Members from the Fallon Community Theatre and Fallon Ford-Toyota are all smiles as they display a $1,900 check from the Pay It Forward program. From left are Valerie Santiago, theater board members Karla Kent, Glen Perazzo and Mike Berney, and Kevin Thomas.
“Christmas is the spirit of giving without a thought of getting. It is happiness because we see joy in people. It is forgetting self and finding time for others.”
— Thomas S. Monson
The joyful sounds of Christmas greet visitors every year at Fallon Ford-Toyota, and every year since 2011, the storied automobile franchise celebrates the Yuletide by donating to the area’s nonprofit organizations.
This year, Fallon Ford-Toyota presented checks totaling $43,850 to 14 organizations that range from youth clubs and athletics to the Willian N. Pennington Life Center. Since the Pay It Forward program began in 2011, General Manager Tim Mitchell said the company has donated $446,200.
“With every sale, we ask the customers where they want us to donate $50 from each sale,” Mitchell said.
Each year from March through early December, Mitchell said many of the familiar organizations are on the designated list, but every year a new one is substituted for another.
As they have done since 2011, Fallon Ford-Toyota applies the donation designated by the buyer to one of the specified organizations that serves either the community or region.
Businesses such as the Pennington Life Center, Churchill County 4-H and Domestic Violence Intervention which generated the highest donations receive a $2,500 match from Toyota.
The Pay It Forward day is a favorite with Mitchell and the Henning family.
“This community in general is amazing,” co-owner Chris Henning said, looking for the words to express his gratitude for the community’s generosity. “This is why we live here.”
Henning and Mitchell said Fallon Ford-Toyota also enjoys giving back to the community,
Karen Moessner, executive director of DVI, tears up when she receives the donation. During previous years, DVI has been able to use the donation for shelter repairs, gas and food cards or money used for a new van.
“They are great, so highly respected in town,” Moessner said of the Hennings and their dealership.
Moessner said DVI will be able to use this year’s donation as match money for grants and gas cards. DVI serves Churchill County and neighboring Lyon County. Moessner, though, said the Fallon Ford-Toyota donation remains in the community.
Keith Bryska, one of the instructors of Naval Junior ROTC at Churchill County High School, said his students will be able to use their $1,500 for drill meets, and at the Pennington Life Center, director Jennifer Lambert said the donation of $5,000 is earmarked to allow the center to provide more Meals on Wheels.
The Fallon Rodeo Club is looking forward to a good season. Nora Lee, the group’s director, said the $2,050 donation will help the club sponsor the spring high school rodeo.
“We’ll have about 200 to 250 kids, and they bring their families,” she said. “We’ll bring a lot of people to the community.”
The recipients from the Fallon Community Theatre were debating on the showcase floor how the $1,900 donation will be used. They would like to remodel the concession stand to make it more customer friendly.
“We may use it for a new projection screen,” Mike Berney said.
Melissa Huckaby, the Pregnancy Care Center’s director, said the organization first received a donation in 2021.
“We were surprised,” she said about receiving a donation. “Everything we do is free.”
The center provides pregnancy testing, prenatal life skills and parenting.
Donations
WNP Life Center $5,000
Fallon Youth Athletics $2,850
Churchill County 4-H $6,300
Fallon Rodeo Club $2,050
CCHS JROTC $1,500
CC Search & Rescue $2,300
Pregnancy Care Center $1,950
Fallon Youth Club $2,050
Family in Need Fund $4,150
Domestic Violence Intervention$6,050
Renown Children’s Network $5,100
High Desert Grange $1,400
Lahontan Valley Claybreakers $1,250
Fallon Community Theatre $1,900
Pay-It-Forward 2022 Total $43,850
2011-2022 Total $446,200