Pay it Forward Stories 2019

I choose to give my Pay it Forward Card to the Crichfield Family of Big Timber. The Crichfield's Oldest of six children Aaron Crichfield 12 years old was recently diagnosed with Brain Cancer. He currently is undergoing Chemo treatments his first Treatment was done in Denver Colorado. He will be able to complete his next treatments in Billings but then will have to go back to Denver to go through 4 weeks of radiation. The card will be able to help offset the costs of medical bills, travel expenses, and so on. Aaron spent his 12th Birthday 3/15/2019 getting his first round of Chemo a thing no 12 year old should have to every do.

The Family as well as myself would like to express thanks to The Dennis & Phyllis Washington foundation and Montana Rail link or making this program available. I would also like to take an opportunity to thank Chris Beaulieu a Carmen at MRL who after hearing about Aaron also choose to give his Pay It Forward card to the Crichfield family. My thoughts and Prayers to the Family. #AARONSTRONG

I gave my card to a family very much in need. The mother of this family is going through her second round of breast cancer and has been off work for 6 months. The father works with my wife and has had to use all his comp time plus time donated by co-workers taking her to her treatments and juggling their children to school and sports. They are the type of family that would give the shirts off their backs to help anyone and are very thankful for the help in their time of need. Thank you for the opportunity once again this year to be able to make someone's day a little better by receiving the much needed help. The pay if forward program is so amazing and I am thankful to be a part of it. Thanks so much. Brian Palmer

I sponsor 2 Compassion International girls. One lives in Columbia and the other lives in Ethiopia. They are both very poor and just need food and clothes for daily survival. I split the money between the two of them and their families to help them with their needs. Compassion is a wonderful organization that helps poor countries and their familys with medical, educational and food and clothing. I was very glad to be able to send this giving card to them.

Dear John Wilson,
On behalf of Missoula Church of the Nazarene, I would like to thank you for advocating for us in the pay it forward program with Montana Rail.

We challenged our congregation to bring in diapers to care for some younger families both inside and outside of our church. The church responded generously and we were able to help 4 families. We used the gift card we received from you to give 3 families $100 gift cards and made a $200 gift card donation to Mountain Home, an organization for young mothers that our church partners with.

Thank you for helping us to spread God's love in a tangible way to our community!

Sincerely,
Pastor Josh Allen and the congregation of Missoula Church of the Nazarene

I gave my card to a deserving lady who takes care of my and other Washington Company employe’s children at the YMCA Learning Center (a daycare in Missoula). She was in a time of need and down on her luck.

While at work, I heard about a young boy who was just diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor. The doctors said they had discovered it soon enough, it had not spread and he should be ok. But this will require numerous trips to Denver for chemo and radiation therapy. This brave young boy spent his 12th birthday in Denver for his first round of treatments. I donated my card to the Crichfield family to use for any expenses they wanted to use it for.

I would like to thank the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation for allowing me to give my card to a family that can really use the extra funds. My thoughts go out to the Crichfield family for a full and speedy recovery of their son.

I gave my giving card to a friend and his wife in need of a helping hand due to medical bills and other daily essentials. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to help someone else in need!

Sincerely,
David White

While at work, I heard about a young boy who was just diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor. The doctors said they had discovered it soon enough, it had not spread and he should be ok. But this will require numerous trips to Denver for chemo and radiation therapy. This brave young boy spent his 12th birthday in Denver for his first round of treatments. I donated my card to the Crichfield family to use for any expenses they wanted to use it for.

I would like to thank the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation for allowing me to give my card to a family that can really use the extra funds. My thoughts go out to the Crichfield family for a full and speedy recovery of their son.

March 17, 2019

I want to start out by saying thank you to the Dennis & Phyllis Washington

Foundation and the Pay It Forward program. As I ponder where it should go I spent a lot

of time thinking, as well as looking, into different options. The final answer I came to was

my grandfather, Albert Greenfield.

He was a strong and gentle giant born April 27, 1924 in New York. He went on to

be in the US Army, fighting for his country in WWII. After the service, he came to

Montana where he met his wife and had four beautiful children. He was a logger, then

moved into owning his own long haul trucking company running coast to coast. He and

his children were very outdoorsy and loved to sports. His life was cut short at 40 years

old, such a young age, playing racket ball at the Elks Club. He died December 11, 1964

doing what he loved to do.

Ever since the headstone was damaged at his gravesite, our family wonder how

we were going to replace it. Thanks to Pay It Forward my grandfather will have a proper

headstone again.

I have used my Pay it Forward giving card in conjunction with an annual fundraiser that I participate in called RATPOD. https://ratpod.org/ This is bike ride that begins and ends in Dillon Montana in June, raising funds for Camp-Mak-A-Dream, in Gold Creek Montana. From the camps web page:

"Camp Mak-A-Dream provides a medically supervised, cost-free Montana experience, in an intimate community setting for children, young adults and families affected by cancer. A week at camp offers these kids and young adults the chance to be "normal", to conquer challenges, gain independence and self-esteem, make new friends and face their fears alongside others who understand what it's like to have cancer.

