Cub Scout Pack 380 is celebrating their successful Mile of Pennies fundraiser for Centre Volunteers in Medicine.
The Cub Scouts met on Sept. 21 at the Lions Community Building in Boalsburg to count their pennies and share the results with their guest, Cheryl White, the executive director of CVIM.
“We did it,” said assistant cubmaster Kevin Bender. “More than a mile of pennies. I’m actually kind of sad, in a way, that it’s done because I had so much fun with it. Unofficially, we had 2,706 rolls, about 1,000 more than our goal of 1,690,” Bender said. “$844 was the goal. And $1,353 is approximately what we’ve got. But the pennies are still coming into Ace Hardware and my church.”
He said they had about 1.6 miles of pennies.
“I’ll tell you what it was. A big success. The kids were so excited. You should have seen them wrapping the pennies and putting them in the frames,” he said. “There was really good energy in the room. They were eager to see how many they had.”
The rolls of pennies filled five small triangular display frames and nearly filled a large triangular frame that Bender built out of recycled wood for this purpose.
During the meeting, White thanked the Cub Scouts for choosing CVIM to be the beneficiary. She told them she was excited to see them learn about philanthropy, especially the importance of giving to those in need, and how that aligns with the Scout Law. She gave the Cub Scouts toothbrushes, floss and a reminder to brush for two minutes, twice each day.
“I shared the secret that by taking care of their teeth now they can keep them for life,” White said. “At CVIM, we believe it is so important to break the dental poverty cycle where people lose their teeth at an early age, and education is one of the best ways to break the cycle.”
Bender said he gave each Cub Scout an Eisenhower dollar coin as a reward for their success. They will celebrate with a pizza party in October.
“I want the kids to get a lot of recognition for this,” Bender said. “The pack did it as a team.”
In the meeting, Bender read his self-written poem about the fundraiser, “A Mile of Pennies,” that included their motto, “Do your best.”
He said the pennies came from everywhere.
“The whole community got involved with it,” he said.
Donors included the Lions Club of Harris Township, the Kiwanis Club, Foxdale residents, Scout families, McDonald’s employees, and Appalachian Ski & Outdoors and Ace Hardware customers and employees.
The Cub Scouts received donations of all sizes, from a single penny to a large ice cream bucket and a KFC chicken bucket full of pennies.
“Every time I got pennies, there was a story.” Bender said a lady donated a cookie tin of pennies she found in the closet of a house she bought in 2004. She realized she’d saved it because it was meant for the Scouts.
Depositing so many coins in the bank at one time presented an unforeseen challenge.
The bank told Bender that they no longer had a large vault, so he needed to bring smaller quantities, spread out over a couple weeks.
“For the next fundraiser, I think we’ll collect dollar bills,” said Bender. “Two dollars makes a foot. They’re easier to carry.”
The Mile of Pennies funds will assist CVIM with their general operations, White said. “We love community fundraisers at CVIM and often help promote them with our social media.”
This story appears in the Oct. 6-12 edition of The Centre County Gazette.
