Pennies collected for a good cause On...

Pennies collected for a good cause

On Friday, Promoting Resources in Drug Education’s Pennies for

Prevention program presented local schools with $11,000 to go toward

substance abuse and violence prevention.

The annual program, which runs during the month of October, had

more participants than ever this year, said program coordinator

Barbara Huss.

Forty schools in Huntington Beach, Westminster, Santa Ana and

Newport-Mesa, along with community businesses, participated in

collecting pennies to prevent substance abuse.

“Every little bit makes a lot, is what we say,” Huss said. “And

everybody can find a penny.”

For every pound of pennies collected, each school keeps one

dollar. The remaining money goes to the PRIDE foundation in

Huntington Beach, which then delegates the money to schools in

Huntington Beach that need further funding. The total amount of money

collected this year was $23,500. The schools must use the funds for

prevention programs, which can include various measures like

educational school assemblies or new sports programs, Huss said.

Pennies are collected throughout the month of October and the

collection period culminates with Red Ribbon Week, a national

awareness week to keep children off drugs.

This year, Girl Scout Troop 628 earned community service hours by

placing “penny pigs” around local shopping centers. Businesses in the

community also displayed the collection pigs, Huss said.

Retired senior volunteers and cadets also placed another 25

containers. Bob Mandic of Mandic Motors provided a tow-truck to

collect the coins. The Huntington Beach Police Department Search and

Rescue team and the Huntington Beach Police Officers Assn. helped to

coordinate the collection by weighing and loading the coins.

“Next year, we’re hoping to take it up one notch,” Huss said,

adding that she would like to see the program in high schools and in

surrounding school districts.