By Cheryl Dobrzynski, Province V Representative and Member of the UTO Finance and Archives Committee

Several years ago, I was walking with my uncle when I saw something shiny on the sidewalk. I checked it out and said, “Oh, it’s just a penny.” My uncle questioned if I was going to pick it up. I said again, “It’s just a penny.” He then reminded me that, while one penny might not seem like much, if you find 100 pennies, you now have a dollar and think what you can do with that! Times have changed since then—the dollar doesn’t go as far and we have even stopped minting pennies! However, the principle behind his statement still holds true: while one penny can’t do much, 100 pennies can, and if you keep adding more pennies together, they can do so much more!

It’s similar to a child’s piggy bank. The look on children’s faces when they have change to put in their piggy bank is priceless. Then the joy when they shake their bank and it makes all sorts of fun noise. I remember hearing cries of “I’m rich!” complete with a grin from ear to ear.

The UTO Ingathering in its simplest form can be thought of like this: People of all ages from places throughout the United States and beyond collect their “spare change” in our Blue Boxes or some other suitable container and then send it to UTO to fund our grants. The money I send in might not be much on its own, but when combined with everyone else’s, we all become part of something big and special.

While our Ingatherings haven’t reached pre-COVID levels, we have been holding fairly steady. There is a lot to be anxious about right now and budgets have been tight, but there are still so many things to be thankful for. I encourage you to remember that being grateful requires simply noticing something good in your life and responding with thanks. Noticing the good, feeling gratitude, and thanking the people who made it possible builds positivity and happiness in both the person giving thanks and the person receiving it.

Does your parish participate in UTO? If yes, GREAT! Watch for information on your next Ingathering and be sure to participate. If no, perhaps it’s time to get on board. The UTO website has a lot of useful information to get started: www.unitedthankoffering.com.