Countywide : Every Cent Counts in an Unusual Fund Drive

Making an Easter Seals donation to Jack Kronenberg requires more than just writing a check.

Kronenberg plans to collect $5,000 for the charitable organization by October--every cent of it in pennies.

That’s 500,000 copper coins in all.

So far, the vice president at Orange Coast Title Co. in Santa Ana has received 370,000 pennies, which are neatly stacked in wrappers at his office.

Penny savers from throughout the county donated the coins, which have arrived in bags, Easter baskets, water bottles, coffee tins, flower vases and butter containers.

One man donated more than 40,000 pennies in a children’s wagon.

“I have the eighth wonder of the world,” Kronenberg said proudly. “It’s all these pennies.”

The unusual fund-raiser is based on the idea that people who hoard pennies are looking for a worthwhile place to deposit their collections.

Banks usually won’t accept pennies unless they are counted and wrapped. “We found that the reason so many people have pennies lying around is because they are too lazy to wrap them,” said Kronenberg, 60, of Mission Viejo.

He and other employees at Orange Coast Title gladly pick up and wrap the coins. They seek large collections but will accept almost any amount of coins, Kronenberg said.

They once picked up a modest $6 worth of pennies from a Huntington Beach boy who wanted to make a contribution to Easter Seals, Kronenberg said.

If all goes well, a Brinks truck will roll up to the title company office on Oct. 1 and pick up the $5,000 penny collection, which is expected to weigh three tons.

The fund-raiser coincides with the Eastern Seal’s annual 24-hour relay race Oct. 8 and 9 at Cal State Los Angeles.