Pay It Forward Stories 2020

I gave my Pay it Forward gift card to a family in our community who experienced a house fire in January. The family has been displaced from their home, lost many belongings and will have to start the long process of rebuilding their home. This gift card will help greatly during this time of transition for them. The family was thankful for the generosity of this giving program. Thank you to the Dennis & Phyllis Foundation for giving employees of their companies the chance to extend generous donations to their communities.

John Anderson a retired electrician and my former partner from Montana Resources had taken his granddaughter for a snowmobile ride and she was involved in an accident that nobody will ever forget. She is recovering but has a long road ahead. Attached is the story her mother has posted.
Saturday, February 15th, my daughter, Morgan Sanders went for her first ever snowmobiling ride with my dad. Shortly after they began, Morgan felt the need for speed and was not able to control her sled around a slight curve. The ski of the sled caught under roots or brush and she was thrown from the snowmobile into a tree.

My dad sat with her for over an hour waiting for any help from emergency crews as they struggled to find a location or means of transportation through the woods to get them. Life flight circled around them a few times and finally landed a couple miles from where they were. Paramedics were not able to go into the woods from there. A friend of mine showed up with his snowmobile and went to them, picking up a paramedic on the way. ( I believe) Another friend of mine came with a cat flex, a huge machine that can track through snow. They were all eventually able to get her to the helicopter. She was flown to Missoula, stabilized and then sent to Sacred Heart in Spokane, WA.

She has never regained consciousness due to her injury. She has a temporal skull fracture, brain bleeds, blood and spinal fluid leaking from her right ear, and a bruised lung. The overall diagnosis is Diffuse Axonal Injury. A severe traumatic brain injury.

Since arriving at Sacred Heart she has developed staph pneumonia, which they say is pretty common.

She moves when poked or prodded as if to be irritated by the stimulation.

I was told it is possible for her to rehabilitate once she becomes aware, but that rehabilitation looks different for each person. If you read about DAI on the internet, it is devastating as it mentions most that suffer this TBI end up in a vegetative state, permanently.

We believe that Morgan’s story will be that of miracles.

Thank you for joining us

in supporting my daughter in her healing process. It gives us courage when we feel weak and sad.

The gift card was donated to Graduation Matters for the Laurel Public Schools to buy books for a literacy event. The event is “Reading Under the Lights” and will take place next fall. Families will be invited to come to the Laurel Sports Complex for an evening of reading. Each family will receive a book that will be read aloud over the sound system and each child will be able to choose another book to read while waiting for the read aloud. All books will go home with the children and families. They will also be given cookies and milk as they leave for the night. This is an event for all families in the Laurel community. (The photo is of last year's event, also partially funded by a Pay it Forward donation from last year.)

I would like to thank the Washington Foundation for the gift card and the opportunity to pay it forward.

I chose to give my card to an in-home daycare owner to use at her discretion for either daycare related items or personal use. This individual is constantly volunteering her time in our community with disabled children while her husband volunteers much of his time to teaching children in our community about archery hunting & safety & sharing a passion for the outdoors. They are really great people & I know it will have a huge impact on their lives, even though the gesture is small. I really appreciate the opportunity to be able to pass this blessing onto someone else.

Friends of ours recently opened up about their financial struggles. This was about a month before 'Pay It Forward' was awarded. We had already decided if we were chosen they would be the recipients. They are a family of five with young children. She is a stay at home mom while he had a decent job. He came to me asking if I knew of any employment opportunities because the company he worked for had lost their contract and he would soon be out of a job. They have expressed their gratitude repeatedly for the assistance 'Pay It Forward' was able to provide.

My daughter is a 6th grader at CS Porter Middle School. This is our first year experiencing the Flag Ship after school program. She sincerely enjoys the great programming they have! I appreciate that my daughter is not coming home and getting on an electronic device. I am in awe that this program is free and wanted to express my appreciation for this program.

I donated to a man I highly respect that coaches girls Fastpitch softball. He spends countless hours trying to provide how to compete respectfully in the game, and in life. My card went to help his non profit that helps with equipment costs etc...

I was going to give the entire Giving Card to one organization but after reading the "We Care" section of the Missoulian I decided to put a little more effort into this and ended up helping Seven different people.

First I contacted Sentinel High School Families in Transition Coordinator Michelle Manning to help out a student that needed a twin bed, sheets, bedding and blankets as he had been sleeping on an air mattress. I personally delivered the items which was very rewarding to know I could help out and also make contact with Michelle.

