Posted Friday, March 8, 2019
The annual Pennies from Heaven event at Townsend Elementary was again a huge success. The annual fundraiser benefits UHS Delaware Valley Hospital.
Townsend collected 1,019 pounds of pennies this year, which will come out to about $1,700 donated once everything is tallied. The school collected nearly 250 pounds more than last year.
Each year, there’s also a friendly competition between classes at Townsend. The class that collects the most pennies throughout the month of February earns a pizza and ice cream party. This year’s winner, for the second straight year, is Tina Ammon’s second-grade class. The class collected 131 pounds.
Grade-level winners will win an ice cream party from the hospital. Those winners were: Alice VanBuren’s class (kindergarten – 46 pounds), Kim Walley’s class (first grade – 100 pounds), Jodie Day’s class (third grade – 51 pounds), Crystal Wood’s class (fourth grade – 62 pounds), and Judy Ogden’s class (fifth grade – 39 pounds).
The PM UPK (36 pounds) and Debe Cole’s class (14 pounds) will each receive ice cream treats.
The last time the school collected more than 1,000 pounds was in 2013.
The event started in 1998. Townsend Elementary has collected 22,191 pounds of pennies during its 22 years, which comes out to more than $36,000 donated.