Keep the change? Travelers left behind $19,110 at LAX checkpoints

In these recessionary times, it’s hard to believe that travelers left behind $19,110 in change at security checkpoints at Los Angeles International Airport during 2010. USA Today reports that as a nation we “forgot” about $400,000 in loose change at airports nationwide that same year.

The same story says $15,908 was left at San Francisco International and that $46,918, the highest amount at a single airport, was left at JFK International Airport.

Part of this might be sheer forgetfulness from folks emptying their pockets for security screenings, but it also might be waning interest in coins as legal tender. The ubiquitous change cups near 7-Eleven cash registers and elsewhere likely reinforce the idea that pennies, nickels and dimes just don’t matter.

So what does the Transportation Security Administration do with the money? First, the story says, it tries to find the rightful owner. Failing that, the agency gets to keep the change and use it as it sees fit.

Rep. Jeff Miller (R-Fla.) wants the proceeds to go to the United Service Organizations to help military welcome centers around the world, according to media reports.

I say, let’s all be a bit more careful with our coins, no matter how much of a hurry we’re in to get to the gate. I would rather give my stray pennies, nickels and dimes to Change for Change, an organization with chapters that pass on the money to worthy charities across the country, than the TSA. I just like the organization’s “small change makes big changes” thinking.