Brunson Elementary Students Raise More Than $2,500 for Leukemia Research with Penny Campaign

A penny, nickel, dime and quarter at a time, students at Brunson Elementary School raised more than $2,500 for the North Carolina chapter of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

“I was a little overwhelmed,” said Bridget Hollomon, the second-grade teacher who initiated the project. “I had a personal goal of $1,000.”

As pleased as Holomon was with the total of $2,547.95, she with even more pleased with how many children participated. In 75 percent of the school’s 28 classes, every student participated. In the other classes, at least 60 percent of the students participated.

So that students who might not have extra money wouldn’t feel pressured to contribute money, Principal Jeff Faullin invited students to contribute the tokens that they receive for good behavior and promised to convert each token into a nickel.

Hollomon has worked to support leukemia research ever since her son, Wade, who is now 19, was diagnosed as having leukemia when he was 5. More than three years of surgery, chemotherapy and other treatments followed. He is now fine.

“He was lucky to come out the other side,” Hollomon said.

At the time, the family was living in Cumberland County. A couple of years ago, they moved to Forsyth County so that he could attend the drama program at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. He is now a student at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

As part of the second-grade curriculum, Hollomon teaches students about the importance of compassion. “The question for me was, ‘How can I teach my students to be more compassionate toward others?’”

Having them participate in a Pasta for Pennies campaign seemed like a good answer. “It completely tied into what we were doing with the curriculum.”

The campaign is called Pasta for Pennies because the Olive Garden restaurant company rewards schools that sponsor campaigns in support of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society with a pasta party, typically for the class that raises the most money. At first, Holomon was thinking of the campaign as a project for her class only. As she talked with other Brunson teachers and with guidance counselor Jenny Niles-Orefice, though, the idea spread.

“I became involved in our Pasta for Pennies campaign as a way to involve the entire school in a community service project,” Niles-Orefice said. “In guidance lessons, I work with students on coming up with ways to spread kindness and compassion, and Pasta for Pennies is a perfect fit for such a conversation.  Typically, the project encourages competition between classrooms to see who can raise the most money; instead we chose to aim for 100 percent participation from all students.  What resonated with me most was seeing how enthusiastic students of all grades were about helping raise money.  They were thrilled about the idea of extending compassion to leukemia patients so they could get better - it didn't matter that our students had never met them.  It was clear that our students could feel that they were making a meaningful difference in the world, and as their counselor, that was inspiring to observe.”

When the party is held after the holiday break, a child from each classroom will participate.