NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. — In the chaos of the year that 2020 was, anyone walking through Hoag Hospital might've missed Phil Ingram.
He is an environmental services technician at the Newport Beach hospital. He's been cleaning and sanitizing the facility for six years, but in this last year gained a new nickname.
"They stop me and say, 'Oh, you're the penny guy,'" Ingram said.
Ingram and one of his brothers back home in Pennsylvania were talking about how they can help people suffering during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We wanted to get employees involved in something they can be proud of and call their own," Ingram said.
They came up with an idea to create a Powerful Pennies fundraising program where he and thousands of his coworkers at Hoag could donate between 50 cents to $5 per paycheck. The donations raised would go to local organizations that are helping people in need.
As the eldest of five brothers in his family, Ingram knows what it was like to need help.
"I come from a humble background where we didn't have much, so I know what it's like to not have. I hate to see people in that position. So my heart kind of hurts when I see people out on the streets or people hungry or know that their kid is hungry," Ingram said.
The hospital employee took his idea up to leadership. Kimberlee Rosa is the vice president and chief compliance officer at Hoag Hospital.
"Everyone in health care and a lot of other essential industries are working hard, and here he was still thinking of someone else," Rosa said.
Rosa said she's been working for the hospital network for eight years but just met Ingram last year. She said Hoag's leadership agreed with Ingram's idea. In the first week of fundraising for Powerful Pennies, Hoag employees raised more than $1,000.
Since then, 342 employees have pledged money from each paycheck.
"I have been so inspired by him, and I can say everyone who talks to Phil is inspired by him," Rosa said.
After four months of raising money, Ingram has delivered checks to YMCA of Orange County and the Boys & Girls Club of Huntington Valley with the money he and his colleagues raised.
"It just makes you feel good. That's what you do it for to see other people happy, to see people get a little bit of relief in their struggle," Ingram said.
He said he knows he doesn't have the power to help everyone struggling, but Ingram hopes Powerful Pennies will empower everyone to do good.