Donation of pennies plants seed for more

There's almost nothing you can buy for a penny. There may be the occasional yard sale find, but having less than a quarter usually doesn't offer many purchasing options.

That said, it was no surprise to Billie Pachey of Huddleston when the man in front of her at the Food Lion checkout expressed no need for his change: 8 cents. He turned and gave it to Pachey.

"I said: 'I'll give it to the potato fund at church," she recalled.

When he inquired, Pachey told him about Pennies for Potatoes, a fundraiser at Patmos United Methodist Church for Society of St. Andrews, a Big Island nonprofit that salvages excess produce from local farms and delivers it to organizations across the country that feed the hungry. Last year, it donated almost 11 million pounds of potatoes.

What happened next did surprise Pachey.

"He pulled $20 out of his wallet and said to give it to the fund," she said.

Pachey did. When she told another parishioner, Betty Glass, the story, the woman said she'd match it. Pachey agreed to do the same. And that's how 8 cents became $60.08.

According to Society of St. Andrews literature, that amount of money can provide 4,000 servings of food.

"It's kind of unbelievable the small amount of money that can go toward so much food and so many meals," said Judy Wolfe, who is heavily involved in Pennies for Potatoes.

She said the United Methodist Women at Patmos heads up the program. One month each year, for the past eight years, the UMW asks parishioners to drop their change or bills into a jar for Society of St. Andrews. Last year, they brought in and donated $232.

"At the end of the month, we have a fellowship after church and we have a baked potato luncheon," said Wolfe.

The potatoes, along with every topping imaginable, replaces the church's weekly post-service fellowship food, which is provided by one of the parishioners.

Wolfe said the church has been donating to Society of St. Andrews for several years. The Pennies for Potatoes program is a donation surge by the UMW that reminds parishioners that a little money can go a long way.

"Kids nowadays throw pennies on the ground and don't think anything of it," said Wolfe.

And sometimes, adults pass them off to the next person in line.

"Sometimes we don't take the opportunity to tell people the kinds of things that we think 8 cents would do," said Wolfe.

Thanks to Pachey, a Food Lion shopper now knows. And the Society for St. Andrews can provide more food because of it.

For more information about Society of St. Andrews, visit www.endhunger.org.