Common Cents Mission: Common Cents, creator of the Penny Harvest, nurtures a new generation of caring and capable young people between the ages of four and 24 by enabling them to strengthen their communities through philanthropy and service-learning.

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BRIGHTON ELEMENTARY OPERATE “LONGTABLE”
By Dennis Raymond, Brighton Elementary Penny Harvest Coach
 
In 2006 Brighton Elementary School’s Penny Harvest Leaders named thier roundtable the “Brighton Longtable.”  (“How can we call ourselves a roundtable when we are meeting at a long table?” they explained.)

In 06/07 the focus of Penny Harvest Seattle was to shift away from the singular cause of homelessness to the broader field of youth philanthropy, so we asked students to look not just at homelessness but also at the full range of social needs in the community.  The Brighton Longtable students worked for six hours to discuss what they felt were pressing needs in their neighborhoods and to determine which ones they should concentrate on. They felt their school should support organizations that provide job training, emergency shelter, assistance with rent, free daycare and foster child assistance.  The recipient agencies were Treehouse, FPA’s Emergency Shelter program, Central Area Motivation Program (CAMP) and the Church Council’s Homelessness Project.

Each of the school's Penny Harvest Leaders “adopted” one of the recipients.  A school-wide assembly was held in May.  Representatives from each one of the four agencies attended.  Representatives of the five businesses that partnered with the school in running the Penny Harvest were also invited and two of them were able to be there.  The Longtable students presented checks to the agencies’ representatives, and a short description of their roles in providing social services was explained to the attendees.

Mike Beebe, the Penny Harvest Program Director, told the attendees about the program’s presence in our community since 1992 and of Brighton’s involvement since 1995.  The event was a celebration of Brighton’s students, staff and business partners, who all banded together to help our community.

Dennis Raymond is the Community Relations Coordinator at Brighton Elementary. He has coordinated the Penny Harvest there for 10 years.

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