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Pennies From Heaven
Blog
Just how did all of this start???? Well, in the fall of 2003, I was out
walking a lot of days with a friend, and I began to notice
pennies on the ground. I said, "You know what? I am going to
begin picking up pennies and saving them. Then, I will know what to do
with them." Slowly, but surely they began to add up. I even
found a few quarters, nickels, and dimes. Every so often I would pour
them out of the jar, count them, and then keep saving them.
Spring,
2005 I began going to Africa, taking teams of men and women with me
to train leaders. I heard firsthand the stories of starvation and of
corrupt people not getting food to them. Thousands were dying due to
this. I began sending money to people who would help them.
December,
2005 I had met a woman last spring who was a Member of Parliament in Malawi and
she emailed me, telling me of the famine in Malawi, as well as the rains that
had destroyed 8,000 homes in her district, and asked me if there was any way I
could help, big or little. I immediately got $2000 together from
donations to send to her, and all of a
sudden realized I could also send the pennies I had found--$3.22 worth.
Not much, but a start.
January,
2006 Began to get the idea of asking other people to pick up
pennies they found on the street. Why not? They were a nuisance to
most people, not very valuable, and something anyone from a homeless person, to
a child, to an adult could do. And they could really add up. Then,
this thought came to me, "Feeding the World with What America Throws
Away" What a thought!! I sent out an email to hundreds of my friends, asking
them if they would help, and then they sent it on to all their friends who
sent it on to their friends, etc. The response has been incredible.
Everyone says to me, "Of course, I will help do that. What a great
thing!"
I told the
people where I bank at Wells Fargo about it, asking it they would help me do it
by setting up an account anyone could deposit into, no matter where they lived,
or that they could mail to me in states where there was no Wells Fargo
Bank. Not only were they agreeable, but they then asked me to meet with
the district manager to see about doing it in a larger way. The bank account
deposit name became "Betty Swann Ministries/Pennies From Heaven, Amarillo, TX" (NOTE: As of 06/01/2010 the name has become "Pennies From Heaven International" and is now its own 501(C)-3)and the
pennies started coming in. One lady dropped a shoe box full of
pennies by my husband's office--$30 in pennies. A homeless man gave me
two pennies. One young man gave all the pennies he had been saving for
years--$60. A young mother and her daughter emptied everything in their
house and donated all the pennies--$11.10.
My
husband got so interested in doing it that he began to go through all his desk
drawers, his car pockets, and began looking on the ground everywhere for
pennies. We even went to two different Sonic Drive-In's, searching the
ground for pennies. We found a lot of them, especially by the drive-up
windows. The employees were so happy to help and gave me all their
pennies from their tips.
People began calling me and saying, "Betty, I
cannot believe how excited I now get by seeing one penny on the
ground!" Many others said to me, "I want my children to get
involved; I want the school children to get involved." One friend called
me from LAX Airport and in a happy voice said, "Betty, I found a penny at
the airport!"
January,
2006 Got the Pennies From Heaven project set up as a 501(C)3 with
two accountants willing to watch over the money. (One of them was the
head of the United Way Campaign for two years.) Made sure I knew of four
honest, reputable people in Africa I could trust to use the money wisely to
feed people. Got a website. Discovered there are many sites with
this name, so had to choose Penniesfromheavenus.com Designed the website myself, hooray for me. Decided there will be no administrative costs in the
project, that whatever comes in will be all given away for food, and
that it will involve all types of people who care about helping starving
people.
January,
2006 A friend gave me the audio CD's of the book by Malcolm
Gladwell, "The Tipping Point". I decided to build this project as
closely as I could by what I learned in this book. Are you a connector, a
maven, or a salesman????
January, 2006 We have a girl from Kenya
living with us while she goes to college and she helped me figure out exactly
how much it would take to feed one person. She said to me, "Oh, Betty, it
makes me sick to see pennies thrown on the ground. People do not realize
how much a penny is worth in Africa, due to the exchange rate."
We took what her mom buys to feed her family of five in Nakuru, Kenya and divided up the cost. Amazing to realize that just six pennies will feed someone for a meal!
