CEHD CEHD CEHD CEHD

Penny War: Education Collects Coins For A Cure

4/4/08

A penny for your thoughts, or in the case of the College of Education and Human Development (CEHD), a penny for a cure.

Under the leadership of the CEHD Staff Advisory Council's (SAC) Community Service Committee, the college collected $2,000 as part of the American Cancer Society Penny War. In all, 73,190 pennies were collected.

"I was really impressed with how the college came together for such a great cause," Penny War Chair Kristie Stramaski said. "We had faculty emptying their wallets the last week of the war and strategic sabotage moves being implemented."

Kathy May, chair of the SAC Community Service Committee, said the original goal was $500, but the college had met that goal by Christmas.

"This was a passion of one of our committee members, and because of that, we far exceeded the goal that we set," she said. "I think cancer hit close to home for a lot of the faculty, staff and students in our college and they gave from the heart."

The challenge pitted departments against one another, with the department having the most points at the end of the Penny War collection earning a pizza party compliments of Dean Doug Palmer.

Stramaski said that bragging rights were also on the line.

"This became a true college event, with faculty, staff, students and even friends of the college donating their pennies and change for the cause," she said. "We had $486.63 of change collected in the last week alone. It was so heavy, we had to use a dolly just to get it to the bank!"

The college will have a team at the Aggie Relay for Life event this Friday (April 4), where they will present a check to the American Cancer Society and spend the evening walking the track in support of cancer awareness and research.

"This year has been so rewarding and fun," Beverly McClain, Relay for Life chair, said, "but I want to issue a challenge to other colleges at the university next year. See what you can do with your coins, since every coin collected is one coin closer to a cure."

College Calendar