SPARE CHANGE FOR A GOOD CAUSE

Our Lady Of Fatima Academy Holds Nickel Run

BY ROSALIA RIPULLO

QUARTERS, NICKELS, PENNIES or Dimes? For Our Lady of Fatima Academy’s (OLF) recently held its inaugural Nickle Run, nickels were the “pay” to go.

The Nickel Run is OLF’s version of the popular Jog-a-Thon, where students run laps on campus to raise funds for school projects.

OLF’s goal was to raise money for new physical education equipment – and have some fun doing it.

“Lynee’s number one objective was to have the students run in a fun event,” said school principal Brett Minter of his colleague, Lynee West, the school’s physical education teacher.

“We raised over $1000,” he added, “And that was all nickels!”

Over 20,000 nickels to be precise.

Minter and West had also decided to pay it forward and donate a portion of the proceeds to local organization Kids Around the World (KATW), which repurposes old playground equipment for other schools in need.

KATW has built 24 playgrounds this year alone, and overall, the organization has built over 1000 playgrounds in 64 countries.

The Nickel Run followed the school’s major fundraising gala and Golf Ball Drop held earlier this year.

Because of this, West wanted to make May’s Nickel Run more fun and lighter for the students, and not have them seek sponsors for the run. Instead, families contributed whatever amount they liked.