WDHS Students Helping Cancer Patients, One Penny at a Time

For three mornings, the plastic tubs rattling with change have come in after homeroom at , and for three mornings, the response keeps growing.

Students and teachers at the high school are in the midst of a weeklong blitz for Pennies for Patients, a charity drive for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and to say the response has been big this year is an understatement.

“The kids are really stepping up,” said Peg Page, one of the organizers of the drive and a special education teacher at the school.

Last year was West Deptford’s first time raising money for the charity, and the high school brought in $815 of the course of three weeks.

“We did pretty well for a high school,” said April Sanford, one of the high school’s counselors and another of the organizers of the drive.

This year, they’re hoping to top last year’s entire campaign in the course of just a week—and they’re right on track so far.

Through midday Wednesday, students and teachers had already raised more than $650, mostly in spare change and small donations of a dollar here, five dollars there.

“We’ve had a tremendous response,” Sanford said. “You can see the students having fun with it.”

That’s meant a host of competition among classes and homerooms, with the added incentive of a pizza party at the end of it—all of which is adding a sense of urgency and excitement to the drive this year, Page said.

It’s also gone a long way to getting West Deptford students more involved in the process, Sanford said.

“It’s nice to see them participate and really be charitable,” she said.

At lunch, a trio of student manned the Pennies for Patients table, the wall behind them plastered with oversized penny printouts put up by students who donated dollars, rather than just change.

“There’s so man people out there with leukemia, and they can’t always help themselves,” Rachel Krott said. “It feels good to be able to help them, because they’re such amazing people.”

For Miracle Knight, the drive brings a sense of accomplishment, knowing they’re doing something to benefit cancer patients.

“It makes us feel like heroes,” she said.

Nationwide, Pennies for Patients has been going since 1995, and raised millions to fund blood cancer research.

In addition to the in-school drive, West Deptford High School has also set up a website for outside donations to the annual campaign.