BG Schools wage penny war to raise money for Hometown Heroes banner recognizing veterans – BG Independent News

A penny war was waged at Bowling Green City Schools last week to support the veterans banners displayed on street light poles throughout the city.

When the jars of coins (and some dollars) were counted, the elementary schools were declared winners in the penny war. The middle school secured second place and the high school secured third place.

The real winner, however, is the Bowling Green Community Foundation’s Hometown Heroes banner program, which recognizes Bowling Green veterans. Nearly $3,000 was raised to establish an endowment fund to maintain and preserve the current Hometown Hero banners and support future banners throughout the city.

The funds raised will be officially presented to a BG Community Foundation representative next month as part of each school’s Veterans Day program.

Points in the Penny War were earned through donations at each school. The Kiwanis Key Club, Builders Club and K-Kids in each school building coordinated the district-wide event.

Each school had differently labeled buckets where students could place pennies and bills into their own school buckets to earn positive points. You could also throw silver coins into the other school buckets to give demerit points to the other school buildings.

The idea for the Penny War came from Pat Carney, the middle school teacher who organizes the Veterans Day programs each year, and Marcia Latta, president of the Bowling Green Community Foundation.

It was decided that the Penny War would be a great way to bring together the students, community and local veterans who would be honored at each school’s Veterans Day programs in November. A large check will be prepared by BG Schools and presented to the BG Community Foundation at all five Veterans Day programs so students can see the result of their efforts.