Burlingame students collect coins to build schools in Asia
Students from Burlingame’s Lincoln Elementary, appropriately enough, recently launched a penny drive.
The first collection of the students’ Pennies for Peace Campaign has raised about $300 for the Central Asia Institute, a nonprofit organization in Montana that promotes and supports community-based education — especially for girls in remote regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The students brought in pennies from home to put in a jug. There was some sprinkling of dimes, quarters and bills, too. The money will go toward helping build schools in those war-torn countries.
The children also learned about the region that they are helping.
“The children were thrilled and fascinated that pennies actually could add up so quickly,” parent Liz Curry said. “But moreover, I’m pleased that many of them have come to realize that each one of them has the capacity for compassion in their hearts and that one child can make a difference in another’s life.
“We’re trying to emphasize global awareness in our children, helping them to understand their potential as well as their responsibility to the world, not just to their own lives.”
Organizers hope to continue the campaign every year and involve the rest of the Burlingame School District.
For more information, visit the Web site www.penniesforpeace.org
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