Scouts Collecting a Mile of Pennies to Benefit CVIM

BOALSBURG — Cub Scout Pack 380 in Boalsburg is collecting a mile of pennies to raise funds for Centre Volunteers in Medicine.

How many pennies are in a mile? Assistant cubmaster Kevin Bender did the math to find out.

“If you lay pennies out right next to each other, it takes 16 pennies to make a foot,” said Bender. “There are 5,280 feet in a mile. Sixteen pennies (multiplied by) 5,280 equals 84,480 pennies — $844.80,” said Bender.

“One of the lessons to be learned from this fundraiser is math.”

Bender has been involved with Cub Scout Pack 380 for 30 years, beginning when his son joined. He wanted to find a fundraising idea the pack hadn’t tried before and one that offered lessons for the cub scouts.

He saw the penny fundraiser idea in one of his old books, “More Tracking Yesterday” by Ted Fenstermacher. In one chapter, at the Sugarloaf Township Junior High School in Luzerne County, a contest was held for the class of 1929 to raise money for school equipment by collecting a mile of pennies.

Bender realized that the fundraiser could help the scouts learn about history because of the different years on the coins.

“We received an 1898 penny,” he said. “I asked the kids what was going on then — the Spanish-American War.

“We got 11 rolls of steel pennies from 1943,” he continued. “That was during World War II.”

Cub Scout Pack 380 started the fundraiser in March 2022. Bender anticipates that they may reach their goal in November, which can seem like a long time for kids.

“I’m teaching the kids that you don’t quit,” Bender said. “Keep at it. In for a penny, in for a pound. We’re not going to quit until we reach our goal.”

He personally has collected 31 percent of the pennies they need and will find out how many the whole pack has at the September meeting. He’s promised the scouts a pizza party to celebrate when they hit their goal.

Bender decided to build a triangular display frame for the rolls of pennies so the pack could easily see their progress. He started by making a smaller, working model using wooden 2-by-4s that held 10 percent of the rolled pennies. Then he built the full-size frame with three 48-inch sides, a backing and a platform.

“The bottom row holds 63 rolls of pennies,” he said. “When we get up to row 27, we’ve reached our goal.

“Everything was made is out of recycled goods, so the fundraiser will teach the Cub Scouts to recycle,” he continued.

People asked him why he was doing a coin fundraiser during a coin shortage. He said he checked with his bank. Staff there told him there was a shortage of quarters, but there are plenty of pennies in circulation.

Bender is a military veteran and retired nurse who works full-time at Ace Hardware in State College.

“Our store manager, Grant Rosenberger, is very supportive and thinks it’s great,” Bender said. “He’s very community-minded. Anybody can bring in pennies to Ace Hardware anytime.

“A lot of the time with fundraisers, people ask for ten or twenty dollars,” he said. “We’re just asking for your pennies.”

This story appears in the July 21-27, 2022 edition of The Centre County Gazette