Pennies Turn Into Endowment

Editorial by Bonnie Navarro 
Photo by Plichel on pixaby.jpg

Osceola McCarty was born in 1908. She lived with her aunt and grandmother in Mississippi. When her aunt returned from a hospitalization unable to walk, McCarty dropped out of school to care for her. She never went back. Instead, she became a washerwoman—getting up early in the morning to light a fire under her wash pot, wash the clothes on a scrub board, hang them on a 100-foot-long clothesline, and when they were dry, iron until 11 p.m. at night.

McCarty saved a portion of the funds she received for each load of wash, stashing it in her doll buggy until the buggy could hold no more. She opened a bank account and continued to save, until to her surprise, she had saved over $250,000.

She established an endowment fund for worthy students seeking the education she never had. She said, “I am proud that I worked hard and that my money will help young people. I’m proud that I am leaving something positive in this world. My only regret is that I didn’t have more to give.”

Imagine what an impact endowment funds have on our young people! Whether it’s the local church school, Blue Mountain Academy or the worthy student fund, the revenue provides the opportunity for our children to be educated in a Seventh-day Adventist system surrounded by our values. Then they are equipped to serve as missionaries throughout the world, and in Pennsylvania, no matter what their occupation.