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Dennis & Phyllis Washington Foundation make donation to Special Olympics Montana

Missoulian - 2/22/2021

The Dennis & Phyllis Washington Foundation made a $1 million donation to the Special Olympics Montana $10M Reveal the Champion in All of Us Endowment Campaign.

Phyllis Washington said of their donation, “Special Olympics Montana helps lift-up some of Montana’s most vulnerable people through sports training and competition, health, education, leadership and community-building initiatives. The outstanding work that Special Olympics Montana has done over the past 50 years inspired us to fund the endowment so athletes with intellectual disabilities for generations to come will have the support to learn, grow and become their best selves.”

Past Special Olympics Montana President/CEO and now executive director of the endowment campaign, Bob Norbie, said, “Dennis and Phyllis Washington have been faithful and generous stewards of Special Olympics Montana for nearly 30 years. They have witnessed the power of our mission in the lives of athletes, their families and communities, and felt that this gift would help secure the future of our mission. We are deeply grateful for this significant gift.”

Along with three other $1 million donations from Tom and Joan Scott of Sheridan, Wyoming; the Bob and Gladyce Oakland family from Great Falls; and Mike and Cyndi Huempfner of Bozeman, the campaign has now secured more than $7 million to care for the future of Special Olympics Montana.

Jim Foley, chairman of the campaign’s executive leadership council, said, “Considering the impact of the 2007-2009 Great Recession on nonprofit organizations, we recognized the need to diversify revenue streams and build a robust endowment. The pandemic reinforces the importance of building an endowment.

“It’s noteworthy that the endowment’s corpus will be protected in perpetuity and only earnings will be shared with local and area programs across the state to underwrite sustainable quality programs and growth,” Foley said.

The endowment campaign will conclude June 30. If you would like to contribute to the endowment, contact Bob Norbie, executive director of Endowment Campaign, Special Olympics Montana, at bnorbie@somt.org.