'Pennies for Patients' Will Benefit Cancer Research

How many pennies does $5,653.89 equal? A lot! To be exact, the amount in question equals 565,389 pennies, which is probably more than anyone would want to cash in at the bank, even over the course of a lifetime.

This figure is significant because it represents the amount of money raised by Saucon Valley Middle School students who participated in a fundraising effort on behalf of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

"Pennies for Patients" is an annual campaign that encourages local students to collect spare change for the society, which uses the funds donated to help provide patient financial aid, co-payments and to support cancer research.

In seventh grade classrooms the campaign took the form of a 10-day "homeroom competition" called "Pennies for Pasta," math teacher and team leader Daniel Mack explained.

Each day, seventh-graders would collect and count the donations brought in by students from all three middle school grade levels, using their math skills in order to ensure accuracy.

At the end of the two-week period, the sixth, seventh and eighth grade homerooms that had collected the most money were announced, with the winning classes receiving a catered lunch donated by the Olive Garden of Easton.

The winning sixth grade homeroom was Mr. Papp's; the winning seventh grade homeroom was Mrs. Banning's; and the winning eighth grade homeroom was Mr. Riefenstahl's.

At the luncheon, held March 8 in the high school Audion, students presented the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's School & Youth Campaign Coordinator, Megan Evans, with a ceremonial check for the amount of money they raised.

"They're just amazing," Evans said of Saucon Valley students, who have raised about $23,000 for the society over the past six years. "They're helping all of our patients. We are very grateful for them."

Mack noted that many of the students were very enthusiastic about collecting funds for such a worthy cause and organization.

"One student...put in his own allowance" in order to boost his homeroom's total, he said.

"The real winners are the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in the long run," he added.