80,000 Coins 'Pouring Down'... US Mother and Daughter Respond to Absurd Child Support Payment with Donation

As soon as his legal responsibility for his daughter ended, the ex-husband's act of paying child support with over 80,000 coins came under scrutiny. Photo by WTVR

[Asia Economy Reporter Seoyoung Kwon] A family in the United States attracted attention by donating the entire amount of child support they absurdly received from the ex-husband.

On the 10th (local time), a local U.S. media outlet reported that Avery Sanford (18) and her mother, who live in Virginia, experienced a bewildering incident on the 21st of last month. They witnessed a man pouring coins onto their front yard.

The perpetrator of the incident was Sanford's father. Sanford's parents were divorced, and she was living with her mother. Her father exchanged the last child support he was supposed to pay to his ex-wife and daughter into 1-cent coins and poured them in front of the house where the two lived. The child support was about $800 (approximately 900,000 KRW), which corresponded to about 80,000 1-cent coins. As soon as Sanford turned 18 and the parents' legal responsibility ended, he expressed his personal grudge regarding the child support.

The released CCTV footage shows Sanford's father driving a vehicle in broad daylight, pouring coins in front of the yard, and shouting, "This is the last child support." Sanford's mother initially did not recognize who the man was, but after hearing the words "child support," she realized it was her ex-husband.

Despite the absurd situation, Sanford and her mother collected all the coins and decided to donate the entire amount to Safe Harbor Shelter, a domestic abuse center. Their positive influence became a hot topic, and it was reported that the charity received more than $5,000 (approximately 5.5 million KRW) in donations within a week. A representative of the charity said, "We regret the situation the Sanford family experienced, but we are very grateful that they shared their story through this action (donation)."

Meanwhile, Sanford's father explained in an interview with local media, "I had accumulated resentment for 18 years. It was an act driven by emotion," and "I did not intend to worsen my relationship with my daughter."

On the other hand, Sanford expressed her feelings in an interview with local media regarding her father's actions, saying, "I have not even talked to my father for years," and "My father embarrassed not only my mother but also me and my younger sister." She added, "It is upsetting that he did not consider anything before doing such an act." Nevertheless, she said, "I feel it brought about a positive outcome (donation)," and reflected, "I realized that whether children or adults, parents' actions always have some impact on their children."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.