PENNYWISE 7-YEAR-OLD PUTS COINS TO GOOD USE.Byline: Alicia Doyle Daily News Staff WriterWith help from his mom, 7-year-old Alex Hagen carried a jug full of pennies more than three times his weight to school Thursday to help leukemia leukemia (l  kē`mēə), cancerous disorder of the blood-forming tissues (bone marrow, lymphatics, liver, spleen) characterized by excessive production of immature or mature research. The 5-gallon, 150-pound water bottle was a family affair, filled to the rim with pennies his grandparents grandparents npl → abuelos mpl grandparents grand npl → grands-parents mpl grandparents grand npl have been saving for the past 20 years. The couple began collecting the coins when Alex's great-grandmother died after suffering from leukemia. "I was a little tiny baby when she died," Alex said. The Justin Elementary School elementary school: see school. has been holding a penny drive to raise funds for leukemia research. The drive was Alex's opportunity to put his grandparents' penny-saving to use. The water bottle donation was Alex's grand finale For the music notation program, see . A finale (italian word) is a closing part, act or movement of a dramatic or musical composition, or more generally any event or procedure with a dramatically concluding effect. to the three-week drive by Justin School students - since the fund-raiser began, the boy has carried one to two cloth bags filled with the copper coins to his second-grade class every day. "I brought them in because I didn't want any kids dying of leukemia," said Alex, who gathered the coins from his family. The entire student body has raised roughly $2,000 since the drive began. Alex has contributed $600 of that amount - $400 of which was in the water jug alone. Leukemia is the number one disease killer of children in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. , according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the Leukemia Society of America, Inc. It also kills about 10 times as many adults. School principal Frank Chapman Frank Michler Chapman (June 12, 1864 – November 15, 1945) was a U.S. ornithologist. Chapman was born in West Englewood, New Jersey and attended Englewood Academy. He joined the staff of the American Museum of Natural History in 1888 as assistant to Joel Asaph Allen. said the fund-raiser has helped the children learn the importance of doing something for others. "It's not a fund-raiser for the school, but strictly something they're doing for someone else," Chapman said. "They have learned that leukemia is a very serious and often deadly disease, and that their pennies will go to help find a cure." CAPTION(S): PHOTO Photo (color) Alex Hagen, 7, donated a 150-pound jug of coins to his school's fundraiser. Andy Holtzman/Special to the Daily News |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion