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Brunner Elementary students collect “Pennies for Lorin”
By Tammy Walro
Press Staff Writer
twalro@presspublications.com
It was a fundraising drive that just made “ cents ” – lots and lots of “ cents. ”
Students at Brunner Elementary School in Genoa recently participated in a fundraising effort for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, in honor of Lorin Grimes, a first-grader in Angie Jimerson’s class.
Lorin has cystic fibrosis, an inherited chronic disease that affects the lungs and digestive system of about 30,000 children and adults in the United States. According to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, the disease is marked by a defective gene and its protein product that cause the body to produce mucus that clogs the lungs and leads to life-threatening lung infections and obstructs the pancreas and stops natural enzymes from helping the body break down and absorb food.
“ Our class is very aware that before Lorin can eat even a
snack she needs to go to the office to take enzymes to aid in digestion, ” Jimerson
said.
On May 3, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation held its Great Strides walk to raise money and awareness of the disease.
“ Lorin's mom talked to me about a month or two before about sending in information about the event to the class, ” Jimerson said. “ As we talked, we decided that as a class, we would have our own mini CF walk in Lorin’s honor the day before the actual event. ”
When Jimerson spoke with Principal Brenda Murphy about the class holding the walk at the school, the principal suggested opening the event up to the entire school.
Jimerson then arranged for all the classes to have a container and information to collect “ Pennies for Lorin ” during the week of April 28 through May 2. The collection would end with a walk around the school, which was rescheduled for May 5 because of rain.
“ The response was overwhelming, ” Jimerson said. “ At the end of the week, and a couple days after, we collected a total of $1,141.58 to give to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation in Lorin's honor. ”
The winning class, Mrs. Paeth’s kindergarten class, was rewarded with an ice cream party for collecting $186.44.
“ One little girl in the class brought in 12,000 pennies on her own, which she collected at her family birthday party the weekend before, ” Jimerson said.
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