Two French clubs hold coin drive to raise money for Haiti

Nelson County students are reaching out a helping hand.

The French clubs of Nelson County High School and Nelson County Middle School French are holding a two-week coin drive to help raise money for charitable organizations helping with the relief and recovery effort in earthquake-devastated Haiti.

On Jan. 12, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit Haiti, causing catastrophic devastation throughout the country, especially in the capital city of Port-au-Prince.

Sarah Ponton, a foreign language teacher for the high school and the middle school, said the idea came up as a learning experience for her students who study Haiti in their French language classes. Haitians speak a French creole language.

“It is a big teaching moment as far as French-speaking countries go,” Ponton said. “Everyone has gotten pretty riled up about (the fundraiser.)”

The coin drive will start this week and extend for the next two weeks. The money will go to help Doctors Without Borders, UNICEF, Help the Children and the Red Cross, Ponton said.

“We just wanted to do our part,” she said. “Every little piece can help.”

Ponton said the middle school students have challenged the high school students to see who can raise the most money during the drive. The school that raises the most money will have the opportunity to see pies thrown in the faces of school administrators and teachers.

The pies will be thrown at the teachers and administrators in front of the entire student body for each school during an assembly, Ponton said. She was one of the high school teachers who volunteered for the pie event.

To raise more money, students can submit their name in a drawing for a $1 donation for an opportunity to personally throw a pie at each teacher and administrator participating.

“The kids at NCHS are getting quite excited about ‘getting us’ and seeing pie on our faces,” Ponton said.

Students and faculty aren’t the only ones who can donate money to the coin drive. Ponton said anyone who would like to contribute can send it to her at the high school.

Rockfish River Elementary School in Afton also is helping to raise money for Haiti relief.

The students are holding a coin drive, said Hannah Matthews, a third-grade teacher at the school. That money will be donated to a charitable organization called Partners for Health.

Matthews said the organization started as a rural health outreach effort in Haiti and has been established in the country for more than 20 years.

“They’ve been there before the earthquake and they’re going to be there after the earthquake,” she said.

Matthews said that she and the other teachers and faculty members involved thought having a coin drive to raise money would be a good opportunity to teach the students about other places in the world and compassion.

“We just want to help people and have the kids learn about what they can do,” Matthews said. “Everyone has been really excited about doing it. I think it’s going to be a really good experience.”

Matthews and the other teachers set a goal for the coin drive of $500. In the first two days, however, they raised more than $350.

“We counted money for awhile,” she said. “I have no doubt we’re going to reach our goal.

The Rockfish River Elementary School coin drive will end on Feb. 13. Matthews set up a Web site at http://act.pih.org/page/outreach/view/haitiearthquake/rres for others to be able to donate to the drive as well.