RSS 2.0 FeedJuly 15, 2010, Merrick Life
Quarters for change
Birch Elementary surpasses fundraising efforts.
QUARTERS FOR CHANGE: Birch School social worker Robyn Fruchter presents a check for $12,000 to Cynthia Sucich, right, director of communications for the Interfaith Nutrition Network (INN), which serves Long Island’s hungry and homeless. Merrick Life photo by Lauren Urban
Birch School conducted a “Quarters for Change” fundraiser to raise money for the Interfaith Nutrition Network (INN), which serves Long Island’s hungry and homeless.
The school aimed to collect 40,000 quarters, representing the number of homeless and hungry people on Long Island, for a total of $10,000, to donate to the INN. After 14 months of fundraising, the school surpassed its goal by collecting over 44,000 quarters (over $11,000). Fundraisers included selling recyclable bags, a pretzel sale, class auctions, bake sales and a school talent show, which raised $2,000 on its own.
To celebrate this impressive feat, the school had a grand celebration on June 22, when students layed out the thousands of collected quarters on the floor of the mini gym.
This allowed the students to see the impact of what they had accomplished. “Each one of these quarters represents someone who doesn’t have a place to sleep tonight,” Cynthia Sucich, director of communications for the INN, told the students gathered around the quarters.
According to Ms. Sucich, Birch School donated more money to the INN than any other school. “On behalf of the Quarters for Change Committee, I want to thank everyone who helped us to reach, and surpass our goal! We will truly make a difference in the lives of others and have given our students a wonderful message of working together for the benefit of others,” wrote Birch School’s Assistant Principal Kerri Schlissel in an e-mail to Merrick Life.
Lauren Urban is a summer intern at Merrick Life. She is a journalism/English student entering her junior year at Iona College in New Rochelle, New York.