Coupeville students send change to Haiti

Students at Coupeville schools are spending their days collecting spare change to help the victims of the earthquake in Haiti.

Several students at Coupeville Middle and High School are spending their lunches passing a large collection jar around.

“The kids wanted to do something to help out after the earthquake,” teacher Terry Welch said of her students who organized the fundraiser. Coincidentally, she said her seventh-graders had learned about earthquakes in the last month.

“It feels good doing it,” seventh-grader Ella Brooks said. She spent her lunches walking around the school’s commons area collecting change from classmates. Sarah Bishop also helped by making posters that were scattered through the schools.

Haiti was hit by a magnitude 7.0 earthquake that devastated the poor, island nation Jan. 12, killing thousands.

As of Monday the students had collected more than $1,079 through the coin drive, staff donation and candy cane sales from an advisory class over the past week and their fundraiser ends Tuesday. Welch said the money will be divided between Doctors without Borders and the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund.

In addition, students at Coupeville Elementary School are holding a penny drive through Feb. 13 that has been organized by the school’s ASB, Principal Fran McCarthy said.

She said Whidbey Island Bank donated piggy banks that were placed into each classroom to collect the spare change.

Once the fundraiser is complete, the school will donate the money to the Red Cross, McCarthy said.

Contact Whidbey News Times Staff reporter Nathan Whalen at nwhalen@whidbeynewsgroup.com or 360-675-6611 ext. 5058.

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