Unveiling a ‘Penny Lane’ for Charity

On December 10, in New York’s Rockefeller Plaza, Teddy Gross, founder of the charity Common Centers, and the architect James S. Polshek will unveil a showcase of collected pennies that will be given to charities, reports The New York Times.

Penny Harvest Field, which will be placed on a pedestrian walkway, is a giant steel tub with mirrors on each end designed to give the impression that the pennies it holds go on forever. Volunteers, including some from the 830 elementary and middle schools that organized the penny-collecting campaigns, will pour the coins into the “field,” which will stretch 165 feet long and 30 feet wide, with pennies stacked 8 inches deep.

Eventually the pennies will be returned to the schools from which they came. The students, with help from teachers trained by Common Cents, the group Mr. Gross founded in 1991, will study community problems and determine which charities are most in need of their donations.

(Free registration is required to view this article.)