Girls Win Penny Wars By Big Margin

by Kainoa Fukumoto

Our Penny Wars have come to an end.  And the guys took a huge hit from the girls.

How big?  The final tallies in points (not in amount raised) was GIRLS = 16,634 and GUYS = 7,321.

Now, I'm not bitter.  Maybe a little.  But c'mon, the guys were ahead by a thousand points at our first tally back in November.  So it was both upsetting and shocking for the guys to find out that not only did they lose, but they lost by 9,313 points!

If you're unfamiliar with how this whole Penny Wars thing works, basically, it begins with two teams and two jars.  The goal is not to collect the most money, but to collect the most points.  Pennies are worth 2 points (penny rolls are worth 4 points/penny), and all other coins or bills are considered negative points.  Anyone can contribute to any jar, which means you can "bomb" your opponent's jar by putting nickels, dimes, quarters, or bills into theirs so that they accumulate negative points.  The only way to combat those "bombs" is to counter them with pennies and penny rolls.  Thus you have a Penny War.

At the very last moments of the Penny Wars, the girls unleashed their fury upon the guys by throwing in twenty-dollar bills in the guys' jar while placing rolls and rolls of pennies in their own.  To say the least, it was unexpectedly exciting to witness.  At this point, the men were pretty much helpless, and the women were victorious.

Despite the competitive nature and spirit of our Penny Wars, it was, overall, a very positive experience.  We raised about $400 in continuing the mission of our ministry to "empower young adults to follow Christ."  Even if the men were left to walk the halls of shame, it was all fun and filled with good spirits.  And although we were divided by the sexes, stronger bonds were created especially between the men and women in each respective team striving to reach a particular goal.

My prayer at the conclusion of our Penny Wars is that we may we continue to grow stronger in our bonds of faith, hope, and love through this ministry and through each other.  And in everything we do, may we be Ever Present In Christ.