Dorcas children donate pennies to prison ministry

The Vacation Bible School (VBS) program at Dorcas Baptist Church, Coffee Association, collected 48,000 pennies in their “Pennies for Missions” program to help a local prison ministry share the Word of God with inmates.
   
Pam Johnson, the VBS director at Dorcas, said she wanted a program where everyone, including preschool children, could get involved in collecting money for missions. And everyone has pennies, she said.
   
“We set an internal goal of 100 dollars, and by the end of the week we were completely surprised at the amount we collected,” she said, noting the children gave an average of $5.68 each. “Every classroom had a one-gallon jug, and almost every class had filled up their jugs with pennies.”
   
Margaret Johnson, the secretary and clerk for Dorcas, said, “It thrilled my heart to see the kids go and bring their bags of pennies.”
   
“They really tried to collect a lot of pennies,” she said, noting one girl who went door to door with a wagon in her collection efforts. “Sometimes it seems like the adults aren’t as dedicated as the children are.”
   
Margaret Johnson said the winning class received a pizza party, but she said competition alone did not drive the students to collect pennies.  “Everyone knew what those pennies were for,” she said.
   
Billy Paul McCullough, chaplain for the Alabama Department of Corrections for the Elba work-release program and a member of Dorcas, said he was surprised to receive money for his prison ministry program. He said he would use the money to help with remodeling efforts on the prison chapel building.
   
“I watched them come down the (church) aisle with a red wagon with some money in it, and nobody could pick the wagon up,” he said. “It just made me think about how the children sacrificed and put forth the effort to get the money. I was completely flabbergasted.”
   
Dorcas members also added another $100 to the $480 donation the children collected with their pennies to make a total donation of $581.