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CITY, ND – (NewsDakota.com) Dr. Kevin Calder of Alberta, Canada and two Valley City businesses executed the ultimate pay it forward gesture when they helped a St. Paul woman who needed help earlier this month.

The pediatric plastic surgeon driving from Alberta to Springfield, Illinois saw a van in poor shape with its emergency flashers moving slowly along the shoulder of Interstate 94 near Valley City, North Dakota.

Calder found Jennifer Rivera behind the wheel and decided to help her get the van with a flat tire and three bald tires fixed.

Rivera was trying to make it to a homeless shelter in Fargo being she had only a small amount of money.

Calder put her up in a Valley City motel and got her vehicle towed into Bitz Tire & Service the next day.

Todd Anderson of Bitz Tire & Service said after they put four tires on the van they discovered a number of serious problems that would have cost more to get the van fixed.

So Anderson and Brian Bitz told Calder and Rivera that Perkins, Inc. may be willing to find a used van under $2,000.

They found a 2003 van on the lot Calder purchased it and Bitz pulled the good tires off her old van and put them on the newer used van purchased at Perkins Inc the local General Motors dealership in Valley City.

Anderson said employees at Bitz Tire & Service and Perkins, Inc. filled Rivera’s van with gas, didn’t charge for the tow and sold the tires for a low price.

Dr. Kevin Calder posted the story on GiveForward.com to see if friends and family would donate. He collected $1,650 of his $2,150 out of pocket expenses to help Jennifer Rivera get back to St. Paul.

Thanks to Brian Bitz, Todd Anderson of Bitz Tire & Service and Jess Fuhriman of Perkins, Inc. and so many others who helped Jennifer Rivera. Thanks also to journalist Dave Bakke of the State-Journal-Register newspaper in Springfield, Illinois for his story submitted to us by Todd Anderson to share with our readers on NewsDakota.com.