HKSB News Release
Penny Harvest Honors Local Non-profits
New York, June, 2007
On June 12th, Helen Keller Services for the Blind was one of four recipients who received a $450.00 donation from Public School 63Q’s Penny Harvest Program.
The Penny Harvest Program is a year-round series of service-learning activities. It starts in October with the Penny Harvest, where students search their homes and neighborhoods for idle pennies and continues in January, where student leaders sit on Philanthropy Roundtables and allocate the money they raised to make grants and fund student led service projects to help their communities.
Roundtable Member Melanie Castillo selected Helen Keller Services for the Blind because of the “work they do to provide services for people of all ages—from babies to seniors.”
The two-hour ceremony was held in the school’s auditorium where the audience included fourth, fifth and sixth graders as well as the school’s principal, Deirdra Graulich, regional superintendent Dr. Kathleen Cashin, local instructional superintendent Dr. Kathleen Lavin and the Penny Harvest Coordinator, Judie Rosen. The members of the Roundtable presented an overview of Helen Keller Services for the Blind’s history and then showed a five minute movie on the services the organization provides today. Assistive Technology instructor Rosemarie Romano, and Deborah Samuelson, Director of Resource Development, accepted the award on Helen Keller Services for the Blind’s behalf.
Other award recipients included Little Brothers-Friends of the Elderly; Bobbi & The Strays and Ronald McDonald House of Long Island. For more information on the Penny Harvest Program, contact Common Centers (the creators of the Penny Harvest Program) at 1-212-PENNIES or info@commoncents.org.
