A Fountain Makes More Money than You
March 19, 2016
Plunk! The small, bronze, Abraham Lincoln sinks to the bottom of the fountain. Long ago people used fountains as a clean source of water, commonly a statue of a god was found near by. These were turned into mini shrines, and people began making offerings as prayers to the gods on the fountains which resulted in the tossing of coins in small water bodies. As time passed, this idea evolved into making wishes on coins then chucking them in.
Marissa Stinnett (12) sees this as, “Throwing a penny into a fountain is such a simple act. You may be throwing away money, but you are throwing hope into your soul. Such a menial act as tossing an Abraham Lincoln into water seems trivial, but it has the power to bring warmth to your heart and serenity to your mind. I do [toss coins] because some of my hopes and dreams are so wild — so big– that I will take anything that could help.”
Every dime, nickel, and penny counts as money no matter how small as a whole these come together to form a large sum of money. Some common places like Rainforest Cafe, make 25,000 dollars a year. The fountains at Disney World make 18,000 dollars in 2014. In Bryant Park in New York City, there is an annual amount is 3,400 dollars. At the Mall of America, the fountains make about 2 grand a month. These specific fountains all donate the money acquired to a organization or charity. Rainforest Cafe to environmental organizations, Disney to kids in foster care, Bryant Park’s money is given to help maintain the park, and Mall of America accepts applications from charities to receive the funds.
The Lake at the Bellagio earns about 12 grand annually. Chicago’s Buckingham Fountain only makes 200 dollars a year. Ironically, the larger fountains make less money than others. This is because people enjoys trying to aim for an object then seeing where the coin lands. Due to the fact, these fountains are so large people don’t try to aim and shoot, but just enjoys the water cascades. Even less popular fountains, like fountains at airports like the Palm Beach International Airport collect 50 bucks a month.
Regardless 12 grand in coins is an incredible amount of coins. The coins are collected by powerful vacuums that clean the base of the Lake. After all off the coins and gunk are sifted out, the coins and towels are tossed into a cement mixer where the coins rub on the towels and come out clean.
However, the winner of all fountains is Trevi Fountain in Rome which makes over 3 grand daily and in 2011 made over 1,000,000 dollars. There are so many coins the fountain is cleaned daily. Some might even travel to toss coins in famous fountains, Lauren Liu (10) said, “I would rather take a vacation there instead of just going to make a wish” however, if she found herself there she would make a wish.
Next time you find yourself tossing a wish into the well, you will be a small part of a larger mass by putting in your 2 cents.