PENNIES FROM HEAVEN



The Canadian Mint produces about 800 million pennies each year in a failing effort to keep the coin in circulation. It costs more to produce a penny than its face value. The mint won't say exactly how much, but estimates vary from 2.5¢ to 4¢. The majority of the coins are hoarded in drawers and containers in average Canadian households and simply forgotten about. Most of us won't even bother to pick up a penny found lying on the street.

In April 2008, there were a number of calls for the penny to be scrapped. An NDP member of Parliament proposed a bill to do away with the 1¢ coin once an for all. There was much discussion pro and con in all the media. On a whim, I decided to see how many pennies had accumulated in our house. In nooks and crannies, upstairs and down, I was very surprised to fill one and a half coffee cans. The total haul came to $18.46 in worthless, un-circulated 1¢ coins. I began to think that many other households could match or beat my coffee can collection. If they all could be collected somehow, we could raise hundreds of dollars for a charitable cause and put the lowly penny back into circulation as well. These pennies now circulating again could be collected over and over. The concept could become a renewable charitable fund.

At Northern Art Glass we put this initiative into motion and set up a collection pail in the store for penny donations. All of our staff, our customers and students have been extremely supportive. When the pail was full, it contained $150 in pennies and miscellaneous other coins. In December/08, the first donation was made to VESTA, a non-profit women's recovery program in our neighborhood. Future pails will go to the Women's Shelter, the Men's Mission and the Food Bank.

Northern Art Glass is asking you to round up all of your household pennies and help us put them to work for a worthy cause.

Thank you.
Brian Eagle and the whole studio team