As a 501(c)3, non-profit organization, all funding for Camp Mak-A-Dream is raised through private donations, gifts, grants and fundraising events such as this RATPOD ride. Funds raised at this event will directly benefit Camp Mak-A-Dream and its programs.

Camp Mak-A-Dream is located in Gold Creek, Montana, on 87 beautiful acres surrounded by the Flint and Pintler Mountains. The Children's Oncology Camp Foundation was founded in 1991 and since opening in 1995, Camp Mak-A-Dream has served thousands of individuals. For more information, please visit: www.campdream.org."

My name is Mike Merrick and I work as general foreman in the operations department at Montana Resources. I would like to thank the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation for the opportunity to participate in the pay it forward program. On February 15TH I was getting ready to come to work on night shift when my cousin stopped by the house and told me he had been diagnosed with cancer. I was shocked and saddened to hear such horrible news. Needless to say I was pretty upset when I came to work but I found out that I had been chosen to receive a pay it forward card. I finished out my workweek and went and seen my cousin the following week and gave him my card. I explained what the card was and told him to use it on whatever he wanted; medical expenses, bills or to go do something fun with his family! He was very appreciative for the card as was I. Thank you again for such a wonderful program and the chance to PAY IT FORWARD!!!!!!

When I received this giving card I was unsure of exactly how or who the card should go to. I consulted with my wife and we decided that the card to go to something that was important to us. Over the last year my wife and I have suffered multiple pregnancy losses and we have been seeing an amazing doctor who specializes with infertility. We are still hopeful that we will conceive and have a baby naturally, but we have learned there are some barriers that may prevent that. We started looking into the options available to conceive, such as In Vitro Fertilization and we learned the cost of that procedure alone is around $12,000 and our insurance will not cover any of it. Not very many insurance companies will cover fertilization procedures leaving the people who need them paying for it on their own. In our minds, a baby is completely worth the cost, however it will be a challenge to come up with the funds needed. Knowing that there are likely other hardworking couples out there facing the same situation, we wanted do all we could to help someone else in need. We contacted the doctor that we are using and asked if it would be possible to donate the giving card to one of her patients that is going to be undergoing the In Vitro process in the next few months. The doctor let us know that she had someone that could absolutely benefit from the money.
My wife Sarah and I wrote a letter to the anonymous family who would receive the giving card explaining why it was important for us to help and also gave a brief overview of the Pay it Forward Giving Program. I received a call from the doctor letting me know that the family receiving the card had been contacted and let them know that they were receiving the money. According to the doctor, the recipient was so thankful to receive the card that she began to cry. The recipients explained that they were going to use the money toward their procedure in June. We are wishing them the best of luck and hope that the giving card allows them to breathe a little easier.

I have chosen to donate my “Pay It Forward” Giving Card to ”Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep”, a nonprofit volunteer organization where all donations are tax deductible.
Their mission and why they exist: To introduce remembrance photography to parents suffering the loss of a baby with a free gift of professional portraiture. They exist to give bereaved families the gift of heirloom portraits to bring healing and comfort as well as provide ongoing support.
More than once I’ve experienced family friends, co-workers, or children of friends having to experience the upcoming birth of a child that was born stillborn, or they know in advance that their infant will not survive after birth.
On January 1, 2018, my Niece went into premature labor 6 weeks early. When arriving at the hospital, she was advised by the doctors that there was no heartbeat of her child. Immediately my family went into shock and did not know how to deal with their emotions or grief while waiting for Noble to arrive into this world without taking a breath. Even though this was happening in Alaska and I live in Washington State, I immediately went on line and contacted the “Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep” organization.
A professional photographer was in the hospital room within an hour of being contacted by NILMDTS. The death of an infant is something no parent should ever have to experience. Tender photographs document a childs’ eternal connection with his parents. Receiving images of their baby gives them comfort of a priceless gift where they can honor and remember a tiny life that is forever loved and cherished.
If you or someone you know are in need of their services I encourage you to please go to their website to retrieve general information on where to find a volunteer photographer, learn of services they provide for the families and obtain information on helping the bereaved on what you can say or what services you can do for the families. Hopefully your family or friends never go through the motions of experiencing an infants’ death, but by familiarizing yourself with the organization and what they do, you may be able to provide valuable information and resources to a family during their bereavement. Please visit http://www.nowilaymedowntosleep.org/ . By familiarizing yourself with the organization you may make a difference in a familys' life.

Kelly Prockish
Modern Machinery, Kent WA Branch

First I want to thank the Dennis & Phyllis Washington Foundation for the opportunity to participate in the Pay it Forward program. It is such a joy to be able to help individuals and causes that are important to each employee who receives a card.

