SPARE CHANGE …
Recently a friend told me this story and I thought it was worthy of being passed on to all my friends in bloggerland.
She had decided to do a little volunteer work so she signed up to work with the local food bank organization. It was there that she met an old man who appeared to be almost destitute. He’d arrived in a beat up jalopy that must have been 20 years old and his clothes were outdated and worn also.
However this man seemed extremely happy and she overheard him telling some of the others how excited he was to be taking off on an overseas trip in the near future. “How in the world could he afford that?”, wondered my friend.
It wasn’t long before she found herself next to the man and they started a conversation. Kiddingly, my friend asked the man if he’d hit the jackpot or won the lottery. “Oh, no”, said her new friend “I worked hard for everything I have.”
Then he went on to tell her this ... about 5 years ago he had started to volunteer at the Food Bank and it became his job to open up early in the morning. He decided that he would make use of his early rising and he set himself a goal. He mapped out all the drive-through food and beverage places and every morning he drove through them before they opened and COLLECTED THE CHANGE THAT THE CUSTOMERS HAD DROPPED !!
It took him 5 years but the nickels, dimes and quarters piled up and every time that he had a total of $100 he would put it into a special savings account. Then that too started to accumulate and by the time that he spoke to my friend he had over $1,600 saved ... enough to provide him with airfare to visit an old friend who lived in Norway.
Don’t you just love it?
posted by Ginnie at 12:41 PM
8 Comments:
I wonder how much the custodians at a typical local high school are able to collect. I know they do, but I don't know what it amounts to.
Yes, I do!! I'll admit to picking up change where ever I find it (but not at a drive-thru). I once saw a pile of pennies on the parking lot at my post office. They were mixed with cigarette ashes, but I picked up every one of them and gleaned more than $3! I know hard times are here now, since I hardly ever see change on the ground anymore.
Priceless!!! Absolutely.... what a resilient man :)
Amazing!
I save my change in a jar - actually it ends up being jars... I bought my first digital camera a couple years ago with the change I collected in a year.
I DO pick up any change I find on the ground and add it to my jar.
Good story!
I'm thinking that I need to try this!
It seems he was very ambitious!
Love Di
I put the change from my pocket in a "bank" on the counter at home and within no time at all have about $300. It's a good way to not get weighed down by change too.
great story. How creative!
Hi, Ginny. I have not been visiting blogs in a l-o-n-g time, and I am so glad to see that you are still writing and publishing. This was a wonderful story. Thanks!
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