It’ll take more than the cracking open of a few piggy banks to reach their goal but the three children of a local family are undeterred.
Wes and Anita Harder’s children, Zach, 9, Hayley, 8, and Clayton, 9, are hoping to raise 100,000 pennies by April to aid underprivileged kids in Cambodia.
Clayton said they’ve started calling on others to help them reach their ambitious goal.
“We’ve asked our friends and we’ve started a blog,” he said.
The Harder family has given their fundraising initiative a name, the Powerful Penny Project 2011, and Anita explained it all stems from a trip to Cambodia her husband took a couple of years ago.
“Wes went to Cambodia and while he was there, the kids and I were talking about what we could do for the kids living in a garbage dump that he’d told us about,” the mother of three recalled. “We decided that we had lot of pennies and we thought pennies would probably make a bigger difference in Cambodia than they do in Canada. That was a couple of years ago and we kind of forgot about it. We’ve been supporting some causes there but we hadn’t done anything with the pennies until we decided that we were going to back to Cambodia this spring as a family.”
The 100,000 pennies, which equates to $1,000, the family hopes to gather are going to an organization called the Joy Club. They’re volunteers who come once a week from a local Cambodian church to an empty lot bordering a dump in the city of Phnom Penh. During these visits children living in squalor in and around the landfill get to play with volunteers and receive food, basic medical care and hygiene products.
All three Harder children attend Heritage Heights School and Zach said some of his classmates were eager to get involved with the fundraiser.
“Once my friends knew about it they started looking in their houses for pennies,” he said. “They told me they really wanted to help the kids living in a dump.”
Hayley, a Grade 3 student, said the students in her class have also jumped on board with the encouragement of her teacher Mrs. Park.
“I have a bucket in my class and people can drop their pennies in it,” she said.
The Harders made it clear all the money they’re raising is going to benefit Cambodian children. They are covering all of their own expenses for their upcoming trip to the country this April. While they’re in Cambodia the family hopes to help with the construction of a roof at the site of the Joy Club meeting place so the children and volunteers can stay dry during the rainy season.
Zach said he has a good idea of what to expect during his visit to Cambodia.
“I am expecting to see lots of water and it is probably going to be very hot,” he said.
The boy admitted he wants to try eating snake while in the Southeast Asian country and all three children said they are looking forward to the chance to ride in the a three wheel taxi-cab known as a Tuk Tuks.
The Harders are welcoming any community support possible to help them get to 100,000 pennies before April. Checkout their blog at www.powerfulpenny.blogspot.com or e-mail them at [email protected]
