What’s A Penny Worth in La Verne?

Pennies for Peace was founded by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin, authors of Three Cups of Tea.

The students at Oak Mesa Elementary School have joined hands with tens of thousands of other school children around the world who share the vision and dedication to empower communities through education in remote areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan.  Oak Mesa students are embarking on a Pennies for Peace campaign to broaden their cultural horizons and become members of a global family dedicated to peace.

How can one penny bring peace?  It doesn’t buy much in La Verne.  But in villages in Pakistan and Afghanistan, it can buy a pencil, start an education, and transform a life.  In a region where terrorist organizations recruit uneducated, illiterate children, that pencil can empower a child to read, write, and learn.  The Pennies for Peace program goal is to encourage children, who are ultimately our future leaders, to learn the value of philanthropy by collecting pennies for global peace.

Oak Mesa students will have an opportunity to study the cultures of Afghanistan and Pakistan, learn to work and share together in their Pennies for Peace campaign, and come to understand their own capacity as philanthropists-one penny at a time.

The campaign at Oak Mesa will run from January 18th and culminate on February 11, 2011 with a Jump for Peace activity day and celebration.

The pennies that Oak Mesa students collect can add up to make a real difference.

1 penny = a pencil

2-3 pennies = an eraser

15 pennies = one notebook

$20 = one child’s school supplies for one year

$50 = one treadle sewing machine and supplies

$100 = maternal healthcare supplies for one year

$300 = one advanced student’s annual scholarship

$600 = one teacher’s annual salary

$5,000 = support for existing year for one year

$50,000 = one school building and support for up to five years

About Pennies for Peace

The Pennies for Peace campaign is a program of Central Asia Institute (CAI), founded by Greg Mortenson, author of the #1 New York Times best seller, Three Cups of Tea. CAI is a registered 501 ( c )3