THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 2, 1995 TAG: 9501310135
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 15 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TONYA WOODS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 52 lines
When sixth-grader Duncan McConaugha found out his school was going to raise money for the homeless by collecting pennies, his expectations for big bucks weren't too high.
``At first I thought they weren't going to get a lot of money,'' he said. ``But I was glad we helped the homeless.''
When students at St. Pius X Catholic School collected $2,000 in pennies in just four weeks, during their ``Pennies for the Poor'' collection, McConaugha and almost everyone else at St. Pius was amazed.
``I never saw so many pennies,'' said St. Pius' principal, Sister Marie St. James. ``I only expected the children to collect about $500.''
The students donated the money to the St. Pius Homeless Shelter, which is beside the school on Halprin Drive. Thanks to some children giving up ice-cream and snack money, enough was raised to feed at least 5,000 people.
For some of the students, helping others was the best part of collecting the almost 200,000 pennies.
``I felt glad that I was doing something for other people,'' said Alex Lee, a second-grader at St. Pius who said he sacrificed his snack money to help with the collection.
Sister St. James said the ``Pennies for the Poor'' was an idea from the Home and School Association of St. Pius School.
``These children are very thoughtful, caring children,'' St. James said. ``It's been a great experience for everyone.''
Each year students participate in a Christmas Project to aid the homeless. Last year they helped serve food, clear tables and carry trays for the homeless in the ``Breakfast with Santa'' project.
``The bigger students helped out, and the smaller ones just came to see Santa,'' St. James said.
For the ``Pennies for the Poor'' project, St. Pius students from kindergarten to the eighth grade pitched their pennies in gallon-sized milk cartons in their classrooms. Each time the cartons were filled, parents volunteered to count the pennies and take them to the bank. The collection began Dec. 1 and ended Christmas Day.
Billie French, who teaches a sixth-grade class, collected $244 in pennies, more than any other class at the school.
She said toward the end of the collection, competition to have the most pennies got really heated.
``The students started bringing more and more pennies,'' she said. ``I even dropped my last quarter in the carton before they took away our last batch of pennies.'' by CNB