Surely the most unloved coin, most of us don’t know what to do with our pennies; those little copper-colored tokens nesting in the corners of wallets or purses.
But those pennies in your pocket or kitchen drawer, the ones you don’t know what to do with, can make a difference for students at a local school who are trying to take a trip to Washington, D.C. this year.
The Immanuel Lutheran School fundraiser started on Abraham Lincoln’s birthday, Feb. 12, and runs through March 31, although the school will also accept donations after March.
The school, which draws students from Riverview, Apollo Beach and Brandon, is trying a new drive where supporters turn in their pennies and are given crisp dollars for every pound.
Acolytes of Ebenezer Scrooge will already know, but for the rest of us, 1 pound of pennies is actually worth $1.68. With Pennies for Dollars, for every pound of pennies donated, students give back $1, keeping the 68 cents for their trip to Washington. The school has its own scales to weigh each donation and has collected 240 pounds of pennies so far, equating to $163. And 20 cents.
“We are also taking penny donations if someone wants to donate those,” said Beth Bruce, the school’s administrative assistant.
Teachers are not only using the drive to raise money for a school trip, they are also teaching youngsters a lesson in economics and business through the fundraiser.
“Our seventh-grade class, the ones who are most responsible for the fundraiser, are taking it as a business lesson where we had someone put money up front to start the business,” Bruce said.
As a result, students are learning about profit-and-loss statements, how to track money and how to pay back the seed money that was used to start the business. “They are all learning the accounting that goes along with running a business,” said Bruce. “We also have a couple of fathers that have students in the seventh grade who are helping out with the project.”
Jerry Harburg, a former president of the Greater Riverview Chamber of Commerce, and Pedro Diaz, a student’s dad with extensive experience in accounting, are both helping out with the program, Bruce said.
“Jerry said he had the idea rolling around in his brain for 20 years,” Bruce said. “It was something he said he always wanted to do, so he just had to get it out of his system.”
Harburg also put up the seed money for the students’ account at the Railroad Industrial Credit Union.
Beyond the ledgers and profit-and-loss statements, Immanuel Lutheran students are also learning about the history of the much-maligned penny.
However, it’s not just a seventh-grade project. “The younger grades are studying Abraham Lincoln, learning who he was and why he is on the penny, so the whole school is getting into it,” Bruce said.
All the money raised will help defray the cost of a planned trip to Washington by seventh- and eighth-grade classes in April. Around 30 students hope to make the 10-day trip.
Immanuel Lutheran was founded in 1980 and has 129 students.
So search that “everything” drawer, between the couch cushions and the bottom of that old handbag. The penny may be small, but she is mighty for the students of Immanuel Lutheran.
For more information on the fundraiser or to donate and help send Immanuel Lutheran youngsters to Washington, call 813-685-1978.
