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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What's New at Common Cents and the Penny Harvest

Colorado Penny Harvest Students have collected $56,342.81 SO FAR!


38 of our Colorado sites have collected $56,342.81 so far and we're still going! This year, 5 schools are participating in a Penny Harvest pilot program, beginning their harvest in January, and depositing in February. The next steps are to identifying issues that their communities care about and interviewing potential organizations that the kids will ultimately deem worthy of their hard-earned money. 
Congratulations to all of the students, teachers, and parents who spent months collecting almost 17 tons of pennies!
Are you an organization wishing to get involved with Penny Harvest? Click on the Organization Tab, then "Organization Profiles" for information on how to fill out an Organization Profile and be featured on our website.

Join the Penny Harvest!

The Penny Harvest is a free, school-based citizenship and leadership service-learning program that integrates with the school calendar.  Students harvest “idle pennies”, use those funds to make micro-grants to nonprofit organizations, and engage in corresponding service projects. Unlike other coin harvesting programs, Penny Harvest gives students total autonomy to decide where the money should go.Currently running in 43 Colorado schools, the program has 3 main phases:

Harvest Pennies (October – December)

Make Grants (January – April)

Volunteer (April – June)

 

To Sign up your school online visit www.pennyharvest.org/signupcolorado

For more information, contact Kelly Hayes at 720-221-9218 or khayes@ypfoundation.org.

Colorado Penny Harvesters have granted more than $100,000 over the past 3 years to nonprofits, schools, and individuals in need!

Between 2007 and 2010, students from across the state gathered $114,675.29 in pennies and made 243 community grants, in addition to completing 39 neighborhood service projects. Find out where they have granted the money under the "Organization" Tab.

 

Penny Harvest Students Grant $52,159.00 to 105 different organizations in 2009/2010!

Roundtable Leaders from 43 Colorado schools spent several months researching community needs, interviewing nonprofit professionals, and making funding decisions on behalf of their entire school. In addition to the 105 organizations funded, several Colorado schools participated in the first-ever National Penny Harvest Disaster Relief Fund to benefit victims of the earthquake in Haiti. Click here for more info: www.PennyHarvest.org/HelpingHaiti

Colorado Schools Harvest $53,178.33 during the 2009/10 Penny Harvest!

43 schools collectively harvested coins for more than 2 months for this year's Penny Harvest. Each school will continue into the Roundtable phase with at least $1,000 for their grant-making budget. Stay tuned to see where the students decide to grant all of that money!

Roxborough Intermediate on TV!

Check out some of the Roxborough Intermediate students and the YPF staff on TV HERE!

 



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Educational programs (like the Penny Harvest!)
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Young Philanthropists Foundation
Young Philanthropists Foundation administers the Penny Harvest in Colorado in coordination with Common Cents

Penny Harvest Colorado
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Home > Penny Harvest > Location > Colorado > Families > Get Involved
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GET INVOLVED
 
Make sure your child's school is a Penny Harvest school.

The Penny Harvest is all about connections, and this is the first one: students and their families connecting to neighbors. Your student and school are in a race to meet the 25-sack challenge! That’s 750 pounds of pennies they need to collect before Thanksgiving, and they need your help!

What is the Penny Harvest?

The Common Cents Penny Harvest grew from one child’s desire to feed the homeless in 1991. Since then children between the ages of four and 14 from New York City, Seattle and The Capital Region, NY, have been converting their natural compassion for others into action by collecting pennies and turning those pennies into grants for community organizations - $5.2 million in grants donated by children since 1991!
 
The Penny Harvest shows young people they have the ability to make the world a better place by introducing them to the power of philanthropy and service during their formative years. As children help others, they develop their generosity and moral character, and they learn through practice the skills and responsibilities of democratic participation.


During the 05/06 school year alone, almost a half million children from 770 New York City schools took part in the Penny Harvest, collecting nearly 190 tons of pennies or $655,508.54. After months of research and study, more than 7,000 children sitting on 521 Philanthropy Roundtables made 1,283 monetary grants to non-profits, such as women’s shelters, local hospitals for children and the elderly, community gardens and senior centers, and carried out 309 Neighborhood Service projects.
 
Get Involved!
  • Harvest pennies door to door with your child (in October and November)
  • Harvest pennies at your workplace to show your child that you support his/her efforts
  • Encourage your child to get involved with the roundtable at his/her school (January)
  • Talk to your child about issues that are important to him/her
  • Take your child on a community walk near your home. Then, talk to your child about the positive and negative things that you saw on your walk (for example, your child might notice trash on the ground). Talk about what your family can do to help.
  • Share with your child about any volunteer or civic activities you do in the community. Are you active at your place of worship? Do you help your neighbors? Donate your time or money? Share with your child why these activities are important to you. If possible, involve your child in your activities.
  • Talk to your child about how he/she might like to get more involved in the community.
  • Tackle small service projects as a family. Just making a card for an elderly neighbor is a great way to begin service and philanthropy in your home.

My Child’s School Does Not Currently Participate

If your child is missing out on all that the Penny Harvest has to offer, such as:
- Increased self-confidence
- A healthier sense of caring and social justice
- The development of superior leadership
- Communication and teamwork skills
- Academic learning

Contact your child’s school principal today and encourage him/her to register the school for the Penny Harvest. Make sure your child’s principal understands that the program is entirely FREE and getting involved only takes a few simple steps.

My Child is a Penny Harvest Leader

Congratulations!  Your child is enjoying a unique leadership opportunity!  Click here for the Penny Harvest Leader Permission Slip and read on to learn how you can harvest together.
 
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Common Cents® and Penny Harvest® are trademarks of Common Cents New York, Inc.

 

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