Man tried to humiliate his ex-wife and threw 80,000 cents in the garden as a maintenance payment: his daughter figured out what to do with the money

Avery Sanford was days away from graduating from high school in Virginia when his father emptied a trailer containing 80,000 cents in the garden. outside his house last month.

“My mom came out and said, ‘What are you throwing in my garden?’ She didn’t know who it was until my dad yelled: “This is the last alimony for my daughters,” he revealed in an interview with WTVR television.

Devastated by her father’s display, 18-year-old Sanford, her mother and several friends raised tens of thousands of pennies and wondered what they should do next. “I donated the $ 800 in coins to a domestic violence center,” replied the young woman.

Officials of Safe Harbor Shelter, a Richmond organization that provides services to survivors of domestic violence, sexual violence and human trafficking, confirmed the donation to The Washington Post Thursday.

“They managed to turn such a negative experience and what their daughter witnessed into something positive. They found a way to change that and not be devastated by it, ”he said. The Post Cathy Easter, the executive director of Safe Harbor.

Since local media first reported the story this week, the shelter has admitted to noticing an increase of more than $ 5,000 in donations, with some people citing family as the reason for their gifts.

Home security images obtained by The post office show a man in a van pulling up to a house with a trailer attached to the vehicle on May 21. The man operated the trailer to throw the pennies on the lawn and sidewalk of the house, before walking away, a video is shown.

“What are you leaving in my yard?” Sanford’s mother said, according to the video.

The man replied, “This is the last child support payment.”

Henrico County Police Lt. Matt Pecka said The post office that an officer noted last month that at approximately 2:30 p.m. the “house incident” took place in Glen Allen, Va., about 14 miles north of Richmond. When the officer arrives, found a lot of “pennies on the road outside the address,” and Sanford’s mother said her ex-husband was responsible for the disaster.

“Henrico police documented the incident; however, no charges have been laidPecka said.

When he got home from school, Sanford couldn’t believe what he saw.

“It’s not just my mother who tries to embarrass, she also did it to my sister and to me”, said Sanford to WTVR. “It’s annoying that he didn’t think about it before doing it.”

Five days later, Mary Maupai received an email in her inbox from a stranger. Maupai, Director of Development at Safe harbor, said the mother, who had no previous affiliation with the organization, explained what had happened and pointed out that May 21 was the deadline for the final payment of child support for her ex-husband, in the amount of $ 825.

The mother mentioned that Sanford was close to graduating from Deep Run High School and going to Virginia Tech in what should be an exciting time for her, Maupai said. The post office.

“Instead, he had to attend this show from his estranged father. “the mother wrote on May 26, according to an email obtained by The post office.

Safe harbor, which was founded in 1998, is one of a number of national victim services groups that have seen their access to federal funds drastically reduced in recent years.

So when Sanford’s mother wanted to donate money to the center, Safe harbor thanked the gift. But Easter and Maupai They weren’t expecting the next step: a flood of donations fueled by family action. Maupai noted that gifts citing Sanford’s donation as a catalyst for the donation ranged from $ 25 to $ 1,000.

“The fact that these gifts are coming now is like a gift from heaven,” Easter said. “I’m so sorry the family went through this, but I’m so grateful that they reached out and chose to do this and share their story.”.

As strange as it may sound to throw so many pennies out of spite, this isn’t the only recent case of someone throwing tens of thousands of pennies in front of a house. When a Georgia man demanded his last paycheck after quitting his job at an auto repair shop, his former boss responded by leaving more than 91,000 cents in his driveway in March.

Efforts to reach Sanford’s father were unsuccessful. In an interview with WTVR, the father said he was frustrated and did not intend to escalate the situation between him and his daughter. Sanford told the news channel that while her father’s decision was “really hurtful and damaging” to the family, she was proud the money ended up going to a good cause.

“By turning over and giving this money to moms and kids in need, I feel like it really turns this situation into something positive. You can learn from it, ”said the young woman who is about to graduate.

Maupai hopes Sanford’s law inspires others to donate to victim shelters. Since Easter, she can’t remember another time in the shelter’s history when a difficult event turned into something more promising.

“It really is such a great story. We cannot stress enough the importance of being kind to each other, ”he concluded.

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