Each year for the past three school years, Language Arts teacher Holly Kolarova has organized the Pasta for Pennies fundraiser at Apple Valley Middle, and each year she’s impressed by the students’ willingness to give.
A program by Olive Garden benefiting The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s School & Youth campaign, Pasta for Pennies encourages students to collect pennies (or other coins) in their classrooms to donate to blood cancer research, and caters a luncheon for the class that raised the most money.
This year, Apple Valley Middle surpassed the school of $1,500 and raised a total of $1,755 –$229.19 of which came from Cissy Roberts’ 6th grade homeroom.
“(She has) 16 students, but they raised the most out of the school,” said Kolarova.
“Last year, we raised $10 million,” said LLS Campaign Assistant Robin Shaw, who accepted the check Thursday. “This year we hope to top that, and you guys helped us get that started in a big, big way,” she told Roberts’ class.
Shaw also met 7th-grader David Rodriguez, who raised the most as an individual, after experiencing a cancer scare in his family firsthand.
Kolarova said when Rodriguez presented her with $152, “I asked David, ‘Where are you getting all this money from?’”
“I work during the summer,” Rodriguez said. “My dad’s an electrician so I helped him.”
“Don’t ever doubt that you as an individual can make a difference,” Kolarova told Roberts’ class.
“This is for kids, by kids,” she said. “It’s so amazing what kids can do.”
(Written by Molly McGowan Gorsuch, HCPS Public Information Officer.)