School Desk

Pennies for charity

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A penny saved by Spuyten Duyvil School (P.S. 24) students is a penny earned for Bronx families in need. 

This holiday season, second- and fourth-grade students at P.S. 24 are participating in New York City’s annual “Penny Harvest,” a fundraiser in which students collect change as part of a service learning project.  

The pennies — and even dollars — collected will benefit P.S. 24’s collaboration with Part of the Solution (POTS), a Bronx-based organization that provides emergency food and legal services to families. 

Last year, starting in January, students at the school made over 200 sandwiches every two to three weeks to deliver to POTS. This year, student donations will pay for the supplies. 

“Everyone is doing something — making sandwiches, bringing in money, being a leader,” said fourth-grade student Jenna Werchen, who is one of the Penny Harvest “ambassadors” in her class this year. 

Each day, Jenna and her fellow ambassadors travel from class to class around the school to explain the concept of the penny drive to younger students and collect contributions. 

“So it’s not just the kids doing the Penny Harvest. We’re also learning to be better leaders,” explained ambassador Brianna Fuller, 9. 

Brianna, Jenna and fellow fourth-grade ambassadors Marin Rubin and Charlie Siper helped write a script to read in front of each classroom they visited. 

“Hello, we are the ambassadors for the P.S. 24 Penny Harvest,” they recited in unison on Monday. 

“Feed the needy, don’t be greedy, every cent counts,” one portion of the script read. 

Students from participating classes also created posters advertising the drive, which they put up around the school. 

Parent Association President Farrah Rubin said in previous years, the PA raised money for the sandwich making, but this year’s Penny Harvest gave students a chance to take fundraising into their own hands. 

Nineteen classes at P.S. 24 plan to participate in the sandwich-making starting in January. The fundraising will tie in to what students are learning in the classroom.

Second-grade teacher Liza Cohen said her students will graph the donations that each class brings in, along with learning more about who the sandwiches will go to. 

The Penny Harvest is not the only seasonal fundraising activity students at P.S. 24 are participating in. On Saturday, Dec. 13, the school will host a “Jam if you CAN” event from 4 to 7 p.m. featuring music, dancing, food, crafts, face painting and a holiday raffle, with an admission fee of five canned goods. 

“They don’t have to wait until they grow up to help somebody,” Ms. Cohen said. 

Spuyten Duyvil School, P.S. 24, Penny Harvest, POTS, Maya Rajamani

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