Nine months ago, the students at Evelyn E. Marcelli Elementary School joined other school children from around the world in a vision dedicated to empower communities through education in remote areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan. The project, Pennies for Peace, isintended to encourage children, who are ultimately our future leaders, to learn the value of philanthropy by collecting pennies and broadening their cultural horizons as they become members of a global family dedicated to peace.
Over the course of the project, the students had the opportunity to study the cultures of Afghanistan and Pakistan, learn to work and share together in the campaign. Every class was encouraged to take part in the activity. Donations of pennies were also received from members of the community. At the end of the campaign, which concluded in May, the counting began, class by class, penny by penny. The collection totaled $409 and the Marcelli School family received a Certificate of Appreciation from Greg Mortenson of the Pennies for Peace Foundation.
“The experience was such a gratifying one that we intend to do it again this year,” said Marcelli principal Whitman Browne. “Everyone would agree that the pennies that Marcelli students collected made a real difference. This experience also taught the children to be more compassionate to others less fortunate that they are. They most certainly learned the value of a penny.” Browne also issued a big thank you to the people in the community who contributed to the effort, saying, “We are very thankful for your donation and your support. This accomplishment could not have been reached without you all.”
About Pennies for Peace
The Pennies for Peace campaign is a program of Central Asia Institute (CAI), founded by Greg Mortenson, author of the No 1 New York Times best seller “Three Cups of Tea.” CAI is a registered 501(c) 3 non-profit organization that promotes and provides community-based education and literacy programs, especially for girls, in remote mountain regions of Central Asia. Founded in 1996, it has built nearly 100 schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan, which serve more than 28,000 students, 14,000 of whom are girls. Motenson’s story and more information about CAI can be found on the Web at www.ikat.org.
To find out more about the Evelyn Marcelli School’s Pennies for Peace campaign, contact Angela Carty, assistant principal, or Merle Howard, resource teacher, at 774-2966.