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Students from several local elementary schools gathered yesterday at Columbus' Devonshire Alternative Elementary to celebrate the philanthropic efforts of more than 3,000 central Ohio children. Penny Harvest, a first-year program of the See Kids Dream charity, involved seven Worthington and Columbus schools and raised an estimated $9,000. Students collected change by going door to door over the past five weeks. "We're beyond thrilled," said Bill Grindle, who founded the See Kids Dream charity this year with his wife, Laura. "The kids came through." At yesterday's celebration, the students shared stories about collecting the money and brainstormed on how to use it to help their communities. The schools will decide in January how to distribute the money to local agencies. "I learned how to do things for the community and just help people out," said Blair Douglas, a fifth-grader at Devonshire. Blair and classmates Darell Johnson and Adrian Awuah performed a rap song yesterday about the Penny Harvest project. During the collection efforts, students named the important issues in their communities and planned to use the money they had raised to help with those problems. "This program is completely driven by the students," said Grindle, of the Far North Side. "They ultimately get to decide" who will be given the money. The schoolchildren working for Penny Harvest collected 183 sacks of change totaling about 5,490 pounds. The change went to Huntington Bank yesterday to be counted. Columbus is the first city in Ohio to host Penny Harvest, which started in New York City in 1991 as part of the Common Cents charity. Organizers of Penny Harvest hope to expand the program to about 50 central Ohio schools next year, Grindle said. "It's beyond the idea of philanthropy," he said. "Students at a very early age become empowered as citizens." For more information, visit the Web site www.seekidsdream.org Source: Columbus Dispatch |
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