Students find that a penny saved may save a life

Students at Hilton Head Island International Baccalaureate Elementary School will be helping children with cancer, a year after one of their own was stricken by the disease.

Beginning Monday, the school will collect change for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's "Pennies for Patients" program.

The money raised will go toward research to find cures for leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. All three are types of blood cancers.

The idea to participate in the project came partly from Henry Cermak, who attended the school last year and now attends Hilton Head Island Middle School. Henry continues to suffer from ependymoma, a type of brain cancer.

School nurse Ann Filizzi said the project will give students who know Henry a feeling of accomplishment.

"It gives them a sense of being able to help," she said. "A lot of times they feel helpless in a situation like this."

Stefanie Burns, school office manager, said each of the school's 42 classrooms will have a collection jar. The school will also collect pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters on specific days. The program will continue for three weeks.

Cynthia Cermak, Henry's mother, was touched that Hilton Head IB would take part in a project to help so many children. She said the school community was very supportive of Henry when he was a student there.

"Pennies for Patients" is a nationwide program. Last year, 400 schools and more than 250,000 students in South Carolina alone raised $530,000.