Bell Bank employees stretched their Pay It Forward dollars even further by donating to local charities on Giving Hearts Day, a one-day fundraising event where donations to qualifying local charities are matched.

Giving Hearts Day, held Thursday, Feb. 9, raised $10.6 million for local charities. More than 130 Bell employees doubled their Pay It Forward impact by giving to local charities on Giving Hearts Day, donating $104,025 for a total donation of $208,050.

Pay It Forward is a program that gives employees money to donate to a person or organization in need. So far, Bell has given more than $10 million in gifts through the program. (Read some of our Pay it Forward stories here.)

“Truly the Pay It Forward program has changed all of our lives,” says Julie Peterson Klein, Bell’s chief culture officer. “We find that giving in this way impacts all of us, the givers, as much as those who receive the donations. Most importantly, it has opened all of our eyes and hearts to the needs around us, whether in our own community or across the world.”

Dakota Medical Foundation launched Giving Hearts Day in 2008, raising $325,000. So far, more than $41 million has been raised for North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota charities through the online fundraiser. This year, preliminary numbers show 21,800 individual donors participated – 7,262 more than in 2016.

“It has become a gateway for people to connect to causes doing good work in areas they passionately care about,” DMF says.

Giving Hearts Day is co-hosted by Dakota Medical Foundation, Impact Foundation and the Alex Stern Family Foundation.