These employees of Priority Management Group Inc. in Pawtucket, were each given $300 to someone in need, who would then return the favor to someone else. Pictured are PMG Director of Information Technology Spencer Furey, left; PMG compliance officer Lissa Singer, center, who is a lieutenant colonel in the R.I. Air National Guard and PMG billing associate Kristen Stevens of Cumberland.

Lincoln man hands out $3,900 to give to others

 By JON BAKER

One afternoon last December, Rich Santilli left work early as he wasn’t feeling well. When he arrived at his Lincoln abode, he covered himself with a blanket and — while “channel surfing” — happened upon the “Oprah” show. The program’s theme, he said, left an indelible imprint on him.

“It was called ‘Pay It Forward,’ where Oprah Winfrey had given $1,000 to each audience member and asked them to go out and do good deeds with the money,” recollected Santilli, a 40-year-old husband to Lisa and father to two boys. “On that particular show, the previous audience told her what they did to help those in need during the holiday season.
“As I watched, it really touched me,” he added. “It was the kind of show that made me say, ‘Wow! That’s really cool! We should do something like that.’”
As co-owner of Priority Management Group, Inc., a Pawtucket medical billing firm, Santilli decided the company had the resources to initiate a similar agenda. He bounced the idea off of fellow owners Ray Jorgensen and Robert Skeffington, who enthusiastically agreed, and their own local pilot program was born.
The trio decided to give $300 each to 13 office managers, with two simple requests: First, they find someone who would use the money the right way, and — in turn — ask them to do the same for another needy stranger.
The second requirement?
“There were no strings attached, except that they tell their particular story to all of us at a meeting before our annual Christmas party,” Santilli noted. “That was the only stipulation. Obviously, with those stories came a lot of tears. They all tugged at the heart strings.”
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Santilli recalled one offered by his partner a year ago.
“Ray travels quite a bit on business, and he was in Detroit last December,” he stated. “He had brought his money with him, in an envelope with his name on it. He lost that envelope at the airport while on his way back to Warwick.
“While on his way to the gate, they began paging him, and — sure enough — someone had turned in the money to security,” he added. “When Ray went to pick it up, he said to the gate attendant, ‘Who turned it in?’ and she pointed to a guy who was still there. Ray approached him, gave him $200 and informed him of our mission here, and what our goal was.
“Turns out, the guy didn’t need it, as Ray said he was nicely dressed, but Ray told him, ‘Take it anyway, and do something good with it.’ That guy ended up e-mailing Ray a couple of weeks later, and said he had donated the money to a youth team that desperately needed it. The people he gave the money to told him that they were very thankful for his gift, and they’d never forget it.”
Santilli, who frequently attends St. Ambrose Catholic Church in Lincoln with his family, noted there wasn’t a dry eye in the room at Jorgensen’s recollection. That’s why he and his cohorts chose to do the same this December, though this time giving the same amount to different staff members so they could share in the experience.
“They included information technicians, secretaries, some managers and others,” he said. “Again, the goal was the same — ‘Pay It Forward.’ The only person who overlapped from last year was Lissa Singer.”
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Though the meeting/party was held this past Saturday, a few employees chose to reveal their stories last week, actually the day after the initial snowstorm.
Singer led the way.
For 23-plus years, the Rehoboth resident and PMG compliance officer has been involved in the military, 18 in the U.S. Air Force and the last five as a chief nurse in the R.I. Air National Guard. She also has spent time, over the past 30 months, in both Qatar and Iraq.
“When I was told that I would be one of the people involved, I knew immediately what I wanted to do with it: I had to help the homeless veterans in Rhode Island,” she said one day last week. “I just wanted to tell them all, ‘Thanks for everything,’ and that they meant a lot to us in the military. With me being a nurse, it was one thing to take care of them in a war zone, and patch them up and try to make them feel better, but another to see what they were going through back home. Some of them face greater difficulty; that is, readjustment.”
Singer called Cathy Keighley, the director of volunteer services at the R.I. Veterans Home in Bristol, and told her about the idea.
“Her suggestion was to purchase gift certificates to both Dunkin’ Donuts and McDonald’s,” Singer said of her assignment last season. “She told me it’s a big status symbol for them to be holding a cup of that coffee. And, with McDonald’s, if they have an appointment with a doctor or something, they love going through the drive-thru and eating in the van. It’s a big treat for them to eat junk food.”
With that information, Singer bought 80 five-dollar gift cards. When asked the amount should only be 60, due to the $300 amount, she said she added $100 of her own money to sweeten the pot for her brethren.
“Last year, Cathy wrote me back and told me, ‘You know you’re their new hero?’ I just told her it didn’t really come from me, I was just the conduit, the delivery person,” Singer stated. “I didn’t get to see their reactions personally, as Cathy hands them out, but I know they were thrilled. That’s why I did the same thing this year.
“The gesture makes you feel great,” she continued. “That’s why I consider it a double gift. You give, and you get the gift of helping someone.”

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Then there was Spencer Furey, 35, director of information technology and Exeter resident.
“I’ll be honest with you, I’ve been working in this state for the majority of my career, and I’ve never been a part of something like this. You’d think that people would be kinder and more generous at this time of year, but you don’t see it as often as you should. This is refreshing — an altruistic random act of kindness.”
Furey hadn’t set his plan into motion, but it was of his volition to split his $300 into $50 increments, and drive his wife and four children (ages 7-13) to a Wickford store parking lot. There, they would all approach people and explain their mission.
“The hope is, if they don’t need it, they’ll pay it forward,” he said. “Part of the reason I wanted my children involved is I wanted them to see what a good deed can do for someone. I hope they’ll remember that later.”
As for Kristen Stevens, a billing associate from Cumberland, she spoke to her pastor at Grace Baptist Church in Attleboro, asking if he knew of anyone in dire straits in the parish.
“He told me of two families who truly needed help, and they each consisted of five children,” she claimed. “Mt first reaction was, ‘How should I give this to them?’ I didn’t like the idea of just giving cash, so he suggested I buy gift cards to a grocery store and department store.”
Stevens immediately bought two for $100 each for groceries and another pair for $75 each so the parents could buy toys for their children.
“Our pastor was ecstatic that I — actually, we — were able to help out, and he wrote our company a letter,” she said. “I know who the families are, but I don’t know them that well. This is something I’ll never forget.”
And it all stemmed from a whim. Santilli’s minor flu led to a major revelation: “Pay It Forward.”