In 2017, staff at Rosebuds Cafe started collecting small change from friends and customers to use in helping the poor in the neighborhood. When the Covid pandemic started, the good people at St. Vincent de Paul Society, who had been feeding the hungry twice a week, were no longer able to provide that service because most of their volunteers were prime targets for Covid. Because of all the small change collected at Rosebuds, those neighbors were still fed, by Rosebuds staff and the support of other neighbors, dropping coins into the mason jar at the front counter. In addition to meals, Mary Pulskamp and her son, Tyx Pulskamp, have been able to give people tents, sleeping bags, bus passes and other needed supplies. Several times they have been able to pay for needed prescriptions that some families could not afford.

$mall Change 4 Big was organized in the summer of 2023 to create a 501c3 nonprofit to carry on what Mary, Tyx, and other staff members of Rosebuds, along with their many community supporters, could continue and expand the work that was started in 2017 on an official basis.

A kick off event was held on August 12, 2023 with the beloved local band, Wicked Sisters, providing great music as community members rolled hundreds of coins into paper wrappers so the small change could become BIG! There was a silent auction that night also, with nearly 30 donated gifts and artwork by local artists. The event brought in over $7000! This will allow the nonprofit to continue and expand, serving our less fortunate neighbors with dignity and respect.