February, 27, 2009
Dear Families of Onekama Elementary,
We
are delighted to share with you that our students will participate in a
Pennies for Peace campaign from March 2 – March 27, 2009. Pennies for
Peace is a service-learning program designed to broaden our students’
cultural horizons while teaching them about their capacities as
philanthropists – one penny at a time.
Pennies for Peace is a program of Central Asia Institute (CAI), founded
by Greg Mortenson – author of the #1 New York Times best seller,
Three Cups of Tea. CAI is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit
organization that promotes and provides community-based education and
literacy programs, especially for girls, in remote mountain regions of
Central Asia. Founded in 1996, CAI has built, to date, nearly 100
schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan, which serve more than 28,000
students – over 14,000 of whom are girls.
How
can a penny bring peace? It doesn’t buy much in our community. However,
in the villages of Pakistan and Afghanistan, a penny can buy a pencil,
start an education, and transform a life. In a region where terrorist
organizations recruit uneducated, illiterate children, that pencil can
empower a child to read, write, and learn. The Pennies for Peace program
goal is to encourage our students, who are ultimately our future
leaders, to learn the value of philanthropy by collecting pennies for
global peace.
Our
students will join tens of thousands of students around the world who
are participating in the Pennies for Peace program and who are working
together to become members of a global family dedicated to peace.
If
you have any questions about our Pennies for Peace campaign, please feel
free to contact me.
Our
students are eagerly looking forward to this new adventure!
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