Almost everyone has closed their eyes, whispered a wish under the breath and tossed a coin into a fountain at some point in their lives.
Visitors to the 30-foot indoor waterfall at the North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores are no exception, and now all of those wishes have been collected to support a good cause.
The aquarium has been closed to the public since March 17, in accordance with the state’s Executive Order 117 to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. Without revenue coming in from visitors, they’ve been looking for ways to cut costs.
“At the beginning of April, in an effort to reduce our spending, we decided to shut the waterfall off, among many other cost saving measures,” said Cindy Meyers, visitor services coordinator for the aquarium. “In addition to reducing our spending, we have been working diligently while closed to the public, to paint and clean areas of the aquarium that normally cannot be accessed while the aquarium is full of visitors.”
The pool below the waterfall was included in this aquarium-wide cleanup, and aquarium staff worked to haul the loose change, rocks, sand and lost ephemera, including children’s toys, pacifiers and military challenge coins, out by the bucket load.
“It was an incredible experience getting in there. In some cases, the loose change was more than a foot-and-a-half deep,” said Lonnie Burke, an aquarium security guard who helped haul out the contents of the fountain.
It took days to sort through, clean and dry all of the change to prepare it for the bank’s sorting machine. In the end, the machine counted money for more than 10 hours—ending with a grand total of $8,563.71, which will go directly to support care for the more than 5,000 animals that live at the aquarium.
“We are humbled and grateful to have the support and funds that will go to continuing our mission of providing excellent care for our animals,” said Liz Baird, director at the North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores.
In addition to helping to care for the aquarium’s animal residents, the effort returned 100 gallons of change back into the nation’s system during a time when it faces a shortage in coins due decreased coin supply and circulation due to the COVID-19 pandemic.