Lost treasure: A quarter of a million shekels in 10 ag coins were donated

The economic-educational-socio-project "The Lost Treasure" was established by Inbal Busiba, who found at home about NIS 300 "thrown away" and not used in 10-agorot coins.

As part of the project, children across the country collected these coins up to a surprising amount of about a quarter of a million shekels that were transferred as a donation to charities close to their hearts.

I have Seville

09/01/2022

Sunday, 09 January 2022, 16:23 Updated: 19:27

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Entrepreneur Inbal Busiba shares what led her to set up the social campaign "The Lost Treasure": "This project was born from looking at home and seeing real money that is not used. Lots of money, close to NIS 300 only in 10 agorot coins. A quick calculation I made at the top of this amount "Doubling the number of households in Israel generated a fantastic amount of money that I did not believe could be real."

Later, Busiba arranged a meeting with the head of the currency department at the Bank of Israel, who told her that they were aware of the problem with this currency and that for every 10 coins of 10 agorot they produce - 9 do not return to circulation, and spend close to NIS 150 million. Economic.

"Then," says Busiba, "a two-year journey began to understand how to crack this matter logistically because it involves tons upon tons of coins and no one wants to absorb them."

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The Lost Treasure - a project to collect 10 ag coins for non-profit organizations (Photo: Assaf Eini)

"Banks do not want to accept the currencies"

"What was clear to me from the beginning was that I want children to collect these coins. Children no longer treat these coins with the seemingly low monetary value - as money."

During Busiba's meetings with bank executives, she encountered rejections, failure to respond, messages that they did not want the lost coins returned to the bank, that they did not have the hangars needed to store them, others said that if they agreed to accept the coins, they would charge us 30 Busiba

, went so far as to even meet with the former Supervisor of Banks who on her advice even tried to promote legislation to lower the commission in converting these currencies, specifically in favor of the project, but understood from her that it was unlikely to happen. She was explicitly told: "Listen "Sometimes good ideas end up staying in a drawer," which made her smile and walk out the door with over-optimism and determination.

A quarter of a million shekels from 'negligible' coins of 10 agorot (Photo: Assaf Eini)

"In the end, they just told us yes!"

In time, I also had a meeting with the "Brinks", who are in charge of transporting and unloading cash in the country, and they just said yes.

Yes to everything.

They come to every kindergarten and school in the country with their trucks collecting these coins and together with a circle for good cause this miracle happens - return the lost coins back to circulation and send the amount as digital value to any association the schools choose. "

Meir Shalev wrote about the project in one of his articles : "This is a lot of money and the initiative is smart and welcome, but I doubt its feasibility for the simple reason that most of the ten agorot coins are not in the homes of all kinds of children but in my house ..."

How does the project actually take place?

The project operates under the "Circle for Good" association and is completely philanthropic and non-profit.

As part of the project, each class receives a treasure box with a curriculum consisting of 5 lesson plans (in the high schools these are two double lessons), a treasure map, stickers for making treasure boxes and a bag of Brinks and other items to create an experience.

Curriculum for schools (Photo: Assaf Eini)

A challenging time for a welcome initiative

"We had a challenging year to start an educational project for children: 3 closures, an epidemic, a small war and yet, what happened in every educational institution that the lost treasure reached - is no less magical. "For others, what it is to give. For how it feels. With something so small and so-called unimportant, neglected coins that everyone in the house has."

Notes Busiba.

"The best measure for me is that what we do right is the hundreds of responses we get from school principals, teachers, social coordinators, parents of students who participated in the project and of course the children themselves. It really amazes us every time again. Beyond that."

It is exciting to understand that the number of institutions that have already participated in the 'Lost Finance' project, have completed it and want to start anew, is enormous.

Video for children, "The Lost Treasure" project

A video for children to inform about the "Lost Treasure" project (courtesy of "The Lost Treasure")

A quarter of a million shekels in four and a half months

The pilot for the project took place over four and a half months, of which a few frontal study days took place, and despite this, thousands of classes throughout the country participated in it and collected very diligently in coins of only 10 agorot, close to a quarter of a million shekels !.

"It is beyond all our expectations, probably in such a challenging year and we know that in a full school year we will recruit much much more."

Most of the money raised by the children was transferred to non-profit organizations that deal with animal rights and the environment of their choice.

Starting next year, when the high schools join the project, it is likely that the areas of contribution that the children will choose will change accordingly.

• Of money

• consumption

Tags

• Financial Education

• Children

• Brinks

• Banks

• Of money

• coins

• contribution

• A circle for good