Kutztown Elementary fourth graders donated $684, raised from their Penny War, to the Humane Society of Berks County on March 27.
“I hope that they learned how to give back to their community and some things about how to coordinate events like that because they really did all of the planning themselves,” said fourth grade teacher Kerri Schegan. “I think the kids really enjoyed themselves and I think it helped them see the difference they can make even as 9 and 10 year olds.”
The fourth graders were inspired to help animals in need after a Dec. 19 visit from a Humane Society dog named Buddy and Humane Society representatives Lauren Henderson and Kristi Rodriguez. Schegan arranged the Humane Society visit in conjunction with reading the book “Shiloh” by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, which is about a boy and a rescued dog.
“That spurred some conversation about how we can help animals that are in trouble and we learned about the Humane Society,” said Schegan. “The students decided that they wanted to raise some funds for the Humane Society.”
Schegan said the students came up with numerous fundraising ideas and agreed on a Penny War. There were four animals from the Humane Society in the Penny War: two dogs, turtles, and a cat. Students voted for their favorite animals by putting in either pennies or cash, counting as positive points. They could also vote against an animal by donating nickels, dimes and quarters, counting as negative points. In the end, students calculated which animal had the most positive points to win the competition. Toffee the dog won with the most positive points.
“The whole school celebrated. They were excited how the animals did,” said Schegan.
Schegan said every student had a role in some way. The 54 fourth graders were in charge of implementing their ideas, collecting money, counting money, delivering to the bank and converting the coins to cash to donate to the Humane Society.
“They really had a big role in all of the fundraising that we did and I hope that helps them learn to do things like this even more independently in the future,” said Schegan.
Humane Society representative Lauren Henderson, events and donor relations manager, returned to Schegan’s classroom on March 27 to be greeted by all of the 54 fourth graders and received the $684 donation for the Humane Society.
“I hope that they learned that it doesn’t require a lot of money to make a difference, that a couple of pennies or even a quarter can make a difference for the animals and that when they came together, 54 students can raise close to $700. That’s a lot of money, in their world and in ours,” said Henderson.
The donation funds will go toward Humane Society operations.
“It’ll provide for quite a few animals that come through the door so it’ll take care of some dogs and cats that are surrendered to us,” said Henderson. “It’s a decent amount of money that will go a long way for us.”
Hednerson said it is great that fourth graders organized this fundraiser to help animals in need.
“I think it’s a great way to shape them into giving back to their community and understanding that one person can make a difference. And it doesn’t have to be $10,000 or $20,000, it can be a $700 donation that makes a difference,” she said.
