About
How it Began
In the fall of 2007, North Muskegon’s eighth grade language arts classes read The Diary of Anne Frank by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett, a drama based on the book Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl. Who is Anne Frank? During the unit of study, I discovered the Paper Clip Movie Paper Clips, watched it at home, and informed the students about the Whitwell, Tennessee project. Inspired by The Diary of Anne Frank and the Paper Clip Project (Paper Clip Project), the students were eager to work on a project of their own that would bring awareness of the social injustice and intolerance that led to the devastation and cruelty of the Holocaust.
We contemplated connecting eleven million paperclips and looping them around the school or city of North Muskegon. This idea presented a cross-curricular opportunity and the math teacher next door worked with my last hour class on a story problem. If eleven million one-inch paperclips were strung together, the distance covered would be … approximately 347 miles, North Muskegon to Ann Arbor and back. We were awed and continued to think of other project possibilities. Then, one student voiced the idea of collecting pennies. We could donate them to make a physical, fundamental difference in people’s lives. This idea stuck. The project goal became: to collect eleven million pennies representing the victims of the Holocaust and to donate them ($110,000) to help the people victimized in today’s genocide in Darfur-Sudan. US Holocaust Memorial Museum - Responding to Genocide Today
Becoming a Nonprofit
The project grew bigger than just one class of students. In order to continue with the idea, it became necessary to file articles of incorporation as a nonprofit organization separate from the school. Fellow teachers, friends, business leaders, and community members volunteered to serve on the board of directors and the organization became a domestic nonprofit corporation. The organization is not a 501 (c) (3) and cannot offer tax deductions for donations.
Our Mission
Our general purpose for the corporation is to promote awareness of social issues and to provide assistance to people in need of life’s basic necessities. The initial project of the nonprofit group is to collect eleven million pennies in memory of the lives lost during the Holocaust and to donate the money to the Darfurians struggling for survival. We plan to complete this project before 2012 when the eighth grade class of 2007-08 graduates from high school. Following the completion of this project, the Donate Pennies Organization hopes to continue its general purpose with donations going to people in the Muskegon area.
Our Volunteers
Donate Pennies Organization has seven directors and a group of students in grades eight through twelve volunteering to support the organization’s initial project. The intention is for the project to be student driven and to reach beyond the school into the global community. Thank you for any support you can offer in helping us reach our goal. If you would like to volunteer or have a project idea, please email me at info@donatepennies.org.
Sincerely,
Sarah Knuth
North Muskegon MS/HS Language Arts Teacher
Donate Pennies Organization Director
“People, like pennies, are sometimes seen as insignificant with little value, but every person does make a difference and “One Cent Can Save a Life.”
