By Melanie Graham
NEWBURYPORT — They linger in car cup holders, rest at the bottom of piggy banks and sit in trays on convenience store counters.
Pennies may seem small and insignificant, but when it comes to poverty, two local women are trying to show that a couple of cents a day can go a very long way.
That is the message the Poverty Program is trying to send to community members with its new "Pennies for Poverty: Two Cents Campaign," a project that asks Newburyport residents to donate just two cents a day to help local residents in poverty. Their goal is to get the entire city, from students to seniors, involved.
"There's quite a bit of poverty right here in town," said Catherine Yesair Gould, Director of the Poverty Program and co-founder of the Two Cents Campaign. According to literature put out by the program, there are currently 2,417 people in Newburyport living below poverty level.
According to Gould, if everyone in Newburyport were to save two cents per day for one year ($7.30 per resident), the entire town would raise $125,000. The money raised would be used to assist in programs aimed to lift those out of poverty such as career counseling and day care vouchers.
Pennies for Poverty will incorporate local businesses as well as volunteers, asking stores, banks and other locations around town to place a jar in their businesses for customers to donate their pennies. Moreover, templates for stickers will be available on a future Web site, allowing residents to create their own donation can at their home. The project will be run in conjunction with the Hugh Doyle Center, an organization that coordinates the services of churches and other social services within the town.
To get started, the campaign is looking to local volunteers to assist in the decision-making process, promotion and initiation of the beginning stages of the Pennies for Poverty project. Introductory meetings will be held this month in the Stage Room at the Belleville Congregational Church in Newburyport. The first meeting will be this Monday, June 23 at 6:30 p.m. and for those who cannot attend, a second meeting will be held on Sunday, June 29 at 3 p.m.
The Poverty Program is a privately funded, volunteer organization that aims to educate people about and publicize social and moral issues as well as events that impact poverty locally and worldwide. The program was initially supported by the members of the Belleville Congregational Church but has since grown with the involvement of other area churches.
Laurie Ingersoll, co-founder of the Two Cents Campaign, said that the Poverty Program generally focuses on worldwide hunger issues, specifically in Africa. However, it can be difficult to draw attention to the hunger crisis on the other side of the planet.
"People say 'Well, that doesn't apply to me,"' said Ingersoll. "We want people to realize that poverty is in their own backyard."
With gas prices venturing to record-breaking heights and food costs not far behind, Gould explained that many people, especially elderly residents and single parents, are facing problems.
"The jobs just aren't there," Gould said.
The Poverty Project wants to go beyond pennies, as the group plans to integrate the fundraiser into a multi-tiered campaign that includes food donations and a volunteer job fair. A kickoff for that fundraiser is planned for December 2008.
The slogan, "two cents, two cans, two hours, together" melds several volunteer opportunities for community members to help the impoverished. "Two cans" is the collection held by local churches on the first Sunday of every month asking churchgoers to donate two cans of food. "Two hours" is the two hours asked of locals to volunteer helping a fellow neighbor with a job or participating at a career fair that will be held by the organization in the fall.
With the combined efforts of all of the two cent programs, Newburyport has the potential to raise over $3 million.
Perhaps, then, the extra penny from that 99 cent drink or candy bar will soon have a more significant purpose.
"It's a very doable program if people understand the simplicity of it," said Ingersoll. "You really can make a difference with just two cents a day."
If You Go:
What: Pennies for Poverty: Two Cents for Change informational meeting
Where: Stage Room at Belleville Congregational Church
When: Monday, June 23 at 6:30 p.m. and Sunday, June 29 at 3 p.m.
