By By Kerry Whipple Bean
publisher
As the $2 bills circulated by employees of Medical Center Pharmacy spread across Brewton, news of pharmacy owner Danny Cottrell’s generosity is spreading across the country.
Late last month, Cottrell surprised employees with envelopes filled with stacks of $2 bills — $16,000 in all, divided among 19 employees in Brewton and four in Atmore. His request: Spend the cash in local stores, and give 15 percent to charity.
Since Cottrell’s story of generosity first appeared in The Brewton Standard, he has been interviewed by other local newspapers and television reporters, and he was featured Monday on the Fox News Channel’s “Fox and Friends” morning program.
Today, NBC Nightly News will feature Medical Center Pharmacy on its 5:30 p.m. newscast, broadcast locally on NBC’s Mobile affiliate WPMI.
Cottrell originally decided to share the money with employees as a way of creating a “country boy’s stimulus package.” With talk of government money going to businesses and individuals to try to boost the economy, Cottrell said he hopes the $2 bills will make the same impact for his employees and for his hometown.
For local merchants, Cottrell’s generosity means cash registers are ringing at a time when many people are cutting back on household expenses. Merchants are circulating the money back into the community, giving the $2 bills — many marked “MCP” for Medical Center Pharmacy — as change to customers.