This year's submission story is a hard one for me to write. Several months ago, there was a man who was involved in a grade crossing incident on MRL, and he unfortunately passed away as a result of his injuries. This man attended my parent's church and was well-known to my family. He was the primary provider for his family, and he left his wife with no means of income with which to provide for herself and their three children. I am all too aware of how tragic this situation is, both for our engineers on the train and for the family that unexpectedly lost their dad and husband, and I wanted to help in some way. My Pay it Forward card was the perfect way for me to help out a hurting family. I worked with my parent's church to pass the card forward and the family was so thankful for the extra help in a very difficult time.

Thank you!

There are 2 families that I chose to help that have lost loved ones. One is a neighbor that lost his grandson, so I bought ingredients to make a nice meal for his family and took it over yesterday evening. I plan on making another meal this weekend to take over to them.

The second family I made a meal for lost her husband to cancer. I took the meal to her and her family last night and plan on making another meal for her and her family this weekend.

I donated the gift card to American Pride Outdoors. Its a startup nonprofit that helps vets experience outdoor adventures. Its ran by R. Clark, who is in the process of making a fly fishing video, that hopefully makes it on the Fly Fishing Film tour. check out the preview, Reset: a fly fishing story by Jacob Mogler.

This year, just like last year, I gave the card to ducks unlimited Helena chapter, we used the money to underwrite a couple auction items and also a hunting rifle that was given away the night of the banquet. The board members( including me) thank you for the support the last few years!

I split my card equally between two organizations; Family Promise of Missoula (via Missoula Interfaith Collaborative) and the Humane Society of Western Montana.

Family Promise came to mind while reflecting on my late mother who was very active at and a supporter of, St. Anthony parish and Missoula Catholic Schools. Family Promise was a cause dear to her heart, having raised 7 children with my father she was aware of the struggles parents face, trying to provide for their family and raise them to be good people with a strong Christian background. My parents were amazing! I truly believe that strong parents are the backbone of a good family and ultimately a good human. Family Promise offers other parents a "leg up" so they can be good parents and providers as well. "Family Promise of Missoula is a network of 28 congregations and businesses who practice hospitality and work together to provide shelter, meals and support to Missoula families to help them rebuild their lives."

The Humane Society of Western Montana is a cause dear to my heart because I love dogs and I understand the importance of adopting furry friends into our families, whether dog, cat or other and I've felt, first hand, the positive impact these selfless, loving creatures can have on us, their humans. A quote I read recently is so true; "We don't save these animals, they save us."

Thanks to the DPW Foundation for sharing these funds with the Washington Companies employees and allowing us to experience the remarkable feeling of giving on a larger scale than we are normally able to. What a great experience! Thank you!

I used my card this year to donate to SPCA. Having been a rancher and lover of all animals, i see a need to support the SPCA and other such organizations. All pets, large and small offer us unconditional love, loyality and companionship. I am always sadden and angered to see how some indivisuals treat animals that want nothing but our love. I had a milestone birthday go by on March 11th, so on Facebook I started a Birthday Request Fund, that asked my friend in lue of birthday gifts to donate to SPCA fund. With the assistance from Dennis and Phyllis donation we raised just under $1,000.00 dollars. I truly appreciate the Washington Foundation for their continued afforts to make this a better world.

Thank you all,
John

I used the giving card to create two summer scholarships at Beartooth Christian Camp (BCC) BeartoothChristianCamp.org. BCC has a 1 week Sr. High camp and a 1 week Jr. High camp. There is a need to sponsor kids who are not able to afford the $300 camp fee. Two scholarships in the name of Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation are available for 1 senior high student and 1 junior high student who desire to attend camp but cannot afford the fee.

I gave my pay it forward card to Mike Phyfield, he was hit by a truck on Harrison Ave in Butte, MT. He received extensive injuries and is currently living at a Brain trama Center in Laurel, MT. He has numerous bills and currently no income. Mike and his family were very grateful to receive this help.

I gave the card to a family of 6 who really needed the card and the money for household items and food. They were really happy and thankful for the card and food that.

This donation supports the development of programs and funds workshop retreats for Special Operation combat warriors and their significant other to rebuild and strengthen their relationship.

Combat warriors and their spouses attend workshop retreats at no cost to them, excluding travel. Donations allows All Secure Foundation to create more programs for more combat families to help fight the war on Post Traumatic Stress on the home front.

In October, 2018 my Aunt's husband James Wilson pass away. My Aunt was devastated not only for her lost but also because James was the only support that she had, emotionally and monetary as well.
When I was notify that I've won this award I knew I was going to donated to St Jude, but after finding out the situation that my Aunt was living without a thought I gave the card to Her.

Thank you again for helping me, Help others.

God Bless.

I donated my card to a single mother of 6 children. She is recently divorced with an ex-husband who has a drug addiction. He lost his job and is currently in rehab. She is not receiving support and is raising the kids on her own with the help of her parents when possible. I thought this card could go a long way to cover groceries, supplies and daily necessities.