January 2006 I began appearing on God's Learning Channel with my own TV show
and they filmed a special advertisement of Pennies From Heaven that airs
at the end of each of the TV shows. This show goes to 75 countries, due to
satellite and the internet.
Pennies began coming in amazing
ways. One person from another town mailed me four pennies. A school
teacher of second graders emailed me (don't know how she got my email, guess it
was from someone I knew, who knew someone, who knew someone, who knew her) and
said her class had collected $150 so far and was gathering them until
May. Another deposited $.24 into the Wells Fargo account.
February 3, 2006 Well, the
account now has $372.74 in it!
February 10, 2006 Just
checked today, one week later, and deposits were made recently of $2.22,
$2.40, $4.21, $1.50, $17.53, and $17.74. So far, the total in the bank is
$549.13. Doesn't sound like much until you realize it is over 5,400
pennies that were just lying around, doing nothing. Divide it by 6
cents and see what you get; that is how many people will
eat. Amazing!!
February,
2006 Tell everyone you know about this. People in America
love to help others.
February 14,
2006 This thing is starting to take on a life of its own. People
are grabbing the vision and going with it. They are beginning to email me
with what they are doing with it. I am a big dreamer, so my dreams for it
are big. Today the Maverick Boys and Girls Club, which is in six
locations, is taking it on as a project for their children (many from
poor homes) to have a way to give back to those less fortunate than them.
They will decorate the containers as their art project also. Checked the bank
account today. Deposits of $82.88 (that's about a gallon and a half
of pennies!) and $22.40 were made today, totaling $654.41. Have no
earthly idea who did it. I am going to Africa in two weeks and will take
whatever money is in the account by then.
Two emails
came today: 1. "The Pennies From Heaven idea is wonderful. I
have contacted a local convenience store (this is in another town) that
has one of those penny trays. I took them an empty plastic coffee
container and they are going to dump excess pennies in it. I will collect them
every week or so and make a deposit. My mailman was in there when I took the
coffee can to them, heard us talking about it, and emptied his change pocket
into the can! It is so fun to see how people react and want to help...it
is so big, yet so simple." 2. "I'm
going to send this info in to our new corporate initiative -"Your Good
Works" (this is for a national company) I met this woman on a cruise
and told her about the pennies project. She lives in North Carolina.
February 17, 2006 Almost $1000 in the
bank account now. Great! Met today with the Amarillo Public
Schools administrator in charge of school projects. She is on board and
very supportive. One second grade class and the entire 7th grade of one
school is having penny drives as their project. Emailed the Member of
Parliament in Malawi and the man in Kenya who has four orphanages, telling them
I am bringing whatever money has come in by the time I go to Africa March
1-19th.
Met
with Regional Director of Wells Fargo today and will meet with the bank
president next week. Almost $1000 is in the account now. One little
man called me and told me it "tickled his gizzard" to be able to do
this. He deposited $5.54. Someone else deposited $92.17. Can
you imagine someone having that many pennies lying around?? There was an
article in the paper Wednesday about Pennies with a picture of the second grade
class who is collecting pennies. This came about through people
sending the email on to their friends and co-workers. I will
talk to this class next Monday. The reporter wants me to keep a
journal in Africa and then he will do an article on it when I get back.
February
22 Something funny happened last night. A friend from Austin,
TX told me she saw the advertisement for "Pennies" on the TV
show and after that was out somewhere using a public toilet and dropped a few
coins out of her pocket. She said she was going to ignore them, remembered
what she saw on TV, and got on her hands and knees in the next stall where they
had rolled and picked them up, saying to herself, "Betty would kill me if
I didn't pick these up!"
Another friend brought me a baggy of coins,
saying, "These are the coins I have picked up in my washing machine for
the last year from my teenagers' clothes." It was about $27.00. YOU
ARE GREAT, CARING PEOPLE. KEEP IT UP!
March 1,
2006 Email to Friends: Hello Friends, You are doing an amazing job and an
especially good one of sending these emails on to others on your email
list. I am hearing from people I could never even know and they are
helping big time. Americans are incredibly generous. And they are
so industrious, even in little things like saving pennies. Bill and I are
not the only ones bending over at McDonald's and picking up pennies by the
drive-through window. We did that last weekend in Plainview, TX.
