Social Change

Wow, wow, wow! Who knew I could have fun AND collect a ton of pennies (along with a bunch of other change) at a work event?!

Last week I attended ASAE & The Center's Global Summit on Social Responsibility. It was a really neat event that used the Appreciative Inquiry model to generate ideas & action plans to leverage the power of associations to improve the planet through social responsibility initiatives. I won a "young professionals" scholarship to attend the ground-breaking event alongside association leaders and partners.

On day one when we kicked off the event, we paired up to interview someone at our table. We each talked about things in our lives we were proud of. So, of course...I told the story of The Penny Project! My interviewer loved it and shared it with the rest of our table. The next day, at another table, it came up again as part of a presentation we had to do. Suddenly, one of my team members pulled all of the change from her purse and gave it to me for the cause. Now that was exciting! But it was even more exciting when everyone else at the table did the same thing! Before I knew it, I was up on the stage sharing the story with the whole room! At the same time, my team members were passing around "penny bags" and I could hear jingling all around the ballroom.

I went back to the table to sit down and from out of nowhere 3 or 4 people came up to me with their change, throwing it in the bags and saying things like, "great idea" and "good luck with this!" I couldn't believe it...the whole thing put a huge smile on my face! And then...one very generous fellow gave me a $20 bill with a sticky note that said "Very Imaginative!" Talk about a pretty penny!

All in all, over the next two days the generosity and support of the people attending the summit continued to amaze me. By the end of the final day, I'd collected 98 quarters, 119 dimes, 98 nickels, 526 pennies, and a $1 coin (along with actual paper money, which made my heart skip a beat!) for a total of $76.56.

So, now I have renewed spirit and excitement about the project and am ready for the next phase. This month is all about connecting with Common Cents (an organization that teaches social responsibility & charitable giving to children) and hopefully combining what they do with my desire to teach kids about financial literacy.

So keep saving those pennies and stay tuned for future news...