The apple falls far, far away from the tree between one teen and her biological father.
He dumped 80,000 pennies on her front lawn as his deviant final child support payment.
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Instead of retaliating in anger, the teen turned a bad situation into a positive one by donating the money to charity .
This amazing act of kindness has touched hearts all across the world.
Pennies have long been considered a symbol of good luck.
It’s why phrases like, “See a penny, pick it up, All day long you’ll have good luck” exist.
Which, by the way in case you’re wondering, I have collected a lot of pennies over the years.
But since they’re so time-consuming to count, some people have used them to pay people back in the most inconvenient way possible.
For example, a US businessman used coins as a means of revenge in 2017.
He paid his $3,000 tax bill with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) with five wheelbarrows containing 300,000 coins.
This took the staff at least seven hours to count the coins, meaning they had to work late.
People have done similar acts when paying back the IRS.
The businessman told the BBC that his protest had the intent to make government departments more responsive to public inquiries.
“It shouldn’t matter if you pay $300 per year in income taxes or pay $300,000 per year in income taxes like myself, because the backbone of a free democracy/republic begins with government transparency, period,” he said .
Believe it or not, this most recent story involving using pennies is even worse.
Avery Sanford, a Deep Run High School senior, was in the middle of class when her father rented a trailer and dumped 80,000 pennies (equivalent to $800) on her and her mother’s front lawn.
This was his deviant way of paying his final child support payment.
While his intention was to hurt Avery’s mother, his actions deeply affected Avery and her sister.
“It’s not just my mom he’s trying to embarrass,”
She continued:
“It’s also me and my sister and it’s upsetting that he didn’t consider that before he did that,” Sanford told WTVR .
She explained that she hadn’t spoken to her father in years.
“It’s really hurtful and damaging to your kids when you do things like that.”
“It doesn’t matter if they’re young or an adult, the actions of your parents will always have some effect on you,” Avery said.
But instead of letting her father win, Sandford and her mom decided to donate every last penny to Safe Harbor, a domestic abuse center.
“Turning around and donating that money to moms and children in need, I feel like that really turns this situation into a positive. You can learn from it,” Avery said.
It’s a remarkable move that’s being praised online.
“No thanks to him, his daughter has grown up to be a kind and thoughtful young woman,” wrote Twitter user @storylibrarian .
“His daughter of 18 is so much more mature and insightful,” added another.
Meanwhile, the actions of the father have been ripped apart.
People were simply not interested in what he had done.
“As a social worker/therapist, my professional clinical recommendation was the he be set on fire,” tweeted one person.
It didn’t stop there.
“I cannot understand men who do things like this. Or even the ones who complain about having to pay child support,” added another. He’s also been called “cruel” and a “sad, sad man.”
Speaking of the father, he tried to defend himself, telling WTVR that his “actions were the result of 18 years of built-up frustration” and that “his emotions got the best of him.”
He also said that “the said the last thing he wanted to do was to put a further wedge between him and his daughter.”
We’re not so sure about that…
What we ARE sure of, though, is that his daughter got the last laugh in the end.
She’s a kind, generous person who deserves all the praise she’s getting online!
Now, we want to hear from you.
What do you think about the father’s actions and the child’s reaction?
Let us know down below in the comment section. We would love to hear from you!
