Member service representatives at HAR-CO Maryland FCU were weighted down with charity last week as they counted more than one million pennies-an estimated three tons-raised by elementary students at nearby St. Margaret's School for the benefit of a sister school in impoverished Haiti.
Parents and students joined in later to help bag the mountain of copper, which was picked up by an armored vehicle from the credit union. Teachers saw the purpose of the Million Penny Project as two-fold; the first was to illustrate the concept of a million to students, but also that all those pennies can add up to make a difference for the poor children at St. Rose of Lima School in Haiti, which St. Margaret School has supported since 2001.
Since then the local elementary school has embarked on a campaign to donate backpacks filled with school supplies, and more recently to sponsor students at St. Rose with $100 each for tuition, uniforms and hot lunches for the school year.
