Week 8 - Rescued Critters Food Drive

Hi Folks,

                  Change is Good ... Part Two

As the photo on the right indicates this is about money again — the metal stuff—not the paper.

A little background first

The Statue of Liberty landed in New York on June 17, 1885. She was in pieces and needed a pedestal. Early fundraising efforts failed … they needed a little more than $100,000 (a couple of million bucks at today’s rates) and no one stepped up. In February 1885, Joseph Pulitzer, publisher of the New York World newspaper promised donors that their names would be published in his newspaper no matter the amount they gave. He also published the notes folks sent along with their nickels and dimes. The idea caught on across the country and even very young school children donated. In five months-time, Pulitzer raised over $100,000 and the Statue of Liberty got her stunning pedestal.*

One Hundred and Thirty Years Later

Change is still setting impressive records especially for the TSA (Transportation Security Administration.) In 2015, they reported that folks in a hurry were leaving their change as they dumped their metal items in the bin, stepped through the scanner and gathered their thing in their race to catch a flight.

The tally for 2015 was nearly a quarter million dollars which the TAS used to upgrade equipment. In 2017, the take was close to a million dollars. TSA tells folks to place their change in their shoes, so they won’t forget it. Obviously, they’re not listening.**

We’re listening.

A few weeks ago, Elizabeth on 12^th Street handed me a sandwich bag partially filled with change. It was over $5.00, and it started me thinking. Everybody has a change jar that collects money for future purchases. But first it must be counted, rolled and deposited in the bank. That’s a lot of energy for $50 or $60 dollars.

In an effort to encourage others to follow Elizabeth’s lead, I wrote a post about donating that idle change to PACC. Well, that sure worked nicely. John, my friend and client read the piece and handed me a large Zip Lock bag of change at our meeting last week. The total there was $37.65.

Sunday, my friend and neighbor Bruce on Miles emptied his container of spare change into my deposit bag. $64.50 was his donation. Elizabeth again donated her change to the tune of $5.61. 

Whether you are like Elizabeth or John and Bruce, any change donation goes a long way to feed those Rescued Critters at PACC. Just keep it up.

*Statue of Liberty Information
Statue of Liberty Information
**TSA Information
TSA Information

Graduated from the Chair to the Table

So much donated pet food and supplies this week, I had to shoot the photograph on Cody’s special perch. We had 9 lbs. of dog food and 7.6 lbs. of cat food. Also, there was a 30 lb. bag of rolled pine (used like cedar chips), a medium dog bed and loads of Rubbermaid Hygen reusable cleaning pads. They’re like industrial sized Swiffer pads.

The total dollar donation was a whopping $163.76 … $107.76 in change.

See you Sunday,

Peter