Two different people said, "Lost something?" "No, just picking up pennies
to feed starving people." And they said, "Way to go!" We found 11
pennies on the ground.
I will be checking for sure in Africa to see if 6 cents
really will feed someone. The closest calculations Bill can make say
so. My friend Janet, who is the Program Director for the Salvation Army,
says they can feed breakfast here for 23 cents, so I am thinking it is true. It costs more to feed in other parts of the world, but it is still $0.10 or so. The closer you get to America, the more it seems to cost to feed people.
This week,
two little old ladies who are over 90 years old and use walkers brought me pennies in
an old Este Lauder dusting powder box and one of those cans you get at
Christmas with fruitcake in it. The look on their faces of being useful
in the world was priceless. Mary, the girl from Kenya, who has been living with
us for the last five months while she goes to college, gave me her change for
Africa--$37.00! I emptied out the Pennies bank account yesterday and am taking
all the money to Africa except for $25.00. People have been giving me
money by check also, two have given me $1000. I am taking $3500, of which
$1500 was actually from pennies and loose change (can you believe it, just
setting around or thrown away). Of the other, one couple said, “We were
going to give $500, but decided to give $1000.”
I am leaving
$25.00 in the account and can’t wait to see how it has grown when I get back.
The other $1000 is an amazing story. Yesterday, due to the busyness of
getting ready to leave for Africa, I forgot my haircut appointment at
9:00 and had to call my hairdresser and ask if I could come anyway. She
said yes, I will work you in at 10:00. I took her one of the brochures
and she and I were talking about it while she finished the hair of a woman
sitting there. I casually looked at the woman and said, “Save your
pennies and give them to Donette.” Later, as Donette was washing my hair,
she said, “Betty, that woman put a check in your purse.” When I looked at
the check, it was made out for $1000. We were jumping up and down and
Donette was saying, “Just think, if you hadn’t been late, you never would have
met her!”
While
this is so amazing, the fact that someone also deposited 24 cents into Wells
Fargo is also very important. It really is about feeding the world with
what America throws away. By the way, Wells Fargo has done a great
thing. You now can mail a check to Wells Fargo after cashing in your
pennies and they will deposit it for you, even if you live in a state where
there is no Wells Fargo. Mail it to: Wells Fargo Bank, 905 S. Fillmore,
Suite 101, Amarillo, TX 79101 to the account of Betty Swann Ministries/ “Pennies From Heaven, Amarillo,
TX”. It has to say just that because Wells Fargo has many accounts named Pennies From Heaven and there could be confusion. You can also go on the website, www.penniesfromheavenus.com and use PayPal.
April, 2006 BACK FROM AFRICA!!!!
What a success. I ended up taking $4000 with me to Africa to feed
people--$2000 went to Kenya and $2000 went to Malawi. Both have been
suffering from drought and famine. The floods in Malawi destroyed
crops again. I worked at a feeding place for children in Kenya whose moms are
single moms working at very low wages in the flower farms. These children
do not have enough to eat. They were so happy and cheerful to get the
food, very polite too. Thanks to you who gave your pennies, it worked!
Students from many different grades are making the Pennies Project their school
project.
Many
elderly people are sending in pennies. Cindy Randolph is sponsoring the
Walter K. Randolph Bikers for Bikers Rally and is giving a prize for the person
who brings in the greatest weight of pennies. Another woman and her
husband have a big pig jar so full of pennies that they cannot lift it and they
are donating them. Money is now coming in from other states. A
woman I met on a plane from South Carolina sent in money to Wells Fargo.
I
am sending the next amount of money to Mexico to feed people on the border at
the end of June. As of today there is
$1266.56 in the Pennies account at Wells Fargo. Wonder how much
there will be in it by the end of June???? A Hispanic woman in Amarillo
told me that she can feed a member of her family here in the USA a meal of beans and
rice for $.07.
