Helping Mom One Penny at a Time

Hope for women all over the world

By Almas Akhtar, TMO

Wander Martich is an immigrant lady who is from Michigan.She came to the United States at a very young age without any knowledge of the culture or the language.She went through some real tough times while trying to settle in this new country.She got divorced in 2006,lost her house to foreclosure and was jobless.She became single mom of two daughters .She asked her daughters to collect  pennies when times were tough in a piggy bank and gave it to her,the girls thought they are collecting a lot for mom .The family had very little money so pennies were all they could save.Her message is very simple “you have to start somewhere it is not how much you make,it is how much you save!”After she got a job she started saving $20 from each paycheck also in pennies.

Ms Martich is a self taught artist for Art Prize 2010 she thought about displaying her huge penny collection.She started gluing pennies on a wooden board ,it took her three months to glue 8400 pennies on a 10ft board.She was also very particular about this art piece ,she did not used dirty or damaged pennies.

Art prize is an annual Art competition for atists from all over the world which is held at Grand Rapids.Wander Matrich’s giant coin sculpture was displayed in front of the Gerald Ford Museum which was visited by thousands of people every day.People were touched by her story and impressed by her artistic talents.The 10 ft round bronze sculpture of a penny was named “Helping mom one penny at a time” which weighed 1200 ilbs.It was selected among the top 10 exhibits out of the displayed 1600 exhibits.

Ms Martich was contacted by the Ripley Museum people who bought her exhibit to be displayed in one of their Odditoriums.Her message is to help women in this country and across the globe who are going through tough times.Her collection of pennies emphasize on the fact that every cent and every penny can help.She wants to do something for the women in shelters in our community,women who have experienced abuse,neglect and hope…….those who have lost all hope.The beautiful shinny structure of the penny is sign of hope and faith.

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