Pay it Forward Stories 2023

On the night of February 5th, Alyssa Fairclough and her 7 year old daughter, Kennedy, were moving into a new rental in Belgrade, MT. They moved all their possessions into the home and went back to Four Corners for their last load from the home they were moving from. Upon returning, they found the new rental in flames and Belgrade fire fighting the fire. All their possessions were lost. Their rental insurance policy did not start until the next day. There has been a tremendous amount of community outpouring for this single mom and her daughter. The $500 from the pay it forward program is being used to help them replace their belongings.

I reached out to 3 grade school teachers and asked them to send me a short story on how they could use a $500 charitable donation. I received one response from Riley Munson at Evergreen School in Yreka, CA. Attached is her response.

I really feel this donation will have a direct impact.

Thank you for your generosity.

I am donating my Pay It Foward to the Shriners Hospital for Children.
They are a terrific organization that take great of children with orthopedic problems.
They are celebrating their 100th year of taking care of children this year.
My daughter went there for her scoliosis.
They are very compassionate and caring.
They fixed her back up and she lives a fulfilled life because of them.
The Shriners are looking forward to the next 100 years of taking care of children.

My Sister Lacey was born with special needs, and is unable to live on her own. This past August she was diagnosed with Stage 4 Breast Cancer that has spread throughout her body. She, being unable to drive has to rely on our mother to get her back and forth to Chemo treatments in Missoula, once a week.
This year I chose to give them my Pay It Forward card, to help with the added expense of travel, gas, missing work and medical bills.
I am very blessed and very thankful for Montana Rail Link and The Dennis & Phyllis Washington Foundation for all that they have done for me and my family.

I will be giving the card to the Butte Vigilante Saddle Club. It's a non-profit club in Butte where the members keep their horses, and some of the 4h kids keep there livestock. It's also where some events for the people of Butte are held. The saddle club is also known as the rodeo grounds - you wouldn't know how much work goes into having a rodeo grounds and the up keep. Everyone has to do a part to make the place run like a clock and sometimes that doesn't always happen. They are wanting to paint the club house interior with this donation they will be able to get some paint and supplies they will really appreciate this!

I have received the pay it forward card. I have thought who really needs it. I have several people I could help. I have decided to give to a person having financial problems due to the loss of family. This person has had to go to therapy, which is very expensive. The family has helped this person pay for a lot of daily, monthly expenses. The person will use for personal needs, household needs. Which may be for power, water, gas, and everyday needs that got behind trying to keep bills paid on a single income.

Prairie Community Hospital Foundation.
The foundation is a public benefit corporation that funds renovations and the purchase of new medical equipment for the Prairie County Hospital and Clinic.
Located in rural Eastern Montana, Prairie Community hospital is a 25 bed, critical access hospital with the clinic being designated as a rural health clinic.

I chose to gift my pay it forward to Shriners Hospitals for children. Shriners is a non profit organization that will not turn a child away and will also help families with expenses so they can stay with their child during treatment.

I gave the card to a single mother of three small kids the oldest is in kindergarten. She has no job and lives in the housing in Anaconda and she has no money coming in to the house. When I gave it to her you would have thought that she just won the lottery. She can not thank you enough. You are awesome for doing this for everyone. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Dear Dennis & Phyllis Washington Foundation,

I would like to say thank you for the Washington Companies 2023 Pay it Forward Charitable Program. Most of all I cannot say thank you enough to Mr. James Robertson and his family who got a beautiful heart. And choose my family for this unexpected blessing. As what the letter said “Happiness doesn’t result from what we get, but what we give”. I am deeply thankful and blessed.
Prior to receiving this Pay it forward gift I didn’t know how I would feed my family. I am a single mother of 3 kids with no family here in the United States. On top of that I’m going through a divorce. It has been struggle because I didn’t have my visa when I got here and real avenues to support myself.
I have been graced by a few people here to still have a roof over my head despite my situation. I am always so thankful for any help I receive. I know $500 isn’t much but for me it’s a lot. I will at least be able to feed my kids and any use of the money will be to relieve my family of the strain we have experienced.
Words aren’t enough to say how grateful I am to this Program especially to Mr. James Robertson. I can’t repay the kindness for now but I know God will bless you all for having a beautiful heart.
Respectfully yours,

Roma Robino

Hi there!

Thank you so much for selecting me for a $500 Pay-it-Forward gift card!

