotics while we just keep an eye out for any more irregular nodes. He is recovering well and returning back to good toddler spirits. All of this stress and uncertainty was a difficult way to start the new year, and included many unplanned medical bills for their family.

Thank you to the Dennis & Phyllis Washington Foundation for providing such an incredible benefit to a family in need and add positivity to a difficult situation.

I gave my card to a young family who works extremely hard and needed money for every day struggles they were very thankfull for the gift to help them to get ahead a bit

I gave my pay it forward card to the Humane Society of Western Montana. I am a huge animal lover and can't think of a better way to help out homeless animals.
They were extremely Grateful for the donation, and want me to Thank the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation for the Generosity they give to the community.

I chose to give to the boys and girls club of Thurston county. This organization is very near and dear to my heart. As a youth I attended the Boy and Girls club with my siblings every spring break and summer vacation. The vast majority of the staff are volunteers and are great mentors that chose to donate their time to todays youth, many of whom are less fortunate or might not have a male or female role model in their lives. They offer tutoring, team building and various different sports programs that teach teamwork, sportsmanship and self confidence.

After graduating from college I wanted to give back and volunteered with the Boys and Girls Club and it was one of the most gratifying experiences of my life to work with todays youth both mentoring and coaching them in various sports and functions. It made a dramatic difference in my life and has for many youth that attend the boys and girls club.

I used my giving card to assist a family that had been affected by the recent pandemic. Prior to receiving the giving card I had on several occasions set funds aside as both the husband and wife first fell to the closures and than they both fell ill to the virus itself. Their appreciation along with my joy in being able to help them is truly a blessing. Thank you

Curtis O. Peebles GSP, CHST, STS-C
Envirocon Inc.

I’ve been listening to a lot of Tony Robbins and hungry people and feeding them is near and dear to his heart and this year he’s going to feed through his charitable donations 1 million people and I just want to be part of that! So I went around the Helena community and found hungry and homeless people and bought them a meal, sure does make you feel good helping people out that need it ! Thank you Dennis Phyllis Washington for the opportunity!

I decided to spread the giving around..if I was getting gas and someone pulled up I would explain that I work for MRL and explain the paybit forward format..then buy their gas..it shocked absolutely everyone!! Also if I saw someone with groceries and kids I would walk up and explain then pay for their groceries!! Can not tell you how much it made people's day..several toba point of happy tears !!

I decided to spread the giving around..if I was getting gas and someone pulled up I would explain that I work for MRL and explain the paybit forward format..then buy their gas..it shocked absolutely everyone!! Also if I saw someone with groceries and kids I would walk up and explain then pay for their groceries!! Can not tell you how much it made people's day..several toba point of happy tears !!

I would like to thank all of those involved with the Dennis and Phillis Washington Foundation for making such a contribution to our companies and employees. Sometimes the reactions from the Pay it Forward Program gift card recipients is more than one expects.

While narrowing it down to a couple of different recipients for my card, I stopped in at one of the businesses which we rely on for support, and asked if one of their employees had retired early, and learned that this was not the case. The employee had gone into the hospital for a serious case of COVID-19, and shortly after his release was diagnosed with severe cancer.

My choice was to give the card to this person and his family, and after reading the letter, things got really quiet, he thanked me, then shared his story of the challenges he has faced and continues to each day, because all though he has tried to return to work, he is too weak to do so.

Once again, thank you.
Thomas Moran

16 year old boy recently diagnosed with medical condition. Travel costs to Kalispell children hospital and co- pays.

The Giving Card was issued to the Corvallis Primary School. We issued the card to them for multiple reasons. To help with Art Supplies, a beloved teacher that had worked at the school for a number of years passed away unexpectedly, and we wanted to support our daughters school.

Missoula Aging Services - Meals on Wheels

Thanks to Corey Spehar, employee at Montana Resources, Butte, the Anaconda Community Foundation was able to "pay it forward" on behalf of Corey and this gift. After describing several known needs in our community, Corey picked two: 1. purchase food for lasagnalove.org, a program that assists families with a hot meal who are simply needing some comfort from a hot meal; groceries were purchased on behalf of those who cook for needy families. 2. our high school students no longer qualify for food supplements such as the backpack program and school personnel have noticed students being hungry, thus, half of Corey's "pay it forward" went to the Anaconda High School office food pantry.

