How Much Money Is A Million Pennies

VISTA —

The Pride of Vista Lions Club's leadership has a simple request: they want your leftover Lincolns. A million of 'em.

The local chapter of the international service group hopes to collect and cash in one million pennies to help Vista American Little League rebuild its ballpark, which has been closed for cleanup for more than a decade because it sits atop a decades-old dump.

The Pride of Vista Lions Club hopes to collect one million pennies — $10,000 — to help Vista American Little League restore French Field this year.

We'll save you from math: a million pennies is $10,000.

The fundraising approach make cents, er, sense, organizers said. It's a lot easier to ask folks to donate pennies than any other amount, said Eleanor Hutchins, the club's past president and current secretary.

"We don't want your money. We want your pennies," she said.

It will probably take months to collect a million pennies, although club President Eric Hutchins, Eleanor's son, hopes to have it done before his term ends in July.

The collection campaign was his idea, inspired by Lions Club chapter in Massachusetts that raised a million pennies in about seven months.

Soon after hearing about that club's success, Eric Hutchins learned that the cleanup at Vista American's home, French Field, was finally complete. The cleanup had taken 11 years and $2.6 million in settlement funds from old landfill operators.

The fields have been restored — base paths, grass, backstop — but the site is still without basics such as dugouts, lights and bathrooms. On its Facebook page in January, the league started asking for volunteers — skilled laborers — to help rebuild dugouts.

"I don't know how to do that, but I wanted to help," said Eric Hutchins, 47, who had played for Vista American in the late 1970s and early '80s. "When I saw that post, something clicked in the back of my head. This (campaign) is something I feel I can do."

The Hutchins family contacted Vista American board member Hollie Aguilera, who is running the French Field project, to pitch the pennies idea.

"I just think it is a testament to the community spirit in Vista," Aguilera said. "Everyone is always willing to help each other."

The club hopes to soon distribute canisters at shops around town where people can drop their coins.

The money will be deposited and Vista Village branch of US Bank, which will donate special bags that each hold $35 in pennies.

Eleanor Hutchins said she and her helpers will hand-count that first $35 in pennies and weigh it on the precision scale at King's Stationers, the shop her daughter owns on East Vista Way. Once the weight is determined, subsequent bags of pennies will also be weighed, rather than hand-counted.

To donate pennies, visit King's Stationers, Shadowridge Family Vision Center, the dentist office of Ginger Hansen, or the Vista American Legion Post 365. More businesses may be added to the list. For more information, email the Pride of Vista Lions club at info@povlions.org.