Making a Difference

It’s easy to doubt that old saying:  one person can make a difference in the world.  Questioning our ability to act, also makes it easier for us to sit on our hands and do nothing for those outside our comfort zone.

But one man, Greg Mortenson, has veered way off course into the remotest corners of Asia to help educate some of the world’s poorest children. Since 1993, CAI (Central Asia Institute), founded by Mortenson and its main philanthropist Jean Hoerni, has erected 78 schools and raised the  dismal number of children receiving an education in Pakistan and Afghanistan to 7.2 million. (see May 22 & 23 posts for additional information.)

The Pennies for Peace program, a component of CAI, allows children, to be active participants in the creation of global peace. Here’s how we instituted the program at our church.

1. Find a presenter who can speak comfortably to a group of people.

We chose a retired, middle-school teacher who introduced the fund raising campaign by using the children’s picture book, Listen to the Wind. A group of children, ages 4-9, heard the story of Mortenson’s struggle to build the Korphe school and were fascinated by the imaginative illustrations of  Susan Roth.

Using a power-point presentation, the same speaker challenged the entire congregation to join the campaign.

2. Supply banks for the children to take home – an empty International Coffee container works well. It’s relatively easy to create a slot in the red plastic lid with an exacto knife. The web site, www.penniesforpeace.org, yields a variety of free, downloadable resources for use with any group.

Our International Coffee banks were decorated with two stickers: the Pennies for Peace logo and the clip art shown at the right.

Parents reported that their kids were having a blast searching for pennies under sofa cushions, picking up lost coppers from the sidewalk and even raiding their own piggy banks.

3. Place the Pennies for Peace logo on a large collection jar. ( Sam’s Club cheese ball or pretzel containers work well).

When the individual banks have reached capacity, your junior philanthropists can empty theirs  into the bigger container at church and start collecting again.

A similar jar should be placed in an area easily accessible to all congregation members for their contributions.

4. Decide the length of time to run your campaign. We chose the three summer months, because children return to ‘school’ at the end of summer vacation. Don’t forget to remind people frequently about the ongoing campaign.

5. Take your accumulated coins to your local bank and have them counted in their coin machine or better yet schedule a penny-counting party.
Write a check to Pennies for Peace (or the bank can make a cashier’s check).
Send it to Pennies for Peace, P.O. Box 7209, Bozeman, MT 59771.

Few of us can travel to the remotest corners of the world like Greg Mortenson, but we can make a difference in the lives of the children on the other side of the globe.

Who will you challenge?