 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Students kick in their few cents for fundraiserBy JOY DAVIS-PLATT © St. Petersburg Times, published November 26, 2000 United Way of Hernando County organizers plan to inch toward their half-million dollar fundraising goal one penny at a time. Schoolchildren throughout the county are competing in Pennies For Hernando by bringing pennies to class. The payoff? Winning classrooms get pizza parties. The idea for the fundraiser has really caught on with schools, said United Way executive director Marilyn Ceh. "This thing has grown phenomenally," she said. "The response has come from the kids, the schools, the teachers, everyone involved." The fundraiser not only benefits the United Way and its charities, Ceh said, but since half the money stays with the schools, education also gets a boost. "Not to mention the fact that the kids get to work toward a pizza party," she said. Six hundred 2-liter bottles have been distributed to classrooms in Hernando County. Once filled, the bottles are emptied into 5-gallon water bottles in the school's main office. Pennies will be collected until Dec. 5. There will be a winning classroom from each school, and one school will win a schoolwide pizza party courtesy of Hungry Howie's Pizza in Spring Hill. To level the playing field, winners will be decided by the number of pennies collected per student. Hungry Howie's owner Tim Devine said that since pizza and kids go hand in hand, the fundraiser is sure to be a success. "With the number of students involved, the return on relatively little effort should be tremendous," he said. "This is something where kids can participate without having to go door-to-door." Devine said response to the fundraiser has been immediate and strong. The daughter of one Hungry Howie's driver came up with an inventive way to get pennies, he said. "She wants to help her school so not only did she shake down her parents, she started looking for couch-cushion money," Devine said with a laugh. "Let's face it, we all have cushion money." If one of the larger schools wins the pizza party, Devine said he will have pizzas brought in from other store locations. Since this is a first time for Pennies for Hernando, Ceh said she has no idea how much the fundraiser will bring in. "We have high hopes for this one," she said. United Way helps fund 21 Hernando County agencies including Lighthouse for the Visually Impaired and Blind, Child Development Services and Big Brothers Big Sisters. This year's fundraising goal of $500,000 is the largest ever. "The thing is, we don't have a large industrial base in Hernando County, so we have to be very creative in our fundraising," Ceh said. "Demands from our agencies keep growing, so we have to keep growing to help them." United Way fund development coordinator Marty McKinnon said that some schools have already filled several 5-gallon jugs with pennies. "I thought we would be fortunate to get one full jug from each school," she said. "But now I have to drop off more jugs to some schools. It's overwhelming." Participating schools are Brooksville Elementary, Central High School, Chocachatti Elementary, Parrott Middle School, Hernando High School, J.D. Floyd Elementary, Powell Middle School, Spring Hill Elementary School, Springstead High School, Westside Elementary School and Star Education Center.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
|