The weeks leading up to camp were some of the warmest days of the year thus far, but a break in the temperatures was on the horizon and arrived just in time for camp. Monday morning began with a bustle of activity as instructors readied the aircraft for the first day of flying. Campers Jake, Chris, Martín and Cody arrived with an energy and excitement that lasted the entire week. Everyone enjoyed a light breakfast in the hangar, courtesy of Town & Country, as the campers explored their flight bags and readied their logbooks for the first entry. As the hangar doors opened on that first morning, our future pilots looked out to see their aircraft set up in diamond formation while the Top Gun soundtrack played in the background.
Following a group pre-flight, campers and instructors climbed into the cockpits and took to the skies over the Gallatin Valley for their first flight! Two hours later they touched down, returning to a delicious lunch donated by Jersey Mike’s Subs. Ready for their next adventure, they headed out for a tour of Bridger Aerospace, learning about the new technologies used in wildfire suppression and got a tour inside one of the decommissioned Super Scooper aircraft! Following a tour at Rocky Mountain Rotors to check out some helicopters, the campers returned to Summit for a ground lesson on basic aerodynamics to finish off the day.
Day 2 dawned a bit hazy from smoke, but it didn’t dampen our campers’ enthusiasm as they took to the skies once again! Heading to the southwest, they got an aerial view of one of the area’s newest forest fires on their way to Ennis. After a classic Summit BBQ cookout of hot dogs and hamburgers with all the fixings, our new pilots got to explore the world of private aviation and charter operations with a tour of an Embraer Praetor 600 jet (given by our three amazing volunteers from Embraer Executive Jets- Marsha, Doug and Bruno), as well as the FBOs of Yellowstone Jet Center and Jet Aviation. A glimpse into aviation maintenance with a visit to Arlin’s Aircraft Service rounded out the day’s adventures.
The third day brought a flight to Helena and a ride in the old classic Lincoln Town Car from the Executive Jet FBO. A cruise down Main Street with a stop at the coffee shop topped off the excursion before their return to Summit for wonderful pizza and salad provided by MacKenzie River Pizza in Belgrade. After lunch, the campers enjoyed a tour of Bozeman’s Airport Fire Station, before heading out to explore Hyalite Canyon and Palisade Falls.
Thursday was “Split up and go where you want day”. For camper Cody and instructor Ben, this meant the opportunity to fly to Cody’s hometown of Phillipsburg, MT to see his family and visit the candy store where he works! Fellow camper Jake and instructor Andrew decided to join in on the fun, while campers Chris and Martín decided to explore the impressive collection of antique cars at the airport in Ruby Valley with their instructors, Hannah and Hattie. Special thanks to Bombardier for sponsoring all of Thursday’s flights! After a delicious lunch donated by Roost Fried Chicken, our campers learned the basics of cross-county flight planning before heading to Summit’s FRASCA simulator, where a new obsession was born. After multiple attempts, and some successes, to land the simulator with no engines, it was time to call it a day.
The final day of camp arrived and everyone was ready for their big trip to Driggs, ID. Departing in the Diamond DA42 Twin Stars, our campers and their instructors first headed south to Yellowstone National Park for the spectacular views of the Grand Prismatic, Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and Old Faithful, which put on a show as they flew by! Now westward bound, Chris, Martín, Jake and Cody experienced the majesty of the Grand Tetons from the birds eye view. Once on the ground in Driggs, it was on to a private tour of the Warbirds Museum, followed by lunch at the Warbirds Café before loading up for one last flight back to Bozeman. After one last round in the simulator, which turned into a competition to see who could successfully complete a barrel roll without crashing, we said goodbye to our campers and sent them off with best wishes, unforgettable memories and friendships to last a lifetime.
Every camp seems better than the last, and last year was no different. Whether it was the endless enthusiasm of our campers, or the fact that we weren’t able to hold the camp the previous year due to the pandemic, this camp seemed to be the best one yet and ultimately, that’s all thanks to you. From aircraft owners donating flight time and all of our individual sponsors and lunch donors, to our Embraer volunteers, Bombardier sponsored flights and Jet Aviation’s donation of all the fuel used during the week, we cannot thank you all enough! Without your generous support, none of this would be possible.
Every year we are blown away by the generosity and support we receive for this program and so are our
campers. Each of our campers was kind enough to share with us what this camp meant to them and how it has changed their lives. For cancer survivors there’s always that fear in the back of their minds of their cancer returning. For some, the physical limitations they’ve experienced as a result of their cancer or treatments is a daily presence in their lives, but the one thing all of our campers shared is how freeing and empowering this experience is for them. When they get in the plane there’s nothing they can’t do and every time they leave the runway, they leave their cares and worries behind and they’re free.

I donated the Pay It Forward 2022 card to Richland Early Learning Co-op, they will be using these fund for school supplies, purchase new play toys, and activity needs. This program encourages Parent/Student learning and are centered around early learning for the youth before pre school.