Students in the Crosby-Ironton School District have been busy this month collecting change for a good cause. Students are participating in a penny war to see which grade collects the most money to donate to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

The penny war, a part of Pennies For Patients, is an annual tradition in the Crosby-Ironton School District.

“We’ve actually been doing the Pennies For Patients for a very long time, back since I can remember. I remember doing it even in elementary school. It’s kind of just a tradition that we’ve been carrying on for the years,” said Michaela Stangel, Crosby-Ironton Student Council President

Students in every grade in the school district are collecting money, all of which will be donated to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

“The pennies for patients program is a fundraiser that is nationwide that asks school districts to donate money to patients with leukemia or lymphoma to be paying for those treatments,” explained Katherine Thoennes, Crosby-Ironton Student Council Advisor.

The student council at the high school spearheads Pennies For Patients.

“The student council decided to take this on because it’s really important and there are a lot of people, especially children our age and younger, affected by leukemia,” said Marlee Zender, student council member.

Classes at Crosby-Ironton High School have set goals for each grade.

“We do a grade-wide competition kind of thing to get people incentive,” Stangel said.

“Our goal is to raise $350 per grade, so if each grade reaches their $350 we get a prize chosen by the class,” Zender explained.

At the elementary school, the penny war offers a fun way for students to donate.

“What we do for penny wars is if you were to have pennies or a dollar bill of any sort then that adds points to your classroom,” said Cuyuna Range Elementary School fifth grader Kylie.

Pennies dropped in your own class bucket count towards your points, while silver coins dropped in other class’ buckets detract from their point total.

“You can pick any classroom that’s on your level of the floor and you go and dump that into their bucket,” added fifth grader Emma.

While the penny war is fun, the students are happy to be donating to a good cause.

“It’s really helpful for the kids that need the help,” added Alyssa who is also in fifth grade.

“It’s just a good cause. We’re not doing it for anything else but to raise money for it. Sure, it may be fun, but the whole point of it is to actually raise the money,” said Kylie.

Over 29,000 schools across the country participate in the Pennies For Patients program for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society every year.

By — Rachel Johnson

Lakeland News Lead Reporter