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An effort to 'pay it forward'
A gift of generosity is turning into a community effort aimed at helping wounded military members across the country.
Tech. Sgt. Eric Tautfest, an F-15E crew chief at Mountain Home Air Force Base, admits he started the effort quite by chance.
It started while he shopped for groceries at Paul's Market last Tuesday. Standing in the middle of the aisle looking for dinner fixings, he was approached by an older woman who said, "excuse me."
Thinking he was blocking the aisle, the sergeant apologized and stepped aside to allow the woman to pass.
"As she passed me, she stopped in front of me and asked me if she could shake my hand," said Tautfest, who had forgotten he was still in uniform.
As they shook hands, she simply told him, "thank you for all you do, and may God bless you."
That's when the sergeant felt something in the palm of her hand. It turned out to be money.
He tried to decline her generosity, but she insisted that he take the cash. After she had walked away, he looked at the gift and realized she had given him $20.
"I was blown away," he said. "I had to turn towards the shelves to wipe the tears from my eyes. All I could think about was how amazing that lady was and how generous she was."
Still a bit shocked by the gift, he paid for his purchases and left the store.
"On the way home, I called my mom and told her what happened," said Tautfest, a native of Lewistown, Idaho. "She asked me what I was going to do with the money."
Hours later, he was simply at a loss for ideas, admitting he was still in awe of what had happened.
That's when the idea hit him. He set out to use that money to "pay it forward" and help someone in greater need of financial help.
"I don't need this money, but I do have military brothers and sisters that do," he said.
The idea was to take that $20 and "watch it grow" to benefit the national Wounded Warrior Project.
Just a few months earlier, Tautfest made a separate donation to the veterans organization. He specifically selected the charity since it directly helps veterans of all military branches.
"They do a whole lot of really great stuff," he said.
At first, he set his sights on hoping to triple that original $20 gift. To get things moving forward, he set up a page on Facebook titled the "Wounded Warrior Project in Honor of the Generous Lady From Pauls Market."
He included a brief description of the woman's generosity and his goal to benefit the military charity.
The story spread like wildfire, the sergeant said.
"I instantly received $20 from a friend of mine, and another friend said he would throw in $100," he added.
Within just two days, that $20 gift had grown to nearly $400. By Sunday, the total had reached $700.
For now, the sergeant is accepting donations in person and is considering opening a bank account on behalf of his effort. While he's open to accepting donations through various means, he asked those wanting to write a check to make it out to the Wounded Warrior Project.
Tautfest expects to continue accepting money for the next few weeks before he officially donates everything he's collected.
"The biggest thing was I wanted to see how big this could get," he said.
At the same time, he also hopes to find the woman who gave him that original $20 bill. It would give him a chance to not only thank her but to show how her gift is going to help others across the country.
Unfortunately, managers at the local supermarket were unable to identify the woman. However, the sergeant hasn't given up hope.
During his military career, Tautfest said he has met countless people who wanted to shake his hand, give him a hug or to simply tell him "thank you" for his service to this nation.
Every time it happens, "it makes me remember how much everyone loves military servicemen and what we do for our country," he said.