Ramay Junior High School penny drive benefits family shelter

Students from the 2013 Ramay Foreign Language Club pose for a photo after counting proceeds raised during this year’s penny drive.

Courtesy photo

Students at Ramay Junior High School raised $2,100 to benefit Peace at Home Family Shelter and a school program to assist Ramay students in need, officials announced Tuesday.

Each year the Ramay Foreign Language Club sponsors an annual penny drive to benefit a local charity selected by the Club’s members. Homeroom classes are given a container where they can place pennies they collect, as well as other coins and dollar bills. The classes compete to see who can raise the most money during the three-week period between Thanksgiving and Christmas break. Club members collect the donations every two or three days and then count the money during their lunch period. The winning homeroom is rewarded with a pizza party during the last week before Christmas.

The program has raised over $40,000 since it first began in 1991.