Pocket Change Goes a Long Way

When you're shopping at JCPenney from now through Aug. 16, the store gives you a great excuse to avoid having pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters jangling around in your pocket. According to a company press release, the store's Afterschool Round-up Program gives customers the opportunity to round their purchases up to the nearest whole dollar, donating the difference to the company's Afterschool Fund.

The fund, which is a public charity, was started in 2001 and provides access to after-school programs for those who need it most. As mentioned in the release, "Studies show that 14.3 million children in the United States are unsupervised after school between the hours of 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. each day." That's a lot of unsupervised kids, so contributing to this fund can only help the situation.

Last year, the Afterschool Round-up Program raised $3.3 million. All of the money raised will be given to local programs in the more than 1,100 communities where there is a JCPenney store. You can find out more about the Afterschool Fund here.

Photo courtesy of stock.xchng.