One doesn’t have to search far to find someone whose life has been affected by cancer.
The spontaneous basketball game fundraiser for Annandale’s Jenny Klein at the high school on Thursday, Feb. 11, was one reminder. Another arrives this weekend with the third annual Relay for Life Winter Luminaria Event at Ney Park.
And up until Friday, Feb. 26, students at Annandale Middle School will be doing their part to help raise funds to support cancer patients through the Pennies for Patients program.
The effort, which began Tuesday, Feb. 16, is part of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Student Series. It is overseen locally by middle school councilor Trina Mastley and the school’s 15-member Student Leadership Team.
"We organize a lot of the events that we do for the fundraiser," said eighth-grader Camryn Reid, referring to special activities like Crush for Crush, rootbear floats at lunch hour and hat days.
"It feels good to do it, knowing that you’re helping other people," said eighth-grader Mitchell Sullivan.
The Crush for Crush fundraiser makes orange pop available to students to purchase for $1 per can along with a card to pass out like Valentines.
"We had some eighth-graders buying whole 12-pack cases, some for themselves and some to give out for friends," said Mastley. "(We may not do that event) next year because of our wellness policy, so we’re going to have to make up for a bunch that way."
Rootbear floats were also available for $1 at lunch on Wednesday, Feb. 10, and the hat days on Friday, Feb. 19 and 26, allow students to pay $1 for a hand stamp that gives them permission to wear a hat in class for the day.
"Part of the significance of the hats is that cancer patients lose their hair and often end up wearing hats. So it goes along with that and recognizes them," said Mastley.
Aside from those special events, members of the Leadership Team are also posted outside the school office with bins to collect money each day, and team members also make announcements during the campaign to highlight activities and update the student body on progress.
The coin collection portion of the campaign has a "Penny Wars" format, where coins placed in a certain grade level’s bin count toward that grade’s overall total, while paper bills placed in the bins for other grades subtracts from their total.
The object is for each grade level to outdo the others, and the overall goal for the school is to raise $1,500.
"It’s kind of a fun thing to do, competing between the grades," said eighth-grade Leadership Team member Andy Gohman.
"It’s also fun to show your school spirit," said sixth-grade team member Nina Nordstrom.
Pushing $15,000
Since it began participating in the Pennies for Patients effort in 2002, Annandale Middle School has raised a total of $14,718.05.
Last year’s campaign netted $1,050, and the previous year was at $500. The biggest single year of fundraising came in 2011 when the school raised nearly $2,265.
The school’s goal for fundraising has been at $1,500 since about 2011, but the campaign has only reached that ambitious plateau in four of its 14 total years.
"It’s always a challenge," said Mastley, who is in her first year at Annandale but did run the campaign at her previous school for five years. "I did change it a little bit because I’m trying to get that competitive spirit to come out. Last year they didn’t reach their goal, so I’m hoping that this year by just tweaking it a little bit we might get (the students) a little bit more involved."
As of Thursday, Feb. 18, campaign proceeds from the Crush for Crush feature and the rootbeer floats were higher than the previous year, so the 2016 effort was off to a good start.
Student involvement
The school’s Students Stepping Up group ordinarily oversees the Pennies for Patients campaign, but this year SSU had several other events in February and wasn’t able to tackle the project.
As a result, Mastley stepped in on short notice and has been ably supported by the leadership group.
"Leadership Team doesn’t get to do many activities. They get to help make a lot of choices in the school, but activity-wise they don’t get to participate in much besides their fifth-grade presentations," said Mastley. "So (Principal Tim) Prom thought this would be a good activity for them to be a part of when I asked if I could use them as my helpers for it."
With little time to prepare, Mastley said the students helped decide the Penny Wars format, the competition between grades rather than classrooms, and much more.
"These kids are really good about being on top of stuff, which is nice," she said. "They’ll (remind me of things). It’s not always so chaotic. Normally I have a month to prepare this stuff, and this year I had a week to look through everything. That’s not enough time when I’m trying to figure out what to do, so they’ve been really helpful."
The students will also determine the reward for the winning grade and, if the school meets its $1,500 goal, what to do for the school-wide reward. While the school will receive a plaque if it reaches that total, the students’ own incentives have not yet been determined.
In addition to the students already named above, the Leadership Team includes sixth-graders: Alicia Henson, Joe Bowman, Lizzy O’Brien and Trinity Klimek; seventh-graders Emma Fashant, Brianna O’Brien and Lily Conte; and eighth-graders Josie Burd, Jack Magrum, Lauren Meidinger, Zach Okerman and Kelly Landa.
■ Anyone who might wish to contribute to the school’s Pennies for Patients campaign can do so on its online giving page at http://events/lls.org/pages/mn/annandalemiddleschool.