Buda kids make change with Pennies for Peace

Posing with their coin-filled “Pennies for Peace” containers are Buda Elementary students (back, left to right) Dani Salinas, Bryce Moseley; (front, left to right) Avery Borrel, Brayden Moseley. (Photo by Jayne Baker)

by JAYNE BAKER
Special to the Hays Free Press

Buda Elementary School ended the year on a caring note. Students collected pennies to benefit other kids in countries like Pakistan and Afghanistan. Some Buda kids heard about Greg Mortenson this year. His books Three Cups of Tea and Stones into Schools advocate building schools as a way to bring peace to the world.

Even the author’s daughter Amira has been an inspiration since she was a kid herself. On her YouTube video, she relates the history of her dad’s efforts and explains that it has always been children who understand the need to care about others. It was kids from Amira’s paternal grandmother’s school who donated the first pennies in this project. Mortenson was the principal and the project was then called “Pennies for Pakistan.”

Buda kids decorated recycled containers and placed them all over campus. Posters, sidewalk art and school-wide announcements helped educate the Buda community about the Pennies for Peace project. Some kids donated a few coins. Others brought in large collections that had been saved for a long time, originally for other purposes.

The heavy collection translated into $400, which has been mailed to author Mortenson. The world has gotten a little smaller for the kids at Buda Elementary and, perhaps, a little more peaceful.