A mother and her daughter transformed a petty act into generosity, after they donated $800 worth of pennies that were left on their front lawn as a child support payment. (Watch above)

Last month, a Virginia man rented a trailer and dumped 80,000 pennies outside his estranged family’s house. It was the final child support payment due to the mother of 18-year old Avery Sanford.

“I just turned 18. When I was in the middle of class, my dad came by. He had rented a trailer,” Sanford told WTVR. “He pulled up in front of the house and turned the trailer on so it dumped out all the pennies on the grass and my mom came out and was like, ‘What are you dumping in my yard?’ She didn’t know who it was until he shouted, ‘It’s your final child support payment.”

After Avery and her mom notified the police, they donated every last penny to Safe Harbor, a domestic abuse center.

WTVR reached Avery’s father by phone. He explained that his spiteful stunt was the result of years of frustration. He said his emotions overcame his judgment.

But Avery – who is headed to Virginia Tech next year – was unmoved.

“It’s really hurtful and damaging to your kids when you do things like that,” Sanford told WTVR. “It doesn’t matter if they’re young or an adult, the actions of your parents will always have some effect on you.”