In an effort to help worthy organizations during the spring semester, the USA South Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) developed, "Pennies for a Purpose", in 2008. This year's community service initiative, in its 18th year, began as the student-athletes returned from winter break. The schools had until April 9th to collect loose change which would later be donated to an organization of their choosing.

With a grand total of $3,802.01 raised, Methodist is the Pennies for a Purpose champion for the third consecutive year. The Monarch total is the ninth-most accumulated in a single spring by an athletic program in the initiative's history, and a program-record. William Peace raised $889.00 to finish second and Brevard was third with $517.82 collected. Additionally, five institutions (Mary Baldwin, Methodist, N.C. Wesleyan, Salem, and William Peace) improved on their totals from last year. This is the fourth consecutive year that Methodist has improved on the previous year's total.

Overall, the USA South institutions collected $7,066.72 during this year's competition, an average of $706.67 per school. Over the life of the initiative, $160,045.90 have been donated to local organizations by Conference members!

This is the second community service program developed by the USA South Conference SAAC as the "Cans Across the Conference" food drive, which takes place during the Thanksgiving holiday, was created in 2004. Through that campaign, USA South Institutions have donated a total of 719,503 items to their local communities. Methodist was victorious in that competition by collecting 20,020 items, the third-most by an institution in competition history.

Below is a list of the local organizations where the USA South institutions donated their collections:
Brevard College - The Sharing House in Brevard, North Carolina.
Greensboro College - The Greensboro College on-campus food pantry, Pride Pantry.
Mary Baldwin University - Staunton, Virginia Valley Mission.
Meredith College - Raleigh (NC) Helen Wright Women's Center.
Methodist University - The Kay Yow Foundation and Cape Fear Valley Health Foundation – Friends of the Cancer Center.
N.C. Wesleyan University - Nash County (NC) Animal Shelter.
Pfeiffer University - St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital.
Salem College - Winston-Salem (NC) Rescue Mission.
Southern Virginia University - 34th Street Park Renovation Project.
William Peace University - The Hidden Opponent, a non-profit organization focused on breaking the stigma of mental health.