Pennies for PAWS is one way of keeping donations within the community.
Students at Ripon Unified’s Colony Oak Elementary School did just that during their fundraising efforts held last week.
They spent four days – April 19 through April 23 – collecting money to the Ripon Animal Shelter.
Pennies for PAWS – an acronym for People, Animals, Wildlife & Shelters – was selected for the schoolwide endeavor by the Colony Oak Student Council members.
“We wanted to keep it local,” said Council President Claire Morris on Monday.
That same morning, the Colony Oak community consisting of Principal Cheryl Griffiths and Student Council Advisor / Librarian Amy McPeak donated the proceeds to the local animal shelter in care of the Ripon Police Department.
The $5,000 contribution along with bags of dog and cat food.
Griffiths applauded the efforts of her students in completely raising that large sum of money during the Pennies for PAWS campaign.
“I posted a video (of what we were doing) and asked money for a lot of family members,” said Colony Oak third-grade student Jordan Breuning, who was among the Top 3 collectors in the fundraiser. The others were first grader Kinley Pfarr and sixth grader Jayleigh Haslett.
In the past, Colony Oak has conducted previous fundraisers such as Pennies for Patients, which is a program designed to engage all students with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, according to McPeak.
As for Pennies for PAWS, McPeak noted” “We had a coin war between classrooms and also had bring in donated for the shelter.”