I then contacted Emily a Case Manager at 3Rivers Mental Health Center about any of their clients needing help, she was just going into a Staff Meeting so she would spread the word. By the next day I had received emails from Emily, Kristin and Christopher with requests to help out several of the clients on their case load. I ended up giving them Fuel cards, Wal-mart cards, and Straight talk phone cards, which I also delivered in order to met the staff. Below are some of the emails I received:
_______________________________________________________________
Kathi,

Thank you so much for your donations. I know that we have all, clients and case managers, appreciated your assistance so much. It has gone a long way to help our clients. If you would like to reach out again next year, I know we would all be grateful. If you end up with extra basketball tickets to donate, I’m sure we could find some clients who would enjoy going out into the community to attend the games.

Thank you again for everything

Emily

___________________________________________________________________

I just wanted to send you a thank you from myself and my client. He got an email to schedule an interview today and was able to call them back to confirm!
Thanks again!

Krissy Brown

_______________________________________________________
I have 3 people that desperately need hygiene products and supplies and
3 others that it would really be helpful (kids in the home). I will take whatever you want to offer and start with those in the most need.

Thanks again for everything!

_______________________________________________________

The gift card was donated to Graduation Matters for the Laurel Public Schools to buy books for a literacy event. The event is “Reading Under the Lights” and will take place next fall. Families will be invited to come to the Laurel Sports Complex for an evening of reading. Each family will receive a book that will be read aloud over the sound system and each child will be able to choose another book to read while waiting for the read aloud. All books will go home with the children and families. They will also be given cookies and milk as they leave for the night. This is an event for all families in the Laurel community. (The photo is of last year's event, also partially funded by a Pay it Forward donation from last year.)

I would like to thank the Washington Foundation for the gift card and the opportunity to pay it forward.

Mike Hasting brought us this gift card at just the right time - March is the annual fundraising campaign to help fund Meals on Wheels in Missoula County. $500 will go a long way to secure meals for a disabled, elderly person in our community who may otherwise have gone hungry. Meals on Wheels provides more than 250 meals each day to our neighbors in need, but that's not all. Mike was adamant that his donation was to be in honor of the 70 volunteer drivers who take the meals to the homebound clients in every type of weather Montana can throw at us. He knows that the clients will likely not see another person that day - or any day - if not for the driver's visit with their meal. Drivers know this too and take extra care to make sure each client is doing well - we call it a 'check-in' - and it has literally saved lives.

We at Missoula Aging Services serve many people who are living in our town independently with dementia. the Meals on Wheel's driver check-in is essential to their safety. They have no family or friends to check to make sure everything is alright, so our volunteers provide that very important task. They know this too and take their responsibility very seriously. They are trained to alert us if the client is having trouble, or if their door goes unanswered. From there, we may contact their family or emergency support (if they have one) or the MCPD for a wellness check.

So meals aren't the only good thing Mike's donation will support! He supports kindness, caring and dedicated service to those who cannot care for themselves. The volunteer drivers thank you for the "Pay it forward" program, as do the clients and staff here at Missoula Aging Services.

The Northern Division Freestyle (NDF) is a nonprofit-based volunteer organization providing competitive freestyle skiing venues throughout the state of Montana and Idaho, encouraging participants of all ages with emphasis on youth. Northern Division Freestyle offers organized US Ski Association sanctioned events in all of the freestyle disciplines: Moguls, Dual Moguls, Terrain Park events, Big Air events. Competing in these Northern Division events is the first step for our Montana athletes towards a spot on the U.S. Freestyle Team and the U.S. Olympic Team. The money from the card was used to purchase an insulated 5 person tent that will be used for the scorekeeper and electronic equipment, a 22 inch scoop shovel that will keep the jumps safe throughout the events, 5 bundles of flags used for building mogul courses and an ice anchor drill adapter.

Thank you for the opportunity to help people in my community! I divided my $500 pay it forward card into two $250 grocery store gift cards. I was happy to give these gift cards to two different families that are having a tough winter. Both families were beyond appreciative. It was sure nice to help them out and put a smile on their faces!

