2009-12-19 01:46:42 - Tina Shelton is celebrating the one-year anniversary of her personal penny-finding journey, with a campaign aimed at collecting one million smiles on the site. Shelton will take the lead by donating her year’s worth of found coins to the Salvation Army’s “Red Kettle Campaign."

POMONA, CA – Giving new meaning to the old adage that “a penny saved is a penny earned,” Tina Shelton is celebrating the one-year anniversary of her personal penny-finding journey, which is chronicled at PennyFinders.com, with a campaign aimed at collecting one million smiles on the site. Anyone can add to the smile counter by finding a penny and donating it to a worthy cause, and Shelton will take the lead by donating her year’s worth of found coins -- more than 3,400 in all -- to the Salvation Army’s “Red Kettle Campaign” fundraising program.

Saturday, December 19th will mark 365 days of consecutive penny finding by Shelton and her site, and since it falls during the holiday season, it’s an

excellent occasion for everyone to find a penny and pass it along. “Through the simple act of finding a penny and giving it a purpose, you can bring a smile to someone’s face,” Shelton said. “If we all gave just one coin to a worthwhile cause, everyone could share the joy and the smiles.”

“Tina is a great inspiration for others to follow,” said Dawn Wright, director of marketing and communications, The Salvation Army, Southern California Division. “We are grateful for her donation and excited to share her contribution with needy families across the Southland. It is amazing how one penny collected and combined with others can add up to so much more.”

The Salvation Army in Southern California raises 60 percent of its annual operating budget during the holidays, making this a critical season for bringing in much-needed resources. Despite the economy, public support has been steadfast, but for The Salvation Army to reach its $2 million Red Kettle Campaign goal, more support is needed. The kettles have brought in $1 million so far, leaving just days for kettles to raise $1 million more.

Shelton noted that it’s easy to donate to other charities as well throughout the year through the collection boxes that are found at most grocery stores, pharmacies, restaurants, convenience stores, pet stores, department stores, gas stations, etc. In addition, a list of “21 Ways to Gift a Penny” can be found at PennyFinders.com.

The site also offers visitors the opportunity to share their personal “Penny Tales” by recounting their own penny-finding experiences and how they affected them and others.

Shelton’s unexpected penny-finding odyssey began when she asked for a sign or a symbol that would help her with an important decision she was facing. She saw a penny on the ground, picked it up and noticed the message it bore: “In God We Trust.” That influenced her decision, and as she found more and more pennies, they reinforced that decision. “Penny finding changed my life in the best possible way,” Shelton recalled, “and it can do the same for anyone. There are pennies lying on the ground in every city just waiting for someone to find them and then share the joy and inspire positive change.”

Incidentally, there is a certain protocol to penny finding. For example, coins found in pockets, purses, briefcases, backpacks, personal money trays, and auto coin holders or ash trays are not considered “legitimate finds.” The same goes for church collection plates, wishing wells, fountains, children’s piggy banks and the spare penny dishes that some retail establishments have by their cash register.

Tina Shelton is a lecturer in the College of Engineering at Cal Poly Pomona, where she earned a graduate degree in engineering. And in case penny finding seems unusual, consider that among her many accomplishments, Shelton crossed Australia backwards in a solar-powered race car that she helped design.