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Photo by Graham Cullen
Celeste Walmsley, 5, left, and Zachary Girner, 5, lead the Easter Bunny from room to room during a breakfast event at the Frederick Country Day Montessori School on Saturday. |
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With nearly two months to go, Frederick Country Day Montessori School has surpassed its goal to raise $500 for Pennies for Peace, an initiative that builds schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan.The oft-looked-down-upon coins continue to roll in through a variety of events and spontaneous acts of giving, school director Louise Walmsley said Wednesday. When the school kicked off its campaign Feb. 18, the plan was to keep penny jars in each classroom. A couple of simple events were also scheduled to raise money. But Walmsley said she wasn't prepared for the generosity of residents who walked in off the streets to donate their pennies. Students and their parents have planned events on their own, Walmsley said. Two children ran a lemonade stand at their home and raised $26.14 for the cause. Parents John and Kendi O'Neill hosted a St. Patrick's Day party at their home and encouraged guests to bring pennies. They collected $88.80. The school's kindergartners raised $94 through a bake sale. Teachers held a sale called 1,000 Pennies for Peace. They offered gift certificates for a variety of goods and services to students for 1,000 pennies. Sixteen teachers offered items and the event raised $160. John O'Neill is a professional potter who teaches at Hood College. He made several ceramic piggy banks that he hopes to place in local businesses to collect pennies and other coins, Walmsley said. Walmsley expected nearly 100 people at Breakfast With the Easter Bunny at the school Saturday. The effort has been contagious, with College View Center nursing home and Learning Bee child care center beginning campaigns of their own. Perhaps the biggest hero in the effort could be Blue Ridge Bank, which allowed the school to open an account without fees and offered to count the coins at no charge, Walmsley said. The school director said she has been pleasantly surprised by the way the community has embraced the project. "It's been a really positive experience," she said. "It's brought the parents together, brought the community together." And in the toughest economy that most people can remember, collecting pennies allows everyone to participate, no matter how tough the economy might be, Walmsley said. "It really does include everyone," she said. "And it teaches the children about what can be accomplished when people come together."
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