Pharmacist Continues $2 Bill Stimulus Program Handing Cash To Seniors
February 25, 2010
Area pharmacist Danny Cottrell is at it again, working to teach a valuable lesson and stimulate the local economy with $2 bills.
Tuesday, Cottrell handed out envelopes containing $30 in $2 bills to the seniors at T.R. Miller and W.S. Neal High Schools in Brewton. The money came with strings attached — spend the money locally, spend or give a portion — $6 of the bounty — to charity, and for each student to explain to their parents where the money came from and why.
It’s not the first time that Cottrell has handed out the $2 bills in his own stimulus program. He was in good company for his good deeds after being nominated for one of Beliefnet’s Most Inspiring People of the Year.
Cottrell, owner of pharmacies in Atmore and Brewton, was on a list that includes actor Michael J. Fox and Capt. “Sully” Sullenberger, the pilot that successfully landed his plan in the Hudson River after an engine failure. Cottrell did not win the Beliefnet contest.
Last year, Cottrell gave each pharmacy employee a bonus — $700 for full-time and $350 for part-timers — with a catch. Each employee was required to give 15 percent to a charity or someone in need. The rest of the money, about $16,000, had to be spent one $2 bill at a time at local businesses.
Cottrell’s economic stimulus plan made the news across the country, including the NBC Nightly News (see video below). Since the $2 bills begin to circulate in March, other businesses across the country have followed with similar plans of their own. In fact, www.peoplesstimulus.org, a web site inspired by Cottrell’s $2 bill plan, has tracked over $202,000 in people’s stimulus dollars inspired by a man with plans to help his local communities.
To read Cottrell’s story and his Beliefnet’s Most Inspiring People of the Year nomination, click here.
Pictured above: Pharmacist Danny Cottrell was nominated as one of Beliefnet’s Most Inspiring People of the Year. Courtesy Beliefnet.com for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge. Below, Cottrell’s story on the NBC Nightly News.
Comments
9 Responses to “Pharmacist Continues $2 Bill Stimulus Program Handing Cash To Seniors”
We need a lot more good news! Keep up the good work Mr. Cottrell,maybe people will follow your example and make this state a truely great place to live.
good to read about something positive. something people can only my positive comments about this what bring people together, but i guess negative thing bring people to the web.
i’M sorry if this is the wrong place, but since you all like nice stories
I would like to tell you what happened to me this morning.
I ate breakfast at denny’s on mobile highway,
I got my money out and ready to pay, and left a tip.
I went and paid and left.
I realized sometime later that I left my wallet on the table.
I went back and the minute I got in the door, a man from a table
next to where I was sitting yelled, “Don’t worry, we found it”:
I smiled at him and said thanks. The waitress named bridget
got the manager and he had my wallet. All the charge cards, my
id and the cash were all still there. When I tried to offer the man
all the cash I had in my wallet for a reward he refused. When
I insisted he said, “give it to charity or the watresses, so I did just
that.
It made my morning.
I’m horribly sorry, but my gut reaction was, that I would never find
that wallet again and it had been a very expensive wallet from
another country made of a special leather. I prize it mostly, however, because
it was from a man who makes my heart beat faster everytime I see him
(my hubby).. It was more important than the money or cards..
The whole ordeal however, has warmed my old hard heart about
the average everyday ppl around me just a little.
Who ever you where young man….THANK YOU FOR MAKING MY DAY!
Giving instead of taking sounds real good anytime, but especially good in 2010.
Kudos to Danny for making a difference! It’s great to hear that “someone” values their employees and loves his community.
Congratulations, Danny, such a great idea! It’s the little pharmacies like you and I, that give back to the community. Its also other small businesses in a community that sure make a difference in our own communities instead of it going out of the area to corporate giants! Kudos to you and your staff!
every time you look at the news it seems that humanity is set to destroy itself, im glad to see this man is setting an example. if we all tried a little to set an example imagine what could be accomplished.
What a wonderful idea! What a neat guy!
With all the bad going on, it is so nice to read someting like this, and should inspire us all to do something nice for someone.