Many people dislike paying child support, especially when they have no contact with the child, and divorce can be bitter. One father from Henrico County, Virginia made his disappointment very clear when he dumped 80,000 pennies on his ex-wife’s lawn, which was his final child support payment worth $800.
However, he clearly learns the hard way that he had made a big mistake when he decided to get creative with his final child support payment.
For her daughter Avery Sanford, this couldn’t be true, Avery hadn’t seen her dad in years that’s why the 18-year-old and her mother got the shock of their lives when Avery’s father dropped off his final child support payment recently. It came in the form of 80,000 pennies that were dumped outside their house following Avery’s 18th birthday.
“I just turned 18. When I was in the middle of class my dad came by…he had rented a trailer…he pulled up in front of our house…turned the trailer on so it dumped out all the pennies on the street in front of our house.” Avery Sanford said.
According to Avery, her mother “came out and was like, ‘What are you dumping on my yard?'” while her father “pulled up in front of the house and turned the trailer on so it dumped out all the pennies on the grass. The Deep Run High School student claims that until the man yelled, “It’s your final child support payment,” her mother didn’t even notice the man throwing the pennies in front of her house.
Avery Stanford had a much different reaction. Rather than getting mad at her penny-hoarding dad, she would respond with kindness, turning a bad situation into a positive one. The NY Post stated that the Virginia teen showed “her estranged father the meaning of good ‘cents’ and maturity” in contrast to those who could have let rage take over.
The News 6 Richmond reported that Avery and her mother made the decision to collect the copper and lay it aside for charity, giving the final child support payment from the estranged father to a domestic abuse facility. The mother and daughter decided that when every penny was collected, the $800 would be given to Safe Harbor, a facility for victims of domestic abuse.
It’s not just my mom he’s trying to embarrass, it’s also me and my sister, and it’s upsetting that he didn’t consider that before he did that,” Avery explained. As for the frustrated father, he quickly learned that he had made a big mistake.
“Turning around and donating that money to moms and children in need, I feel like that really turns this situation into a positive. You can learn from it,” Avery said.
The biggest lesson of all, it seems, was one that Avery’s father had to learn the hard way. He claimed in an interview with News 6 that he reacted out of 18 years of suppressed resentment and that his emotions got the better of him. The last thing he intended to do, he continued, “was to put a further wedge between him and his daughter,” but sadly, that’s exactly what he managed to accomplish. So let’s hope that others can avoid making the same error by learning from this as well.
“It’s really hurtful and damaging to your kids when you do things like that,” Avery explained, reminding parents that their actions impact their kids. “It doesn’t matter if they’re young or an adult, the actions of your parents will always have some effect on you.” The incident only served to reinforce Avery’s determination to avoid her father as she had no interest in developing a relationship with somebody who would disrespect her mother. She hadn’t spoken to her father in years.
Watch the video below for more details:
Sources: TapHaps, News 6 Richmond, NY Post
