The Sparwood Lions Club is collecting loose change to raise money for the B.C. Lions Society for Children with Disabilities. Bill Moir with the Sparwood Lions Club explained, “The project was something I dreamt up just in July when I started hearing about the government taking the penny off the market.”
Moir went on to say, “We’re hoping what people will do is if they’ve been hoarding their pennies, rather than pay the bank to take them off their hands, to give them to us.”
There are four outlets in Sparwood that will be collecting pennies, including Kal Tire, Greenwood Florist, A&W, and Lilac Terrace. In addition, Moir will be making himself available to pick up coins directly from people’s homes. The Elkford Lions Club has also come on board and set up collecting cans throughout the community for residents.
The end goal of the project is to raise a sizable donation for a fundraising telethon for the Society for Children that will take place in December. “Timmy’s Telethon is put on in conjunction with the B.C. Lions Society for Children with Disabilities and Shaw Cable in the Vancouver area to raise funds for the Society for Children with Disabilities,” Moir said. “People are solicited while the telethon is on to make donations.
What I would like to do is make one pledge for the valley here and hopefully get all five area clubs involved.”
Also taking part in the fundraising efforts is the East Kootenay Community Credit Union. Both the Sparwood and Fernie locations of the Credit Union will be accepting pennies free of charge and absorbing any additional costs incurred themselves.
Choosing the Society for Children was an easy choice for Moir. He commented, “It is a project that benefits the children. The Society has been around for a lot of years, it was defunct for a short while and Shaw helped revive it again. It seems to be a very good fundraiser and it’s something we can get behind. Most Lions do support the B.C. Society for Children with Disabilities and this is just another way to help support it.”
Moir is encouraging anyone with extra coins, including not only pennies but nickels, dimes, quarters, and loonies, to bring them by a drop off location or give him a call to pick them up at 250-425-9916.
