As part of the Common Cents Penny Harvest — a nationwide program designed to empower children to donate to causes they care about — fifth graders at Sacred Heart Elementary School in Lincoln Heights recently collected $916 in pennies.

Pictured, Cesar Armendariz (center right), accepts the check for White Memorial Medical Center from fifth grade students (from left) Giselle Duran, Jeanette Almaraz and Jayca Linares.
Photo/Jon Nalick

The USC Civic Engagement program introduced the Penny Harvest program to the school, and fifth graders there worked with undergraduate political science students from USC to determine where to donate their money.

At a school assembly on June 21, the students presented two checks for $458 each to White Memorial Medical Center and to the Alliance for Children’s Rights, which provides no-cost foster care and adoption services to low-income families that want to adopt children.