Catholic school collects thousands of pennies for tsunami relief

Published: 2005-02-03

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (CNS) -- Students at Trinity Catholic School in Tallahassee are taking part in a fund-raiser to help the tsunami victims, raise social justice awareness and also get in some math practice. Students are hoping to collect 150,000 pennies, symbolizing an initial count of the number of people killed by the tsunamis that hit 12 Asian and African nations Dec. 26. As of Feb. 3, the death toll had increased to 290,000. For each penny collected, a small photo of a face cut from a magazine or other printed material will be pasted on poster-size sheets, until 150,000 have been attached. The students need to collect an average of 1,500 pennies and pictures per day for the project to conclude before summer vacation. Each day, the students drop their pennies into 5-gallon plastic water jugs. Some bring in just five pennies at a time; others bring hundreds. After one week, students had filled one jug with 24,101 pennies, and started another.

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