VA Holocaust Museum Penny Campaign

From the Replenish Richmond website;

The Richmond International House of Prayer and Encounter (RIHOPE) and Replenish Richmond LLC are teaming up in support of a fellow Shockoe Bottom neighbor, the Virginia Holocaust Museum, and its Penny Campaign.  The Museum began the Penny Campaign in 1999 to honor the 6 million Jews whose lives were taken during the Holocaust.  Conceived by Richmonder Rachel Rosenbaum, then a high school senior and granddaughter of the late Al Rosenbaum, a co-founder of the Museum, the Campaign was designed to create a visual representation of the sheer number of Jewish lives taken during the Holocaust.  As of April of 2012, 3.3 million pennies have been donated to the Museum.

As a tribute to the importance of the Virginia Holocaust Museum to our community, RIHOPE and Replenish Richmond are leading an effort to complete the Penny Campaign for the Museum this summer and plan to coordinate a community donation of the remaining 2.7 million pennies by Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, on September 26^th of this year.  To assure success we will attempt to raise more than the $27,000 represented by 2.7 million pennies.  All funds collected above and beyond those needed to complete the Penny Campaign will be allocated at the discretion of RIHOPE to the Virginia Holocaust Museum and Holocaust survivors living in Virginia.  Regardless of whether the contribution is made in pennies or otherwise, RIHOPE and Replenish Richmond will take great care to establish and maintain an understanding amongst all involved that each penny represents a human life taken in the Holocaust.

Penny Collection Events

Merchants, organizations and individuals are asked to gather pennies and other donations for the Virginia Holocaust Museum and then to deliver their collected pennies and donations at one of the following collection events:

Saturday September 22, 2012 – 17^th Street Farmers’ Market – 10am to 2pm

• Awareness/Collection event for Shockoe, Manchester, Downtown & the East End
• Sign the giant Thank You Card for Jay Ipson – music and diversions for the kids
• Information about Virginia Holocaust Museum and Penny Campaign
• Drive Thru lane for Penny drop-offs

Saturday September 22, 2012 – South of the James Farmers’ Market (Forest Hill Park) – 8am to 12pm

• Awareness/Collection event for Woodland Heights, Forest & Westover Hills, South Side
• Information about Virginia Holocaust Museum and Penny Campaign
• Drive Thru lane for Penny drop-offs

Sunday September 23, 2012 – Carytown @ the Byrd Theatre – 2pm to 6pm

• Collection and Community event – 2pm to 4pm
  • Awareness and Collection event for Carytown, Museum District, the Fan & the West End
  • Sign the giant Thank You Card for Jay Ipson – music and diversions for the kids
  • Information about Virginia Holocaust Museum and Penny Campaign
  • Drive Thru lane for Penny drop-offs
• Holocaust Awareness event and penny presentation – 4pm to 6pm
  • The culmination of the Summer Penny campaign will include a theatrical performance at the Byrd Theatre and a presentation of the collected pennies to the Virginia Holocaust Museum.  The performance, “Time with Corrie” is a powerful one-woman dramatization by Susan Sandager who portrays Corrie Ten Boom, a Christian woman who hid Jews in her home during the Holocaust. All those who supported the Penny campaign will be invited to be a part of the culmination event and the performance.
  • The evening will include a special thank you to Museum co-founder Jay Ipson including the presentation of the Thank You Card.