May
13, 2006 About $4000 went to Africa in March to feed people, and as of
yesterday, I have almost $2500 to send to Acuna, Mexico, to the people who live
in "Cardboard City" (houses made of cardboard boxes). I have
been there and seen them. I will send whatever is in the account by June
24th. So far people have given over $6500 to feed people. That
is over 108,333 meals. Only God could think of something so insignificant
that could do so much. People have really caught the vision of this.
June 11,
2006 It just keeps happening! A woman I met in North Myrtle Beach,
SC, is working so hard to gather pennies from her friends and others. A
man from West Virginia had a dream about pennies falling from heaven (he had
become very concerned for starving children in the previous weeks) and he asked
his wife if she had any idea what it could mean. She said, "I think
we are to feed people with pennies and we are to feed the people no one cares
about." So he got on the internet and did a search for pennies from
heaven, found the website and contacted me by email. He is so excited and
has already contacted friends to help him.
Money
has now come in from two different sets of school classes. One class
raised $436.02. They had a man in their neighborhood read about the
story in the newspaper, and he brought all the pennies he had collected for
years to add to what they had collected. A group of three classes
of third grade students from a school where 80% of the children live below
the poverty level collected $168.09. The teacher said they never have
quarters, etc. to buy things with, so they were so happy to have a way to help
someone. Way to go!
July,
2006 Well, since January, 2006 you
all have contributed almost $8000, mostly in pennies, to feed starving
people. A week ago I sent a final total of $2700 to Mexico and
that will feed over 8800 children meals, and then I sent $800 to Africa to
buy beans and rice early for the fall feeding program (you can get more for
your money right now).
I took a jar
of pennies to the bank this morning and it was about $40.00, making the total
in there right now of $639.14. I keep emptying it out and giving it away and starting over again. As soon as it gets several thousand in
there, I will be sending it to Mozambique and to Native Americans.
You
are doing an incredible job of gathering pennies and also an incredible job of
spreading the word. Last week a homeless man gave me $0.03 and told me
he was getting all his friends to gather them up too. A few days ago a church
in North Myrtle Beach, SC sent me a check for $190 of pennies they had
collected. Keep sending this pennies update on to your email
list. Every penny counts.
I am
enclosing an email from my nephew with an original idea for getting his two
daughters to help gather pennies:
Dear Aunt Betty,
We are going to send you $6.00. In just one lunch at a restaurant, we
drank water instead of other drinks. By doing something that’s better for
us anyway, we know that you could use the same amount of money to buy 100 meals
for families in Africa. Thank you for helping us do this.
Our goal is to do this at least once a week. Jim, Denise and Girls
August 22, 2006 A Jewish woman, whose life as a child was saved during
the Holocaust by being sent to a Scandanavian country, is helping collect
pennies in San Diego. She is so excited about helping feed children and
adults. She sent me an email today, asking how I was able to respond to
people who had given money, to thank them and to encourage them to keep on
giving. Here is my reply to her:
Jacklyn, I
am not able to thank most of the contributors because they contribute directly
into Wells Fargo Bank and I never know who they are. If they send me the
money or a check, I always call them on the phone, or at least write them if
they don’t have a published phone number. Today I thanked a man who works
in a health food store for the pennies he and his friend donated. He saw
an article in the Amarillo paper about PFH and wanted to help. Because
of not knowing who most of the people are, I am keeping a journal
and pictures on the website to keep people encouraged at working at getting the
pennies in. Please tell people to go to the website and click on the
journal. www.penniesfromheavenus.com
I am sending $2500 today to Mozambique, Africa. These people
feed 10,000 orphans a day, every day, so this $2500 will feed all the orphans
for 2 ˝ days. From pennies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Already I
have over $320.77 gathered in the bank for the next project, which will be the
Native American Indians.
Since
January, 2006, I have received almost $10,000 total from people. All of it has
gone for food to Africa, Mexico, and now the USA.
Recently USA
Today had an article on pennies not being useful anymore. I wrote a
letter to the editor about it and they published it. I also sent in the
information to People Magazine about PFH and they emailed me two letters,
asking me for more information, as it might be a good story for them. I
have not heard back from them, but have high hopes I will. I am adding
more pictures to the picture site, so please look at them. Thank you so
MUCH for all the pennies you have sent in.
