Ensley Elementary School is a week into this year’s Pennies for Pets fund raiser. It encourages students, staff, parents and the community to bring in or drop off their loose change during the month of September.
The teacher in charge of the campaign is Regina Smolensky. She has been a volunteer at the Pensacola Humane Society for more than 8 years. “I try to go every Saturday and Sunday. Mostly I am a dog-walker, but I will help in any way I can.â€
Six years ago, she got Ensley Elementary School involved with this loose change fund raiser as a service project to help their students learn that even a small contribution made by a lot of people can make a big difference.
They started this in 2008 and each year their total collected has been different: but all together, they have donated over $10,000 to the Pensacola Humane Society. They add a little competition to it by tracking who has brought in more money: students or teachers. They also track classroom totals, and the winning class gets a $25 gift card from Sam’s Club.
Pen Air Federal Credit Union has partnered with the school so that they don’t have to count every coin. Regina takes the money there in a wagon once a week and uses the coin counter at the bank (with no fee charged to them). Last year they raised $1892.61 so this year they hope to match that – or exceed it if at all possible. In the first week, they raised $165.40.
Members of the community who would like to help Ensley Elementary School may drop off contributions any day between 8:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. For more details, please contact Regina Smolensky, Pennies for Pets School Project Coordinator, at 850-494-5600.