This is, of course, assuming your stimulus check doesn't go straight into your gas tank or to the cheery checkout guy or gal at Wegmans.

The first 100 people who agree to donate at least half of their checks to charity will receive a gift from the Greater Rochester Community of Churches (GRCC).

"We just think that it's in the nature of being human to be generous," says Richard Newell Myers, GRCC's president. "And we're wanting to encourage more generosity."

You can choose the charity - or individual -yourself, but the GRCC will offer suggestions, as well, if you call (585) 254-2570. (Do not give your money to the GRCC, Myers says.) Notify the GRCC of your intent to give by filling out a form on the group's website.

The GRCC will send the first 100 donors a bell.

"They were made out of spent military hardware from the wars in Cambodia," Myers says. "So they could be artillery shells, they could be landmines that blew up. They're turned into bells. They use them to put on animals and that kind of thing."

The GRCC received the bells from Church World Service, the relief arm of the National Council of Churches - an association of Christian faith groups.

The idea for the "shells into bells" program came about when Myers heard about a congregation in North Carolina who decided to give their stimulus checks away.

"It's not a big church, but they came up with $25,000," he says. "The whole church decided that everyone could afford to give their whole rebate check away."

The bells will come with a card attached, explaining where the bells came from and some information about Church World Service.