A little change goes a long way. That is what the students of Manor School found out during a recent Pennies for Patients drive in support of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada.
Amanda McLarty, organizer of the event said the fundraising was a real success at the school. Not only did the school raise $1,182.79, but the support by the students, staff and the community was obvious throughout the week-long initiative.
The idea for the fundraising started when the school received a package from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society that outlined the Pennies for Patients drive. When the school decided to participate in the fundraiser, someone was needed to organize the event. McLarty stated that "being a new staff member here, I thought this would be a good way to get to know the student body and get involved in the school. So I decided to take on organizing it."
"We made it into a competition. So we gave each class a box and told the students that, the class that raised the most money was going to get a prize. And because we fundraised over the $500 mark, Pennies for Patients is going to give the class collecting the most change a pizza party." For Manor, that means that the grade 5/6 class will receive the pizza party this year with $349.41 raised for the cause. The second top fundraising class was the grade 3/4 class with a total of $293.38 raised during the spare change drive.
McLarty stated that the friendly competition meant involvement throughout the school. "Because it was a competition, the kids really got into it, and they would always look at the chart and see who was in the lead. There was a lot of involvement. And the response from the town was really great. The kids had the option of taking home a little box to go door-to-door. And the community has been really giving. It is amazing how much money some spare change can add up to."
Last week was a busy week of counting change with May 24 being the final day of the change drive. McLarty sent out a "big thank you to the Grade 5/6 students for helping to count all of the change, along with all the teachers and staff members that helped out."
The money raised during the Pennies for Patients drive will be given to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada. The organization works toward finding a cure for blood cancer as well as supporting those that have the disease. Every year, 12 million students participate in thus youth program with more than $100 million dollars raised throughout the country during the past 14 years.
