Faith Christian Academy students collect 37,827 Pennies for the Poor
(Talk of the Town photos by Jennifer Zartman Romano) Above, basket of soft toys and books was assembled by third and fourth graders eager to raise funds for their Pennies for the Poor project to help earthquake victims in Haiti. Below, baskets, baked goods and more were available for sale by Faith Christian Academy students last weekend at their annual dinner in Columbia City. In all, students collected 37,827 pennies.
By Jennifer Zartman Romano
Faith Christian Academy students felt a special bond with friends in Haiti and were driven to help the victims of the Haiti earthquake with their student-led fundraiser, Pennies for the Poor. 
Faith Christian Academy teacher, Jean Graham, and her husband, Jeff, recently returned to Indiana after serving with the CSI orphanage there. A medical clinic, also run by CSI, is very close to the orphanage.
Knowing about the Graham's experiences in Haiti, and because the students have had Haiti as their chapel mission project this year, the students wanted to do something to help. Karen Van Voorst, a Faith Christian Academy teacher, helped the students organize a craft/bake sale held during the annual FCA fish fry & tenderloin dinner held last weekend.
The whole school got involved in the fundraiser! The preschoolers made pinecone bird feeders. The kindergarten class made original cookbooks (and some of the recipes are priceless). The first & second grade, and middle school made items for a bake sale. Van Voorst’s 3rd & 4th grade class made baskets filled with books, stuffed animals and knitted items.
"Almost all of the items sold – and best of all, the incredible amount of 37,827 pennies was raised," said school administrator Rev. Larry Schmoekel. "That’s $ 378.27. What a joy to see this amount go directly to provide aid to those who have real needs."