I would like to thank the Dennis & Phyllis Washington foundation for allowing me to be a part of the Washington Companies 2020 Pay it forward employee charitable giving program. The charitable case that I have chosen is the back-pack program. After talking to friends and family explaining Pay it forward employee charitable giving program and how it works, I asked them the question what charitable causes they would donate to if given the opportunity. As we all know there are so many great charitable cause to choose from but unfortunately, I can only choose one. The back-pack program was explained to me by a volunteer reading teacher at the local schools in Butte, as she was explaining the back-pack program with tears in her eyes it made me realize how lucky we are to have enough food to eat and money to spend.
The Washington Companies 2020 Pay it forward employee charitable giving program does a lot more than just give away money it allows us all to view life from a different perspective, make changes in others life's and experience the positive feeling known as the (Helper's high)
The backpack program
The backpack program provides bags of food for children who are chronically hungry. Students are identified by teachers, and volunteers discretely deposit the bags in the children's backpacks during the school days. The backpack program distributes to over 400 students pre-week. Funding for the backpack program comes from the annual Empty Bowls fundraiser, hosted annually in coordination with the Butte High School Art Club. Established in 2018 the Butte High School Bag program provides bags of food to high school students. These bags contain enough food to cover meals for the weekend, High school bags are available anonymously and include items for breakfast, lunch and snack items for two days.
Empty Bowls is a dinner event supporting the Foodbank’s Backpack Program. They were able to start this program in 2014 to help those chronically hungry children. Teachers identify the children who are eligible for the program. They will receive a bag of food on Friday that will provide them breakfast and lunch items for two days. They are currently distributing over 400 bags each weekend. The distribution continues during the summer months at various summer feeding locations.
Local potters work for over 4 months throwing 1100 soup size bowls and 100 large serving bowls for this event. With the purchase of a ticket you will receive one of the bowls, soup prepared by local restaurants, take part in a silent auction, and enjoy live entertainment.
They need to raise $62,000 per year to continue feeding the children enrolled in the program.
Butte Emergency Food Bank
(406) 782-6230
1019 E 2nd St
Butte, MT 59701

I Donated the card to Good Samaritan Ministries here in Helena

Morgan McQuillan was first diagnosed with Osteosarcoma, a form of bone cancer, at the age of 5 in May of 1999. She was scheduled to start kindergarten in the fall but instead started chemotherapy. In September of that same year, she had a very rare amputation done on her right leg to remove the tumor. Morgan successfully learned how to walk with a prosthetic and went on to beat the cancer. Then 8 years later, when she was 12 years old, she was rediagnosed with Osteosarcoma of the soft tissue. She underwent surgery to remove the spots. At the age of 14, Morgan lost her father to Leukemia. At the age of 15, Morgan relapsed for the third time and a tumor was found in her upper jaw. She underwent chemo as well as surgery to remove the upper part of her jaw and was fitted with a partial mouth prosthesis. Once again, she went into remission. Two years later, during the fall of her senior year of high school, she was rediagnosed with Osteosarcoma, with one tumor in her soft tissue and another one on her pelvis. At this time, Morgan was told her options were very limited as she had built a tolerance up to most chemotherapy and any surgery they could do would be very extreme and diminish the quality of her life. At this time, it was clear that Morgan would never be fully cured of cancer. Rather than the doctors giving up on Morgan, they decided to try an unconventional form of treatment which consisted of radiation and chemotherapy. This was one of many miracles that was given to Morgan, the treatment worked and killed that tumor. Due to the radiation Morgan endured, she began having extreme pain in her pelvis and had to learn how to deal with that. Morgan experienced two more occurrences of Osteosarcoma in her right pelvis by the age of 22. Both times, the tumors were killed with a surgery called ablation. However, this surgery caused her to lose the feeling on the right side of her hip.

In January of this year, Morgan was rediagnosed for the seventh time with Osteosarcoma. The doctors also found a tumor on her small intestine that needed to be removed. Treatment options were once again limited. Morgan was given the option to undergo a surgery called a Hemipelvectomy, which she chose. This surgery removed her entire right hip and the remainder of her right leg. Morgan is still in the hospital to this date recovering from this surgery at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN where she has undergone the majority of her treatment. She is experiencing a significant amount of stomach problems due to the removal of the tumor on her intestine which is slowing down her progress. She is simultaneously going through physical therapy and is now learning how to be mobile with just one leg. She will rely on a wheelchair or a walker to get her around for the rest of her life. The rest of Morgan’s treatment plan is up in the air at the point. Once Morgan returns home, she will be staying at her mother’s house outside of Joliet, MT which is currently undergoing some remodeling to make it handicap accessible for Morgan.