JULY, 2007 UPDATE:
Can
it really be one year since I have written in this journal????? It has
been like a whirlwind with all the pennies coming in from all over
America. Even people from other countries such as Canada, England,
Switzerland, and the Philippines have sent in money.
We began this project in January, 2006,
with $3.44, AND NOW THE TOTAL IN JUST A YEAR AND A HALF IS OVER
$30,000!!! AMAZING! INCREDIBLE!
AND, AS NEAR AS WE CAN FIGURE IT, THAT HAS BOUGHT ALMOST 350,000 MEALS ALL OVER
THE WORLD.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Who would ever have believed that this kind of money could have come in from
pennies and small change? Four people have donated $1000 and three have
donated $500 each, but all the rest has come in from pennies and small
change. Basically money that was useless and helping no one, is now
feeding the world.
Who has been doing this? Ordinary people, old people, little children,
poor people, homeless people, corporation employees with their money jar in
their offices, wishing wells from hotels, school children, civic organizations
like the Lion’s Club, and churches. (One church had a multi-cultural group and
the head of it was a member of the Cherokee nation and therefore they wanted
all their money to go to the Navajo Nation--$2700 in pennies and small
change.
Two Navajo churches that were exceptionally poor sent in $40-50
each to be sent to Viet Nam since many of their members had served in Viet
Nam.
A church here in Amarillo had just its children saving pennies, but the adults
got in on it also--$3313!)
Wells Fargo here in Amarillo, TX just gave me
a donation of $500 to show their support of the project.
COUNTRIES FED BY THE PENNIES FROM HEAVEN PROJECT:
1. Kenya
$2750 (Meals will cost $0.06 there)
2. Malawi
$5610 (Meals will cost $0.05 there)
3.
Mexico
$2700 (Meals will cost $1.00 there).
4.
Mozambique
$2500 (Meals will cost $0.10 there)
5.
Belarus $1500
(Meals will cost $1.25 there including extra meal)
6.
Belize
$1000 (Meals will cost $1.00 there)
7. USA-Navajo
Indians
$2700 (Meals will cost $1.33 there)
8. USA-New
Orleans
$800 (Meals will cost $1.25 there
9. Viet Nam
$2800 (Meals will cost $0.04 there)
10. Philippines
$2500 (Meals will cost $0.10 there)
11. Sudan
$3513 (Not sure yet)
The next monies coming in are being saved in the bank to send to Mexico
again (Zihuatenejo, this time). Keep telling your friends and email lists
about this project. Remember, 100% of the money goes for food to hungry
people, and I am very careful about watching what the people I give the money
to, do with it.
TOGETHER WE HAVE DONE THIS, EVERYBODY HELPING IN THEIR OWN WAY AND LOOK WHAT
HAS HAPPENED!
I CAN ONLY
HOPE IT GROWS AND GROWS UNTIL HUGE NUMBERS OF PEOPLE ARE INVOLVED.
THERE ARE A LOT OF HUNGRY PEOPLE IN THE WORLD AND WE CAN HELP THEM.
Thank
you,
Betty Swann
Pennies
From Heaven
NOTICE: ANOTHER IMPORTANT EASY WAY TO GET PENNIES: Please keep using goodsearch.com
for your search engine. It brings in a penny every time you use it. Not much for other non-profits to get, but huge for us, due to what a penny can
buy in other countries. IiF YOU USE IT TO BUY THINGS ON VARIOUS INTERNET WEBSITES, even more money can come to us. If you like to use Google, like I do, go to
goodsearch first, type in google.com and then use Google like normal. Two
extra steps, but it will feed someone.
September, 2008 Wowee! The total
amount donated is approaching $60,000!!!!!!!!! What an exciting project
this has been! Now people in Africa, Canada, the Philippines and England
are sending money for PFH, so it has gone global. Also, more corporations
are having their employees bring in pennies.
