美國老人撿零錢 2萬美元捐助流浪貓

Never underestimate the true value of a handful of pocket change.
永遠不要小看一把零錢的價值。

Rick Snyder, a 69-year-old resident of Manatee County, Florida, refused to sit still after he retired. Instead, he tended to one of his passions outside of work: caring for the feral cats living throughout his community."I've always liked Animals. I've been taking care of feral cats for years and I started noticing a lot of change laying around," Snyder told the Bradenton Herald. "So I started picking it up and keeping track of it."
69歲的裏克·斯奈德住在福羅裏達州的孟那堤郡，雖然已經退休但他並不甘心每天坐在搖椅裏無所事事，而是做着工作以外自己熱愛的事：照顧和他生活在同一個社區的野貓。“我一直很喜歡動物。我照顧這些野貓已經有很多年了。有一天我發現地上有很多遺落的硬幣，”斯奈德對《佈雷登頓先驅報》說道。 “於是就開始撿硬幣並做好記錄。”

Since having this idea more than 10 years ago, Snyder has managed to collect $21,495 in loose change weighing more than 1 metric ton, reported the Herald Tribune. Waking up around 4 a.m. each day, Snyder would walk through town, and gather coins from vacuums at local car washes and [vending machine]vending machines [/w]along his way to take care of the cats. He told the Bradenton Herald that he walks anywhere between 45 and 48 miles each week and collects an average of $5.60 in change each day.
據《國際先驅報》報道，自十年前產生這一想法以來，斯奈德已經積攢了21,495美元遺失的硬幣，重量超過一公噸。斯奈德每天四點左右起牀，爲了撿硬幣幾乎走遍了整個小郡。有時會從當地洗車行的吸塵器裏撿到幾枚，有時在看貓的路上也能在沿途的自動售貨機旁撿到幾枚。他告訴《佈雷登頓先驅報》，他每週要走上45到48英里的路，平均每天能撿到5.60美元的硬幣。

After beginning the collection process, Snyder set an initial goal of $10,000 for himself, according to BayNews9. Once he surpassed his second goal of $20,000, however, he decided to give it all away to the Gulf Shore Animal League, a nonprofit organization run entirely by volunteers that spends the majority of their time helping cats in Manatee County. Cheryl Wade, the president of the organization, told the Bradenton Herald that Synder's donation is the largest they have ever received from a single individual。
據美國有線電視新聞頻道BayNews9報道，撿硬幣後不久老人就給自己設下了目標，起初要攢下10，000美元，而後則要攢下20.000美元。當手中的硬幣已經超過20，000美元時，斯奈德決定把所有錢捐給一個叫作海灣海岸動物聯盟的非贏利組織。該組織完全由一羣志願者管理，他們的大部分時間都花在了幫助孟那提郡的貓上。聯盟主席謝麗爾·韋德告訴《佈雷登頓先驅報》，斯奈德的捐款是他們收過的來自個人的最大筆捐款。

"I’d like to thank the many who are too lazy to pick up a penny," Snyder told BayNews9.
“我要感謝那些懶得拾起1美分的人，”斯奈德對BayNews9說道。

With the change, the league will be able to continue adopting cats, and funding their spay and neuter program. They will also offer care for kittens before they are ready for adoption. Snyder and volunteers from the league gathered Tuesday to move the coins from his 151 peanut jar collection system to plastic bags that could be delivered to the local bank.
有了這些錢，動物聯盟就能繼續收養孟那堤郡的野貓，繼續資助貓咪節育計劃。除此之外，聯盟還將對尚未準備好來到組織的小貓提供幫助。本週二，斯奈德和聯盟的志願者們一起，把放在151個花生醬罐裏的硬幣取出後裝在若干塑料袋裏，以便運到當地銀行。

"One of the problems we have being retirees is we become too self-involved," Snyder told the Herald Tribune. "My advice is, we need to get involved in something else. Do something for someone else."
“退休後我們的一大問題就是變得過於自我，” 斯奈德對《國際先驅報》說道。“我的建議是把注意力轉移到其他事情上。爲他人做些事。”

While this initial donation has been deposited, Snyder continues to gather abandoned pocket change throughout Manatee County and prep his next contribution that will help his feline friends.
斯奈德的第一筆捐款已被存入銀行，他將繼續在孟那堤郡的土地上拾起被人遺棄的硬幣，準備着下一次的捐款，幫助他的貓咪朋友。