This year, Key Club was hoping to raise the stakes for the Pennies for Patients fundraiser which benefits people diagnosed with cancer.

Senior and Key Club president Morigan Hooper explains the main incentive behind the fundraiser.

“The goal of Pennies for Patients is to raise funds for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and to make a difference in the community. It gives everyone a chance to make their mark,” Hooper said.

All students were able to donate any spare change that they had to the fundraiser through their first period classes.

“Everyone [had] a box and we [had] bags with each of the teachers’ names on it which we would collect by the end of each day. We kept those bags together and poured out the change,” Hooper said.

The proceeds were then given to Key Club members by the end of each day who would count out the contributions of each first period class through a detailed process.

“We separated the coins, counted them all out and made sure everything was correct before we wrote down the total of each class on slips of paper. These slips went to the treasurer who wrote down all the totals of each class,” Hooper said.

According to Key Club adviser Jessica Anderson, the first three days of Pennies for Patients was a success.

“In just the first three of collecting, we collected a total of $685.35,” Anderson said.

The last day of the Pennies for Patients fundraiser was Oct. 23.

According to Anderson, the fundraiser raised significantly more proceeds this year than the year before.

“I was really happy with the results. The final amount raised was $1,536.07. [Kristin] Gerhardt’s class raised $370.41 and [Matthew] White’s class raised $359.82. Last year we only raised $545.63 total,” Anderson said.

Anderson explained why she thought the fundraiser was so successful this year compared to the preceding year.

“I think what helped was that we [Key Club members] moved the Pennies for Patients fundraiser to October. Usually we do the fundraiser in April and April is always after the Canned Madness, so students are kind of burnt out from fundraisers. We decided to move it to October when no one else is doing a fundraiser, so that we are not competing with Leadership or HOSA,” Anderson said.

Gerhardt’s class was the largest contributor of money to the fundraiser this year and received the first place price.

“Gerhardt’s class would got, aside from bragging rights for winning first place, doughnuts, juice and milk,” Anderson said.

White’s class, who finished in a close second place to Gerhardt’s class, will also receive a reward.

“White’s class also got doughnuts because they were really close, but they did not get juice or milk and they do not get the title of first place. That happened on Friday, Oct. 30,” Anderson said.