Thus far, we have fed people
in 12 countries and fed more than once in Kenya, Malawi, Mexico and the
Philippines. We are gathering pennies now to feed people in Israel who
were dislocated from Gaza and hope to also feed in Egypt to people living at
the garbage dump. So far people are still putting money in "Wells
Fargo Pennies From Heaven/Betty Swann Ministries"--some as little as
$0.15. I will be feeding people in Israel at $0.21 per person.
Yesterday a man gave me $11.00. He said, "I cannot watch you on
TV anymore. Every time I sit down to eat , I think of what you said about
hungry people and I cannot eat, SO HERE, TAKE THIS MONEY!" I
also am still getting money from homeless people who find it lying around on
the ground. What an amazing thing a joint effort is. I am still
being very careful with the money and who I send it to.
November, 2008
$70,364.74!!! And still coming in. People have been so
generous to help. One little four year old boy heard me talk about the
Pennies From Heaven Project and he wanted to help, so he gave $10 he got for
his birthday. Now we are collecting money to give to hungry people in
Bethlehem, as some are in dire circumstance there. After that, in
Spring, 2009 we will collect for Honduras.
August, 2009 $88,056.73 has come in!! We have fed people in 18
countries around the world). Oh, the joy of getting to do this!
What an amazing deal with so many people loving to help with this project
all over America. Who says Americans are all wrapped up in themselves OR
are struggling with the economic situation in the USA OR are too busy!
The generosity and goodwill has been incredible. Thank you, thank you, thank
you. Oh, how happy I would be if this thing went over $100,000. I
start wondering if it will continue and about that time another load of pennies
comes in.
COUNTRIES FED BY PENNIES FROM HEAVEN INTERNATIONAL THROUGH 10/29/10:
1.
Kenya
$40,225 (Meals will cost $0.10 there)
2.
Malawi
$11,857 (Meals will cost $0.10 there)
3.
Sudan $3404 (Not sure yet how much will cost there)
4.
Uganda
$2700 (Not sure yet how much will cost there)
5.
Mozambique
$2500 (Meals will cost $0.10 there)
6.
Mexico
$5200 (Meals will cost $1.00 there).
7.
Belarus
$1500 (Meals will cost $1.25 there including
one
extra meal)
8.
Belize
$1107 (Meals will cost $1.00 there)
9. USA:
Navajo
Indians $2811 (Meals will cost
$1.33 there)
New Orleans-Hurrican Katrina
$800 (Meals will cost $1.25 there)
Poor Children at City Church $3764 (Meals will help feed 2300 kids/day)
Benevolence to Unemployed in Amarillo $100
Appalachia (money is being gathered now for this project)
10. Viet
Nam
$2800 (Meals cost $0.04 there)
11.
Philippines
$6351 (Meals cost $0.10 there)
12. Israel
$14,267 (Includes both Gush Katif and Bethlehem)
13.
Egypt
$1250 (Meals for people living in Garbage City, Cairo)
14.
Haiti
$500 (Not sure how much it cost there)
15.
Honduras
$1000 (Not sure yet how much it cost there)
16.
Pakistan
$3600 ($0.10, fed in over 20 villages in Pakistan)
TOTAL: $105,742.31 GIVEN AWAY SO FAR, $3639.41 STILL TO BE GIVEN AWAY IN THE NEAR FUTURE, SO FINAL TOTAL IS $109,381.72 !)
One of the
men I send money to in Kenya said 400 people eat from the Pennies From Heaven
money each week. He said, "Betty, this is not people who have money-- they will not have a meal without
it."
I began
gathering pennies for Honduras because of some people I know in Amarillo who are
from Honduras and know the poverty there. But also, because I met a man in Cairo, Egypt who feeds the people who live in the garbage of Cairo. He also feeds
in Honduras and will help me get the money to honest people. The best thing is, right after I had gathered the money
for feeding in Honduras, the man called and asked if he could use the money to feed
people who had fled the country running to Nicaragua and Guatemala due to the political
violence in Honduras. I had just at that moment been reading an article in the paper
about what was happening in Honduras when I got his phone call. We are
right on the front line!
