If a penny is worth 1000 words…
A Virginia teenager demonstrated the meaning of good "cents" after her estranged father decided to pay her a surprise visit.
According to WTVR, Avery Sanford hadn’t seen her penny-hoarding dad in years until he showed up at her home and dumping 80,000 pennies on his ex-wife’s front lawn.
"I just turned 18. When I was in the middle of class, my dad came by. He had rented a trailer," Sanford told the outlet.
“He pulled up in front of the house and turned the trailer on, so it dumped out all the pennies on the grass and my mom came out and was like, ‘What are you dumping in my yard?’” Avery said. “She didn’t know who it was until he shouted, ‘It’s your final child support payment.’”
The teen called the stunt “upsetting,” but said she was determined to turn a terrible situation into something positive by donating the money to “moms and children in need.”
Cathy Easter, executive director of the Safe Harbor in Richmond, told the Huffington Post that after the teen and her mother had donated about $850, the story went viral and led to an outpouring of support, inspiring others to give thousands more.
“During the pandemic, incidents of domestic violence incidents have increased, people who have been abused, especially since the beginning, were trapped in their homes with their abusers and couldn’t leave,” Easter told HuffPo. “Since restrictions started lifting, it’s like a tsunami wave of people reaching out for help at a time when federal funding has been cut, so this gift for us has been amazing.”
“Donations are pouring in. We heard from Canada, someone in England. It’s amazing. Just so many nice comments about Avery. It’s just been so uplifting and incredible,” Easter said.
Watch the original news segment below.
