POCATELLO — A crowded gymnasium at Gate City Elementary brought a big smile to Frank Angley and his daughter Kelsey’s faces Tuesday afternoon. The students had raised $250 by selling homemade Silly Putty to give to the man who had his wallet emptied after suffering a heart attack two weeks ago.

    “This is our way of paying it forward,” fourth-grade teacher and student body adviser Julie Fowlkes told the crowd of students.

    Fowlkes had been Kelsey’s sixth-grade teacher six years ago.

    And the teacher shared a story of generosity displayed by a 12-year-old Kelsey at Christmastime six years ago.

    Like many of her students, Kelsey had given Fowlkes a Christmas present. Only this one was special. It was a relatively expensive bound organizer that Fowlkes would use for the rest of the year.

    “She told me she had saved up her money for three months to get that gift,” Fowlkes said about Kelsey.

    Fowlkes said the student body’s effort to raise money for Kelsey’s father was finally a way for her to really show her thanks.

    “We’re going to keep that ripple effect going,” Fowlkes told the students.

    Frank said he’s been stunned by the efforts of the community to help him after the story of his brush with death and subsequent theft was published. When Frank was on his knees suffering a heart attack in the driveway of his West Carson Street home, a passing male stranger didn’t pick up one of the many nitroglycerine pills that had spilled out on the ground. He didn’t use Angley’s cell phone which was lying on the driveway to call 911.

    The man just pulled the wallet from Angley’s back pocket, took $728 out of it and walked away from the helpless victim.

    Fortunately, Frank’s best friend Cory Thornley tried to call Frank’s cell phone and heard groaning on the other end. Thornley rushed to Frank’s home he loaded him in his car and took him to Portneuf Medical Center where blockage in Frank’s heart stents was eventually cleared.

    People locally and around the nation responded to a www.Gofundme.com page on Frank’s plight, and combined with donations from customers of Powers Candy and others, Frank has received a total of $2,000 in donations to offset the money he lost from his wallet and to help defray medical expenses.

    “For the most part it has blown me away,” Frank said about the community. “Pocatello is a great place.”

    After the students had made their presentation to Frank and Kelsey, they filed out of the gym. Several of them stopped to give the father and daughter a hug.

    “This is a great generation of young people,” Frank said.

    “We’ll do our best to keep them that way,” Fowlkes responded.