September, 2009 In August a man named
Cal Perry did a video report for CNN on 200 Christian families (2000
people) who had been kicked out of their homes due to the government saying
they had done something illegal and who were now living in tents in the median
of a four lane highway right in the center of Islamabad, Pakistan. A man
I work with in Lahore, Pakistan, took $1000 I sent him from PFH and used $200
of it to buy sacks of flour (rare and hard to get) for 50 families of those
Christians living there. I have a video of their happiness at getting
the food. He has now fed people in two other areas with this money.
It continues to amaze me what can happen with a tiny coin that no one in
America values very much. It also proves to me that no matter how warlike
life is, there is always a way to help people in distress. I am
discovering that people hear about these things and want to help someway, but
cannot find a way to do it. I am also realizing that there is a need for
something like this to meet situations that are not "tsunamis", but
are real needs anyway.
So you see,
a great thing can come from a little penny.
I am still looking for them
at every drive-through I go through. Found a nickel this last week at
one, a penny at one, and another penny at another one. Help me do
this. Just open your car door as you pay out and pick up the change lying
there. It will be washed away each night by the cleaning team and lost
forever, when it could be feeding someone hungry somewhere.
I have a
granddaughter who is 10 years old. We do something together which we call a
“Penny Run” and she loves to go with me looking for pennies at the
drive-through of various eating places and coffee shops.
Kids get so excited about doing it. The look in a child’s eyes at the
thought of helping a child or hungry person somewhere else makes it all worth
it.
A few days ago a homeless man found a penny
at a convenience store and gave it to me.
Another one ran up to me and said, “Hello, Pennies From Heaven!!!”. He was
one of the ones who had found 50 cents two years ago and he still remembered
the joy of helping feed hungry people. The
homeless people at Faith City Mission made a container to keep the pennies in,
and those people have faithfully donated that money for over a year. It has amounted to over $100 many, many times.
September, 2009
89,004.36
PFH - Grand Total Collected
October 2009 New York City vacation. Found a total of $1.67 on the streets of NYC. My husband is great at finding them.
December, 2009 Big, huge thing happened in my life. We got an opportunity to move to New York City for 1-2 years. How will things change??? Well, for starters, I worried about who would take my place for being in charge of Amarillo Pennies From Heaven while I am in charge of New York City PFH. At the last minute before leaving, I mentioned to Lisa Blake, the regional manager of Wells Fargo who has helped me so much with all of this, that I needed someone and had not found the right one. She said, "Betty, I want to do it!!!" So she is and will be absolutely great at it. She is a great connector.
THE TOTAL RIGHT NOW IS OVER $95,000 THAT HAS COME IN AND ALL HAS GONE OUT TO FEED PEOPLE IN 18 COUNTRIES. KEEP IT UP, AMERICA!!
January, 2010 I am now living in NYC, picking up pennies daily. I met a woman from Ukraine in a key shop and she is going to set up a jar for people and we will use the money I find in NYC to feed people in Ukraine. She knows an honest person I can trust to do it right. I am starting that project with $2.63. I met another young woman who is starting work on her PHD with very little income, but she wants to gather pennies for me.
We are now feeding every month in Kenya (it takes $1000/month to feed over 900 people daily) and we are feeding weekly in the different villages of Pakistan at $200 per village. Yet people continue to give and give and give. If you are reading this in the USA or in any country, please forward it on to the people on your email list and get them to help. Gather the pennies, go to www.penniesfromheavenus.com and send it in by using PayPal.
In December, 2009, I moved to New York City and began finding pennies on the street there and people began helping me collect them. I am still the head of it all, but Lisa Blake became the Amarillo director of Pennies From Heaven.
06/17/2010 WOWWEE, WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT THIS WOULD WORK LIKE IT HAS!! $103,774.18 AND ALL THIS HAS BEEN DONE IN ONLY FOUR YEARS. AMAZING.
TOTAL: $101,135 GIVEN AWAY SO FAR, $2639
STILL TO BE GIVEN AWAY IN THE NEAR FUTURE, SO FINAL TOTAL IS $103,774.18
THAT HAS COME IN!!!)
Send all donations to:
Pennies From Heaven International
3201 South Rusk
Amarillo, TX 79109
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