If you’ve visited Rome, you’ve probably thrown a coin into the famed Trevi fountain.
Each year, over €1 million ends up in the water of the spectacular 18th century monument.
But where does all this money go?
For over a decade, the windfall – collected by a dedicated team every few months – has been contributing to a very good cause.
A couple of times a year, the city sends in a team to collect the fortune.
The workers use brushes on the end of long poles to sweep the coins into piles and then use a suction hose to extract the money from the water.
The coins are then bagged under the watchful eye of the police.
The loose change that ends up in the fountain has been donated each year to Rome’s Catholic charity Caritas.
It has been a huge boost for the charity and the sum now makes up 15 per cent of its annual budget.
The group uses the money to help the city’s poor and needy. It funds soup kitchens, homeless shelters, free supermarkets and other projects.
It also goes towards the upkeep of a complex on the outskirts of Rome housing a nursing home, canteen and dentist for city residents living in poverty.
Source: EuroNews