I have been helping with The Filling Station Youth Center in the small town of Clark Fork, Idaho since I graduated high school in 2009.

The Filling Station Youth Center is a 501-c3 non-profit organization serving the youth of the Clark Fork Valley through youth groups, field trips, sports tournaments, outdoor adventures, and other special events, all completely free of charge. Our building features a commercial kitchen, large den area, free clothes closet, weight room, regulation basketball/volleyball court, and hydronic heating system. We also have a 40-passenger bus for the dozens of trips we offer the kiddos and teens every year. Since we built our awesome facility with donations and volunteer hours over the course of several years, our business is 100% debt-free.

With fundraising and support from generous donors, we have continued to serve the youth for over a decade. Your $500 Pay-It-Forward gift card will be spent on food, bus fuel, and sports equipment, all directly benefiting the kiddos and teens.

Thank you so much for your generous donation!

Two firefighters from Anaconda have been raising money for the leukemia and lymphoma society and will be doing the stair climb in Seattle Washington. They will be traveling on their own dime so I thought it would be nice to help out with the lodging, food and gas.

I chose to give my charitable gift card to Pintler Pets. They are a non-profit animal shelter in Anaconda. The funds will be utilized to care for the cats and dogs at the shelter and as I was told they had an unexpected influx of animals (149 dogs and 33 cats) come in from the Blackfeet reservation and overloaded their facility last year so hopefully this donation can ease some of that burden. Thank you to the Dennis & Phyllis Washington Foundation for making this donation and all other donations being made through this program possible.

My name is Amanda Denny. My husband, Tyler Denny, works for Montana Resources. I am a teacher at West Elementary here in Butte, and Tyler had asked me if I had a student that I would like to give the giving card to. I immediately thought of a little girl that is in my class. Her mom is a single mom, and works so hard every day to provide for her and her daughter. I know that this card will be a blessing to them in some way, whether she uses it to get groceries or takes her daughter somewhere fun. There is no one more deserving, and I appreciate the opportunity to give back to my students.

I decided to use my card to help The Watson Children Shelter in Missoula. They are an emergency shelter that takes care of kids that have been abused, abandoned, neglected, or whose parents go to jail. I contacted Angie Doucette and she said that the shelter was in need of diapers, pull-ups, wipes and band aids. So I went to Walmart and bought as much as I could. They were very excited and appreciative of the donation.

This year, my fifth grade daughter helped choose where we should donate these funds. She participates in a knitting club during her lunch hour recess. This club has grown tremendously in the past couple of years, nearly half of all 5th graders are now participating. So we purchased over 160 skeins of yarn for those kids to continue this fun past time. A skill to knit is something they can continue for years to come.

Now we didn't buy $500 in just yarn. My daughter loves the new maker's space in her school's library. She personally has a 3D printer at home and knew her classmates would love to have one too. So, she chose for us to purchase a new 3D printer and filament to add to the maker's space. The creativity is endless, students of all ages K-5 will be able to see this amazing technology at work. They can print toys, name badges, signs, building blocks, etc... The teachers of the space can show kids what a large scale 3D printer can make now, concrete homes, cars, etc...

Thanks, Dennis & Phyllis Washington Foundation! Giving my daughter this opportunity to make meaningful changes in her school.

I have chosen Old Dog Haven in Oak Harbor, WA which is a 501C3 non profit organization.
Their goal is to improve the quality of life for geriatric or "senior ' dogs that have been abandoned by their owners because they are either to old and or have health problems. They use donations and some veterinarian's donated time to care for these animals in need. Then they find families to adopt them and care for them for the short time they have left on Earth.

After reading a story on a Bitterroot women who is working hard for a better life for herself and her children, I decided that she is someone who could use some help. She has started a honeyberry farm (Aspen Grove Farm) and had major issues with her 2022 crop when a freezer malfunctioned.

"Allred is determined to come up with the money to save her farm, and not just for herself and her children. It's because she wants to prove that it's possible.

Her message to other women in that situation is one of empowerment.

“You can get out," she said. "There is a way and I want them to see that. There is a way. I’m not sitting in a cardboard box. I’m not going to stay in a trailer on food stamps. I’m gonna be an entrepreneur. I’m going to be a businesswoman and I’m going to show that I can do something."

She also wants her children to see what's possible in life.

"I can create something and I can send my children to college," Allred said. "And they’re going to have life experiences that would have been denied to them. That’s what they’re going to see."

