Since 2011 the Henning Family, and their team at Fallon Ford-Toyota, have given $402,350 to local non-profit groups through the Pay It Forward Program. Each customer who buys a car from March 1 through the end of the year has the opportunity to choose from a list of local organizations chosen by the management team and the owners and designate a $50 contribution to that group from Fallon Ford-Toyota.
“Every vehicle we sell we hold $50,” said co-owner Chris Henning, “so we’re the ones making the donation, we don’t charge the customer for the donation, that comes out of our gross.”
During January and February of every year, applications are taken from non-profit community groups. A committee of the owners and the managers make decisions based on those applications, the past year’s sales, and the forecast for the upcoming year to determine how many organizations they can reasonably receive enough money for to actually make a difference.
Henning explained that they have found it important to seed each program with a little money, so all the March donations are divided between each organization, giving every group an even start in the donations beginning in April. From there, each customer makes the designation to the charity.
“We’ll pick the organizations, but the customer gets to pick from that list where the money goes,” said Henning. “Every year there are some big winners, 4-H is always a favorite, the senior center, and the youth club.”
In addition to the donations from Fallon Ford-Toyota, Toyota has contributed $10,000 each year since 2015, which is used to match the contributions to four of the charities in the amount of $2,500 each.
There is also a general category for youth athletics. Roughly $3,000 this year was used to sponsor various sports teams from little league to high school sports with Oasis and CCHS basketball teams and wrestling all benefitting.
They have been able to help several families through the Family in Need Fund. “This year we had $3,000 in that fund and we were able to help three families,” said Henning. “These families have had a really tough year, the loss of a loved one or someone has cancer and they’re trying to pay for cancer treatments, so we anonymously get the money to a couple of families as well.”
Henning said he and his family are happy they can do something to generate goodwill. “This is an amazing community and there is a lot of this going on across the community in a hundred different ways and a lot of it never gets any attention.”
“There are so many groups and it's hard for us to know, without the applications there isn’t a way to find the groups who need help,” said Henning. “For me, we are almost halfway to our goal. We’re trying to get to a million dollars so hopefully, this program will continue to speed up and we’ll get to that point.”
Applications to become a part of the Pay It Forward program for 2022 will be taken during January and February, with more information available by calling 775-423-2171.
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