Fifth graders aim to help the world -- one penny at a time

To help the world in some way Loren Tabbert (right) thought of the "Pennies for Haiti & Red Cross" program for the Kluckhohn Elementray school students to raise money for the local Red Cross Chapter. Jozalyn Jacoba (middle) and Fernanda Rodriguez (left) joined the project because they, too, wanted to help people in need. [Click to enlarge]

And fifth grader Loren Tabbert is the ringleader.

Because of her and six other fifth grade students, each classroom at Kluckhohn contains a square ice cream bucket labled "Pennies for Haiti & Red Cross" to raise money for the the Sioux City Chapter of the Red Cross.

Loren said the idea came to her from her brother's involvement with the Le Mars Community Middle school book and movie sale to raise money for Haiti.

"I wanted to help the world in some way and I saw how much my brother's class raised and I thought my school could do something like that," Lauren said.

Lauren said she explained her idea to her friend, Jozalyn Jacoba, who was also excited about the idea of helping people, and then they brought the idea to Scott Parry, Kluckhohn principal.

"I was very happy that the kids were thinking of something outside our community," Parry said. "I'm proud of the kids for their efforts."

Parry also commended Jennifer Vaske, Parent Teacher Orangization (PTO) treasurer of Kluckhohn, on doing a great job working with Lauren to bring Lauren's idea to life.

To help in the planning of the fundraiser, Vaske has been working with Lauren and six other fifth grade students, who include Jozalyn, Hannah McDougall, Jessica Eisma, Tron Hamilton, Fernanda Rodriguez and Cheyenne McGee.

"The students were moved by the tragedy of Haiti," Vaske said. "But as discussion grew, the group realized that with the recent ice storms, and even local house fires, people are in need everywhere so we decided to give all the money raised to the local chapter of the Red Cross."

One parent donated all the ice cream buckets for the students to decorate and use for collection in each classroom.

"I really just sat back and offered some guidance to them," Vaske said. "The students did all the decorating of the buckets and have given announcements over the school intercom to encourage donations. They're really excited about what they're doing."

The two-week fundraiser ends Friday.

Vaske said she will then tally up the money from each class and give a prize to the class raising the most money.

And the top three classes will receive a certificate displaying the results of their efforts.

Anyone interested in donating to the "Pennies for Haiti & Red Cross" fundraiser can contact Vaske at 548-4755.