It took more than a week for three Langley Secondary School students to count the hundreds of pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters collected in their fall semester for the Langley Food Bank.
In total, $426 was raised by Grade 10 students Shannon Walker, Alanna Bennett and Darien MacKay for the World Food Day inspired fundraiser.
Twice a week the students, who are school ambassadors for the Food For Famine Society, would walk from classroom to classroom with a large water cooler bottle to collect spare change from their fellow students.
The idea is to raise awareness of hunger and poverty on both a local and a global scale.
The penny drive started out as a fundraiser to coincide with the World Food Day event held by the Food For Famine Society at the Langley Events Centre in October, but the students decided to continue it until their Christmas break.
LSS, one of many schools to hold penny drives for the Langley Food Bank, has a “special place” in the heart of Maria Martini, founder of Food For Famine Society. It was the first school to host the World Food Day event.
Now in its fourth year, the event has grown to incorporate more than 1,500 students from schools across Langley.