APS Students Collect 400,000 Pennies for Charity

NEWS RELEASE # 10
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 26, 2011

APS Students Collect 400,000 Pennies for Charity

APS students gathered hundreds of thousands of pennies to donate to their favorite local charities as part of the Penny Harvest program. The year-long service learning program is designed to teach kids about their value as contributors to society.

Students from Altura Elementary, Aurora Quest K-8, Clyde Miller P-8 and Peoria Elementary schools participated in the Penny Harvest. Students gathered pennies from friends and neighbors in their communities.

APS students collected $4,000 in pennies for organizations they researched, interviewed and ultimately chose out of the hundreds in Colorado. This year’s grant recipients included:

• A grant to a child in Mexico needing a Visa to come have an operation in the U.S. – $365
• Blessings in a Backpack – $139
• Brent’s Place – $139
• Freedom Service Dogs – $278
• Homes for Troops – $150
• Invisible Children – $150
• Make-A-Wish Colorado – $300
• Mile High United Way/Denver’s Road Home – $750
• Operation Smile – $250
• Ronald McDonald House – $138
• SAME Café – $278
• Service Project for Dumb Friends League – $100
• Service Project for Red Cross Mile High chapter – $300
• Service Project for Ronald McDonald House – $50
• Shelter Me Photography – $139
• St. Jude’s Research Hospital – $200
• Tennyson Center for Children – $165
• The Gathering Place – $139

About the Penny Harvest

Founded in 1991, the Penny Harvest is now the largest youth philanthropy program in the country, serving more than 500,000 students annually in more than 1,000 schools nationwide. In the past 20 years, children participating in the Penny Harvest have given away $8.6 million, awarded more than 20,000 grants and contributed over 40 million service hours to their local communities. For more information go to www.commoncents.org.

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Interested media may contact APS News Media Specialist
Paula Hans at 303-326-2755 for more information