Scores of sacks holding thousands of dollars in coins are being collected from area schools-including Our Lady of Fatima in Magnolia-that are participating in Penny Harvest, a months-long philanthropy-education program that raises money for community needs.
At least a dozen of the 50 schools participating in the program this year are expected to meet the "25-sack challenge" that entitles them to a $1,000 grant to form a Philanthropy Roundtable. Schools that fall short of that goal but still want roundtables will be able to apply for scholarships.
"Funds permitting, all of the schools that are participating and want a roundtable will receive one," said program director Mike Beebe of the Fremont Public Association (FPA), which manages the program locally in partnership with Common Cents New York.
The student roundtables study community problems and decide how the money raised in the Penny Harvest will be distributed as grants to organizations and student-led service projects.
Students acquire leadership, teamwork and decision-making skills and get to experience the rewards of philanthropy. "They learn they can make a difference," Beebe said.
Volunteers with the Fremont Public Association will make coin pickups from the schools on Monday, Dec. 11, and Thursday, Dec. 14, and taking them to one of two collection points to be loaded onto trucks and delivered to Bank of America, which has donated its counting services.
Past annual penny drives have raised close to $25,000 and involved more than 20,000 students. The Penny Harvest is open to elementary, middle and high schools in Seattle and King County.
This year, the program is broader and more ambitious in scope thanks to a new affiliation with Common Cents New York, which received a $1.4-million Ford Foundation grant to replicate the program nationally, Beebe said. The New York Penny Harvest is a huge program that last school year involved 770 schools and raised more than $655,500, Beebe said.
Schools expected to meet the 25-sack challenge include John Hay Elementary, Thorndyke Elementary and Our Lady of Fatima.[[In-content Ad]]
