Kids who go through a divorce end up fighting in their parents’ battles, even if the parents never intended to involve them at the start. That was the case for Avery Sanford. She was about to graduate from high school, and her parents were already separated and officially divorced. However, there was the detail of child support that still kept them connected. Just a few days before the big high school event, Avery’s father showed up in front of the family house that Avery and her mother still lived in. And, he began to dump 80,000 pennies on the front lawn.
For Avery’s father, the pennies represented his last child support payment due and, as far as he was concerned, delivered. After all, pennies are still legal U.S. tender and currency, just inconvenient as hell to use. For Avery, the whole spectacle was a huge embarrassment in front of the neighbors, something her father didn’t seem to care about, even for his own daughter.
For the next hour or so, the high school graduate, her mother, and helpful neighbors worked at picking up the pennies and putting them into containers for a more manageable approach. That, of course, gave them plenty of time as well for how to think about what to do next. The answer came to them after a bit of time: the $800 would be donated to a domestic abuse shelter and help center.
The money was provided to the Safe Harbor Shelter, a non-profit dedicated to helping people who have been or are victims of domestic violence, human trafficking, sexual assault and similar. In addition to the help, Avery and her mother realized they had the ability and power to take what started off as another nasty chapter of a divorce into a positive impact on other people’s lives going forward.
Further, the story sparked a wave of reaction, also positive for the Shelter. Based on the local news carrying the details of the morning fiasco, folks who sympathized with Avery and her mother decided to follow their example and donate as well. The result was another $5,000 donated to the Shelter for its operations.
Interestingly, Avery and her mother aren’t interested in the limelight. Their privacy is worth a lot more, and they have purposefully avoided engaging with the press or any follow-up associated with the incident. While the police did get involved due to a call from Avery’s address about a domestic incident, they concluded no crime was committed. When Avery herself got home, the whole family was upset about the matter and the embarrassment, but it was a slight that not much could be done about. From his perspective, Avery’s father probably thought he got the last laugh. As it turned out, little did he expect, Avery and her mother were going to twist things for the better.
When Mary Maupai, the development director of Safe Harbor Shelter, received an email, she was not expecting it was going to turn into an $800 donation. However, As Maupai read the digital note, she saw a familiar story laid out by Avery’s mother and realized why they were giving the shelter the money involved. That in turn led to the domino effect noted above, and the Shelter realized a cascade of donations right after, ranging from $25 to $1,000. As the Shelter management summed up the event, it was a godsend at the right time.
