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Goodbye penny, hello windfall

Students at George Greenaway were asked to bring in pennies, resulting in a fundraising windfall at the Cloverdale school.
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George Greenaway Elementary student Cassandra poses with just a fraction of the $1

We’ve all heard of “penny pinching,” but the kids at George Greenaway Elementary may be taking it to extremes.

A while back, the school’s Parent Advisory Council decided to offer up a challenge to students, asking them to raise money by bringing in pennies for the Good Bye Penny Drive, in response to news the Canadian government is phasing out the one-cent coin.

“We hoped for $400, which would be $1 per student,” principal Elsie Bertholm said, explaining there was also a challenge to see who could bring in the most pennies – the boys or the girls.

“Well, the pennies just keep rolling in, one by one, bag by bag, jar by jar,” Bertholm said.

So far, the students have brought in more than $1,000 in pennies – that’s an astounding 100,000 pennies.

The PAC parents have depositing pennies at the bank every week.

Bertholm says the students will be rewarded with a popcorn and movie afternoon – one for the boys, and one for the girls.