Morgan McQuillan was first diagnosed with Osteosarcoma, a form of bone cancer, at the age of 5 in May of 1999. She was scheduled to start kindergarten in the fall but instead started chemotherapy. In September of that same year, she had a very rare amputation done on her right leg to remove the tumor. Morgan successfully learned how to walk with a prosthetic and went on to beat the cancer. Then 8 years later, when she was 12 years old, she was rediagnosed with Osteosarcoma of the soft tissue. She underwent surgery to remove the spots. At the age of 14, Morgan lost her father to Leukemia. At the age of 15, Morgan relapsed for the third time and a tumor was found in her upper jaw. She underwent chemo as well as surgery to remove the upper part of her jaw and was fitted with a partial mouth prosthesis. Once again, she went into remission. Two years later, during the fall of her senior year of high school, she was rediagnosed with Osteosarcoma, with one tumor in her soft tissue and another one on her pelvis. At this time, Morgan was told her options were very limited as she had built a tolerance up to most chemotherapy and any surgery they could do would be very extreme and diminish the quality of her life. At this time, it was clear that Morgan would never be fully cured of cancer. Rather than the doctors giving up on Morgan, they decided to try an unconventional form of treatment which consisted of radiation and chemotherapy. This was one of many miracles that was given to Morgan, the treatment worked and killed that tumor. Due to the radiation Morgan endured, she began having extreme pain in her pelvis and had to learn how to deal with that. Morgan experienced two more occurrences of Osteosarcoma in her right pelvis by the age of 22. Both times, the tumors were killed with a surgery called ablation. However, this surgery caused her to lose the feeling on the right side of her hip.
In January of this year, Morgan was rediagnosed for the seventh time with Osteosarcoma. The doctors also found a tumor on her small intestine that needed to be removed. Treatment options were once again limited. Morgan was given the option to undergo a surgery called a Hemipelvectomy, which she chose. This surgery removed her entire right hip and the remainder of her right leg. Morgan is still in the hospital to this date recovering from this surgery at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN where she has undergone the majority of her treatment. She is experiencing a significant amount of stomach problems due to the removal of the tumor on her intestine which is slowing down her progress. She is simultaneously going through physical therapy and is now learning how to be mobile with just one leg. She will rely on a wheelchair or a walker to get her around for the rest of her life. The rest of Morgan’s treatment plan is up in the air at the point. Once Morgan returns home, she will be staying at her mother’s house outside of Joliet, MT which is currently undergoing some remodeling to make it handicap accessible for Morgan.
Thank you for reading Morgan’s story.
Submitted on March 4, 2020 by Kate Croft, Morgan’s sister.

I am giving my card to my sons kindergarten teacher. She is a great teacher and all the kids just love her. Her name is Ms. Colvin and she teaches at Margaret Leary school here in Butte MT. This is her first year teaching and she could use all the help she can get for her class. These teachers usually end up buying things for kids if they don't come with supplies or just learning games for their classroom. Thank you so much she will be so excited! Can't wait to hand her the card and suprises my son in his class. What a great program thanks for letting me be a part of such a great cause. Have a great day.

First off thank you to the Dennis and Phyllis Washington foundation for letting me participate in the Pay it Forward program, a program that helps many individuals,families and organizations.This year i chose to give my card to Claire O'Connor. Claire is the 22 year old daughter of some good friends of mine who was diagnosed with MS about a year and a half ago. She is currently undergoing infusion treatments to help her deal with this disease. Having MS myself i know how a person can get down with how they feel. i explained to Claire the pay it forward program and its origin. I explained to her that she could use her $500 in anyway she would like whether it be for medicine,medical bills or anything she wanted. Seeing the big smile on her face when i told her the amount it was for i hope Claire spoils herself with a shopping trip or maybe a day at the spa, anything to maybe take her mind off of her MS. Thanks again for a wonderful program.

As a volunteer at The Way Christian School in Livingston Montana, I identified their need of a new copier.
Their old Canon copier was very fond of eating several papers as it printed. Staples of Bozeman was kind enough to sweeten the sale of a new Brother business machine with a sharply discounted price and a box of copier paper.
My remaining funds were donated to the Shane Lelani Center for the Arts in the form of tickets to see the current musical production of "Big Fish".
The tickets, 5 adults and 4 children, were then given to 4 families in the Livingston area. 2 Adult tickets given, went to a couple who spend all of their free time volunteering in many ways in Livingston. The remaining tickets went to 3 single parent homes to give them an evening of entertainment that these parents wouldn't otherwise be able to afford.

Sports were such a big part of my life so I like to give back to kids organizations that I belonged to.

I donated the pay it forward card to youth athletics.

I wanted to help with events involving kids. I donated to those organizations in our local area that focus on kid development.

Having kids play in athletics and seeing their teammates sometimes struggle with the financial commitments. We decided to help some of those kids less fortunate be able to continue with their passions.

I donated this years card to a non profit youth sports organization. They use the funds to equip young athletes with safety gear and such.

My Daughter is an RN for a Local Surgery Group Here in Centralia Wa. So she see's many Families in Need I contacted her to see if she knew of someone who could use a little help, she responded with the following, Rosemary Ragan was Diagnosed with Lung Cancer that had Metastasized to her Lymph Nodes in August of 2017, she received many treatments and the Cancer was close to being gone when she got an Infection so the treatments had to stop for a period of time, Her new scans showed Cancer now in Her Lungs and she has begun New and very expensive treatments 2-20-2020, Her Husband has had to return to work in his early 70's to try and keep up with the medical Bills because their insurance does not cover all of the expenses so I felt a little help would go along way with this Family I would not wish any Medical issues on anyone and hope this helps.