By Loren Hughes
Staff Writer
Video by Taylor Vowell and Kyle Kirby
KCBY

For the past two weeks, pennies have been quite the popular currency around CHS, seen and promoted around every fourth period classroom to raise money for the Pennies for Patients fundraiser.

The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Pennies for Patients program is a campaign to raise money for patients who are fighting blood cancers. The role of Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA) is to raise money through CHS students for these survivors of blood cancers.

“Leukemia and lymphoma are two blood cancers that affect so many people, especially children,” HOSA president and senior Suwetha Amsavelu said. “There are kids that we go to school with that have been afflicted with it but we don’t know it.”

The reason pennies have been the main advertisement for the campaign is the purpose of the fundraiser is to prove a little bit of change goes a long way. Students don’t have to donate $20 to the fundraiser to make a difference.

“Research is essential in beating this disease,” Amsavelu said. “Every little cent can help, as cliché as that sounds.”

Senior HOSA secretary and Pennies for Patients coordinator Shaylee Zaugg has been affected by leukemia, and is further proof that this program really can make a difference in the lives of others.

“I don’t think many people know this, but my mom was diagnosed in 2003 with Hodgkin’s Lymphona and has been through chemotherapy, radiation and even a stem cell transplant,” Zaugg said.  “It is her survival that has given me the motivation to start this campaign at CHS because I truly know how grateful those patients and their family members will be when we support them.”

Part of the money will be contributed to families for financial aid, support groups and information services. It also goes towards research on new treatments and education for people about the disease.

Spanish teacher Patrick Melville’s fourth period Spanish Literature class was announced the winning class on Dec. 14, after raising $332.80. Their reward will be a pasta party catered by Olive Garden, along with the satisfaction of raising more money than any other class at CHS.

There are other incentives, such as the Pennant Program, which means that any class raising between $200-$299 will get one ticket per person to a Dallas Stars game. This will be in addition to the purchase of a half price ticket. Also, any class that was able to raise over $300 will get two tickets to a Stars game with the purchase of another half price ticket.

“I brought money because I think the fundraiser was an amazing opportunity to give back to the people around me since it’s difficult to do a lot of service learning during the school year,” senior Janny Lim said. “It feels great to be in the winning class because it’s nice to know that everyone sincerely cares.”

Aside from Melville’s class, large amounts of money were raised overall, something CHS can certainly be proud of since the spare change will be put towards an excellent cause.

“We raised so much more money than expected,” Amsavelu said. “I am so glad to see that classes got into the competitive spirit.”