For her, the farm is freedom from oppression, and she's showing that to others in her community.

"They’re going to see what free looks like," she said. "Because in this country where we tout freedom, there are people who are not free. This is what getting free looks like. That’s what I want them to see. When they see me they see that I’m free. I have the American dream. It’s not easy, for heaven’s sake. But I have the right to freedom.”.

https://missoulian.com/news/local/after-escaping-religious-cult-montana-woman-faces-new-challenges-with-honeyberry-farm/article_39a76b34-b6cb-5f52-a6cc-1485b49c091c.html

I gifted this to my daughter. On January 7th, 2023 she was in a car accident that resulted in her breaking her back and neck. As of the next day she had to have surgery. She has been out of work and in the foreseeable future may not be able to continue running and operating her business. She will have many months ahead of her with physical therapy and a possible career change. Thank you Dennis & Phyllis Washington Foundation for this opportunity to help her in this time of need.

First, I want to thank Modern Machinery, the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation and the Washington Companies for this opportunity. Shortly before receiving news that I had been awarded the opportunity to participate in the Pay It Forward program I found out that a father of one of my son's friends was battling for his life. His name is Rudy Watzig. Rudy is a husband and father of three boys. He found out several months ago that he had been diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver. Cirrhosis is a late-stage result of liver disease. Common causes include alcohol use disorder, hepatitis and non-alcohol related fatty liver disease. Treatment depends on the cause of cirrhosis and how much damage exists. Liver transplantation may be an option if your liver is failing. In Rudy's case it was caused by alcohol abuse. Knowing Rudy for several years I never saw this addiction he had been suffering from and I was surprised to find he was in this situation. I have known lots of people in my life to suffer alcoholism and his drinking never lead me to think he had a problem; however, it was and has caused him to be in this life threating situation. The only cure for his diagnosis is to have a full liver transplant. He has been off work for several months as has his wife. She must stay at home to care for him and the boys. Rudy understands and acknowledges what caused this and has made it a point to change his life. Due to the financial impact from not being able to work and the amount of bills this will cause I decided to present them with this year's Pay it Forward giving card. Since he found out about his liver failure, he has planned to try and help others suffering from the disease he has been suffering from for years. He plans to speak to young adults and children about the dangers of alcohol and the risk of abuse. He wants to make sure no one else goes through what he and his family have been going through. He accepts the fact that this was self-inflicted and vows to be the voice of change. Hopefully in the coming days/weeks he and his family will receive news of a donor, until then they wait and pray. Once a transplant is done successfully, he should make a full recovery. I am proud to be affiliated with our organization that offers this opportunity and I look forward to being able to give in the future.

Thank you
Frankie Saniti

My wife and I thought hard this year on who we should pay it forward to and came up with a family we have been friends with for years. They have small children and both work hard to make ends meet but always seem to not have enough money at the end of the month. So we gave it to them to use for groceries, bills, or whatever to take some stress off everyday obstacles. Thank You Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation for this awesome opportunity to help someone.

I used the $500 pay it forward card to help a single mom of five kids living in a trailer in the Frenchtown area. I put $250 towards her electric bill and $250 towards her propane account.

I chose to donate the pay it forward card to the Missoula Area Youth Hockey Association. The $500 donation was used to fund updating computer systems.

I have sent my gift card to a young man who has recently received a heart transplant. A few weeks ago, he left Bozeman, Montana to spend a week in the Phoenix valley visiting friends.
While in Arizona - he fell Ill (assuming it was the flu or food poisoning). After about 5 days, his friends took him to a local hospital where he experienced multiple organ failure. At 24 years of age - he needed a heart transplant asap. Brandon was flown to Seattle to wait for a donor heart. Within 2 weeks, he had a transplant and must now reside in the Seattle area per requirement to be within 1 hour of the facility where surgery occurred ( University of Washington Medical Center), for the next year.
Money will be used for expenses.
Brandon McCaffree is the young man's name and there is a go fund me page for him.
Thank you.

I chose to give my giving card to Boise Rescue Mission. The reason I chose this organization is because of the good they do for the Treasure Valley. They work very hard in helping and rehabilitating people that have gone down the wrong path. We have a very good customer here in Boise that had his life turned around by the Boise Rescue Mission, this showed me that with a little help people can get back on track and lead a purposeful life.