Recently, the Canton Middle School student body wrapped up February by completing a highly successful fundraising campaign for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. The campaign, known as Pennies for Patients, helps fund research for finding the cure for blood cancer, as well as helping to fund patients’ access to treatments. It is a nationwide movement in many schools that, over the past 17 years of operation, has raised more than $261 million.
Under the guidance of the CMS Beta Club, the school’s honor society, students watched a video that explained what blood cancers were all about and helped them to get to know some young people whose lives have been affected by those diseases. Teachers were also able to have discussions with students about cancer and the damage it can cause.
For 8th grader Gracie Woods, the impact of this drive ran deep. “I’ve witnessed the horrible effects of cancer,” she said. “If I have a chance to help with research that could end cancer, I am all for it.”
Another student, 6th grader Carter Ball, was moved by what he learned at the beginning of the drive about blood cancer and the people who suffer from it. “My birthday was coming up, and I realized that these people needed help,” he said. “That was when I made the choice to give my money.”
For 7th grader Carter Jones, who brought in a paint pail full of change, his own generosity led to a surge in donations from other students in his homeroom. “I noticed a big change in the giving!” he said. “That was amazing.”
Homeroom classes competed against one another for end-of-drive rewards like pizza parties. Every day for two weeks, students were encouraged to bring in change (as well as paper money), which teacher assistant Rhonda Messer and bookkeeper Stephanie Pace faithfully counted in order to keep up a daily post of classroom rankings. When it was all over, teacher Lani Kasten’s 7th grade class won the distinction of top homeroom.
By the official end of the drive CMS students had managed to raise $2,589.02, which greatly exceeded the school’s initial fundraising goal of $2,150. Then, as a bonus cause for celebration, last minute donations arrived that raised the tally all the way up to $2,647.08.
For many students, like Carter Ball, the impact of giving runs deep. “I’d never done something like that in my life. I felt like I made a change with what I did.”
Next up for Canton Middle fundraising is the Hoops for Heart campaign, which seeks to raise money for the American Heart Association and to teach heart health awareness in the schools.
Submitted by: William Hunt, Canton Middle School
