Pennies for Peace

Friends School of Minnesota students are participating in a Pennies for Peace campaign from September 21 (International Day of Peace) to October 27 (United Nations Day). Pennies for Peace is a service-learning program designed to broaden our students’ cultural horizons while teaching them about their capacities as philanthropists – one penny at a time.

Pennies for Peace is a program of Central Asia Institute (CAI), founded by Greg Mortenson – author of the #1 New York times best seller, Three Cups of Tea. CAI is a registered 501(c) 3 nonprofit organization that promotes and provides community-based education and literacy programs, especially for girls, in remote mountain regions of Central Asia.

Founded in 1996, CAI has built, to date, nearly 164 schools in Aghanistan and Pakistan, which serve more than 68,000 students – over 56,000 are girls. At this time they are also running 18 tent schools in refugee areas and areas of disaster. None of CAI schools were harmed in the recent flooding.

How can a penny bring peace? It doesn’t buy much in our community. However, in the villages of Pakistan and Afghanistan, a penny can buy a pencil, start an education, and transform a life. In a region where terrorist organizations recruit uneducated, illiterate children, that pencil can empower a child to read, write, and learn. The Pennies for Peace program goal is to encourage our students, who are ultimately our future leaders, to learn the value of philanthropy by collecting pennies for global peace.