Pennies for Patients drive in full swing

posted on February 29, 2012

Red Cloud High School’s “Pennies for Patients” fundraiser has set an ambitious goal of raising $1,500 by March 15, and all indications are that the drive is well on its way. The annual fundraiser, which the high school Student Activities office has been coordinating for over five years now, takes the form of a class competition. Each high school grade level has a designated jar located in the Spiritual Formation Department. The class with the most money by the closing date will receive a prize.

Although the drive is alliteratively titled “Pennies for Patients,” any amount can be put into the jars – the more the better! Grade level teachers can even donate to their class of choice. Of all the grades, the senior class has perhaps the greatest incentive to win: If they do, Social Justice teacher Brad Held has promised that he will shave his head. Despite the fact that the seniors are the only class with such an extra enticement, all of the classes’ sizeable jars are filling up fast.

Proceeds raised during the drive will go to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Pennies for Patients is a nationwide fundraiser that was started in North Carolina in 1995. Since then, millions of dollars have been raised by more than 10 million elementary, middle, and high school students, according to the society’s website. Red Cloud students are proud to play a part in such an endeavor, and proud to donate to such a good cause. As sophomore CeCe Two Lance put it, “I donated because my grandmother had cancer, so I wanted to give my support.”