June/July 2010 - Coulee Region Women's Magazine

MOTHER EARTHSmall Changefor BigChangeArea students help build schools, one penny at a time.by Mary MalahyContributed PhotoSome people have proposed banning pennies, claimingthey are worthless because manufacturing costs exceedthe actual value of the coin. But students in theLa Crosse area have proven pennies are valuable byraising enough of them to build a school.Marilyn Hempstead, chair for the La Crosse area Penniesfor Peace fundraiser, explains that author Greg Mortensondeveloped Pennies for Peace to raise money to build schools inPakistan and Afghanistan.Mortenson witnessed the horrible conditions schoolchildrenface in Pakistan when he was stranded in a small village thereafter being forced to abandon his attempt to climb K2, thesecond-highest mountain in the world, located between Chinaand Pakistan. His experience inspired him to write Three Cups ofTea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace … One School at a Time.At first, Mortenson struggled to raise money. Then his mother,Jerene Mortenson, who was the principal of Westside ElementarySchool in River Falls, Wis., invited him to visit a class to talkabout his project. The students decided to host a “Pennies forPakistan” drive. They collected 62,345 pennies, and Pennies forPeace was born.Local kids act globallyHempstead is a member of the American Association ofUniversity Women (AAUW), which was responsible for bringingPennies for Peace to the La Crosse area. The local schools thatHempstead contacted raised more than $41,000.“That amount would certainly build a school, pay for all thesupplies and probably pay the teachers’ salaries for a few years,”she says.Students at Viking Elementary in Holmen eagerly took onthe challenge, and they alone raised $11,000. Teri Staloch,principal of Viking Elementary, says she is amazed by what theprogram accomplished.“I’ve been a part of a lot of events that end as soon as themoney is turned in,” Staloch says. “This was different. It definitelychanged the culture of our school.”Jerene Mortenson poses with the fish tank full of pennies donated by theHolmen Viking Elementary students.Staloch explained that Viking’s mission is to be “a school ofexcellence where all children and adults learn and grow togetherto make the world a better place.” Pennies for Peace helped thestudents make this mission statement something they worktoward every day.Together, we make a differencePennies for Peace teaches people that they don’t have to makea huge contribution in order to help people. This is importantbecause a lot of students don’t have a lot to give themselves,Staloch says.“The program also brings the notion of unity,” Staloch says.“One of us couldn’t have given $41,000, but as a community,we could.”Mortenson’s mom visited Viking Elementary for an assemblythat brought all the area schools together, Staloch says. During thisassembly, the students filled a large fish tank with the pennies theyraised. Later in the year, Mortenson spoke at Viterbo Universityand, according to Staloch, some of her students were able to meethim and even sit next to him during his press conference.“It has just evolved into an amazing experience that has beenunbelievable for all of us,” Staloch says. DMary Malahy graduated from UW-La Crosse in May. After hearingabout Pennies for Peace, she is inspired to make the world a better place.44 JUNE/JULY 2010 www.crwmagazine.com