August 15, 1993

The money collection basket used at mass at the Newman Center. The churches around where I grew up all use a long handled basket that the usher extends down the pew, so that people can drop their offering in, then he pulls it back and goes the the next row. Then a large basket with all the donations would be brought up to the altar as part of the offetory, and (in my home parish anyway) be dumped down a chute right into a safe in the basement. But in Carbondale a regular basket was just passed from one person to the next, people putting in whatever they would, an usher supervising and only helping if needed. And the collected money would be brought up with the gifts, but just left at the base of the altar where everyone could see it, looking like what what's shown in the print.