R-3 Elementary participates in Pennies for Patients

On January 9-27 Adrian R-3 PK-5th grade students participated in the Pennies for Patients Program. This program helps to raise funds for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Each student received a collection box to take home to collect whatever spare change they wanted. The students brought the money they had collected to the classroom and totaled it every week. A goal of $500.00 was set for the school and it was surpassed with a total of $1,549.75. The 4th grade in three classes collected over $700.00. The class who collected the most will receive a pizza party and also a gift card that can be used for supplies for their class. The Adrian Bank counted and totaled all money collected.

The LLS Mission: The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society is the world’s largest voluntary health organization dedicated to funding blood cancer research and providing education and patient services. They offer a wide variety of programs and services in support of the mission: Cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma and improve the quality of life of patients and their families. To become an advocate for blood cancer patients and their families in your community, visit the LLS website:www.lls.org.

In the United States, more than 12,000 children under the age of 21 are diagnosed with cancer every year; approximately 3,000 of them will not survive the disease. The leukemiea represented 27 percent of all cancers occurring among children younger than 20 from 2001-2005. Leukemies are the most common cancers in children younger than 18, and they cause more deaths than any other cancer among children and young adults under 20. Last year, about 497 children under 15 were expected to die from leukemia.