THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, February 11, 1995 TAG: 9502090022
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Short : 35 lines
There's power in pennies. People who think about coins say $2 billion worth of pennies is stashed away in American households - in piggy banks, boxes, jars, mugs, bureau drawers, cupboards. . . . Some time ago, an elderly Ohio resident who had been saving pennies since age 5 carted to his bank 40 garbage cans containing 8 million of them - $80,000 worth.
Last December, students at St. Pius X Catholic School in Norfolk - kindergartners through eighth-graders - collected nearly 200,000 pennies for the benefit of the St. Pius X Homeless Shelter.
``Pennies for the Poor'' was the youngsters' Christmas 1994 project. They dropped pennies into milk cartons in their classrooms. Many of the pennies would have gone for snacks that children passed up to help the unsheltered. The students' parents counted the pennies and took them to banks. St. Pius X administrators and teachers were happily surprised when the children brought in as much money as they did.
There are at least three useful, if obvious, reminders in this cheerful holiday story about pennies and caring:
There is strength in numbers.
Working toward common objectives, we can accomplish more than by going our separate ways or working against each other.
Small acts of kindness make a positive difference in this often-harsh world. by CNB