The Foley family’s La Cañada Flintridge home was transformed completely into a carnival for friends and neighbors to come play — and support a good, new cause.
It worked: $5,000 was raised in the process.
The event was the kickoff for Rainy Day Pennies Inc., a newly born nonprofit with the goal of helping children in need — starting with helping the young Foley boys learn what that means.
“Rainy Day Pennies is small, local, deliberate and something that Connor and Quinn, and their friends, can expand as they grow and mature into adulthood,” reads a release from Dad Shane and Mom Farrell Foley.
And the idea, they say, is not to change the world, but “to show that rubbing a few pennies together can bring a ray of sunlight to a child’s rainy day.”
Along with Farrell, Shane Foley — a former USC football quarterback — wanted to teach the children that they can make incremental change in the world for the better, starting with that jar filled with pocket change in the closet.
“Giving, in even a small way, can have a big impact in the life of a child less fortunate,” the release said. “This is Connor and Quinn’s charity and we hope their lifelong project. It was created for them to grow into, for them to give back through, and for them to pressure their peers of privilege to contribute and become involved in.”
And with a child’s sense of fun, the Rainy Day Pennies nonprofit got started on the right foot with the Foley Island Carnival, which featured a magician and a fortune teller, a bounce house and balloons, games, prizes, popcorn, nachos and more.
Sisters Jackie, 6, and Bella, 4, McArthur were happy to participate, playing several games of ping pong fishing as their father, John McArthur, cheered them on.
“I was kind of excited about getting involved with volunteering as well and really excited to hear that they’re doing something for Union Station,” he said.
The funds raised will go toward sponsoring 28 homeless children living at Union Station who need shoes, clothes and basic toiletries.
In the future, Rainy Day Pennies intends to use its contributions to help provide coats and shoes for homeless children in the area, to put DVD players in critical and terminal wings of children’s hospitals, to contribute toward mobile pediatric dental care units and to sponsor challenged kids who are interested in joining sports teams.
For more information, visit rainydaypennies.org.
Rainy Day Pennies Starts Small for a Big Cause
