Power of a Penny

By Bob Shannon – Habitat for Humanity Board Member


Have you ever been out walking and saw a penny on the street? Did you pick it up or just ignore it?
My wife would always pick it up. A friend of mine says that he would never bother to pick up the penny.
He says that when he goes through a drive thru to pick up food, if there are any pennies in the change,
he will throw them in the trashcan at the drive thru. Is it worth asking the question:
“Are pennies worthless?” Consider the following observations.

If everyone in the Calcasieu area (120,000 residents) gave one penny a year to support Habitat house
construction, that would amount to $1200 which could be used to buy a set of windows or doors for a
house, or roof a house, or buy siding for the house, or purchase flooring for a house, or purchase all
the paint and trim for a house, or buy all the 2x4’s that would be used in the house.

If everyone in the Calcasieu area gave one penny per week to support Habitat, that would amount to
$62,400. That would almost be enough money to buy all the materials that would be needed to build
TWO houses each year.

How about one penny per day. Is that asking a lot? $3.65 per year. Throughout the Calcasieu area that
would amount to $438,000 per year. Enough to build 12 houses each year.

Ask yourself again. Is a penny worthless? Why not ask one of our partner families in need of simple
decent housing if a penny would help.