The following announcements can be used each day to help keep students motivated and engaged in Pennies for Patients or Olive Garden's Pasta for Pennies. Be sure to add any specific details about upcoming fun fundraising events and classroom results.

Week 1

Monday: Today, our school joins 25,000 schools nationwide in the Pennies for Patients/Olive Garden's Pasta for Pennies. For the next few weeks, we will help people who are sick with blood cancers like leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. All you have to do is collect coins and other donations and put them in your classroom's collection box. Remember that every penny counts! Our school goal is to raise $_____. Does your classroom have a goal?

Tuesday: Do you know what blood cancer is? It is a disease that occurs in the blood. Our blood is made up of three types of cells: red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. Blood cancer crowds out the healthy blood cells so they can't do their jobs. Do you know what the treatments for cancer are called? Tune in tomorrow to see if you're correct, and keep those donations coming!

Wednesday: When someone has a blood cancer they have to go through treatment for a long time - sometimes as long as 3 years! Did you know that the treatments for blood cancers are chemotherapy, radiation and bone marrow transplant? Keep up the good work bringing in those coins - together we're making a difference in the fight for a cure!

Thursday: Did you know that the life expectancy of a coin is 30 years? Paper money, like dollar bills, usually only last for 1 ½ years! Coins really add up! The US Mint estimates that there is 13 billion dollars in loose change laying around in America! Check under couch cushions, in the car, in your locker, on the sidewalk and in your family's junk drawer! Thanks for fighting cancer...one penny at a time!

Friday: At the end of our first week of Pennies for Patients/Olive Garden's Pasta for Pennies, we have raised $_____. Mrs./Mr. _____ classroom has taken the lead with $_____. Give yourselves a pat on the back and keep on collecting with our weekend challenge! This weekend, think of the year that you were born and try to find coins made in that year! Bring them back to your classroom to show your teacher and put them into your Pennies box.

Week 2

Monday: Today we start our second week of Pennies for Patients/Olive Garden's Pasta for Pennies. I hope you brought in all the coins you found over the weekend! Last week we raised $_____ to help cure cancer, and this week we want to do it again! Do you think it will take a long time to fill your box? Let's see if your class can be the first one.

Tuesday: Do you know which US Presidents are on the penny, nickel, dime and quarter? Presidents Lincoln, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Washington are on our coins. In 2009, the penny got a one-year, four-coin commemorative program marking the 100th anniversary of Lincoln being placed on the cent and the 200th anniversary of his birth. Keep those coins coming for

Wednesday: Did you know that the money you are raising will help fund research? In medicine, research means the careful study of a disease with the goal of finding a cure. Your donations will help fund 480 researchers in 15 different countries on five continents! Since its founding in 1949, the Society has invested more than $600 million for research specifically targeting leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma.

Thursday: Did you know that around 2 billion pennies would be needed to make a line of pennies around the Earth? Last year, students across the country raised over $26 million dollars. Stacked on top of one another, that's enough pennies to make it around the world 1.3 times!

Friday: Congratulations on another great week with Pennies for Patients/Olive Garden's Pasta for Pennies. As of today, we have raised $_____! Here's the weekend challenge: Where was your money made? Each coin shows the letter of the city where it was minted, "D" for Denver, "P" for Philadelphia, and "S" for San Francisco. How many can you find of each? Collect as many as you can from each location and bring them to your classroom's Pennies box!

Week 3

Monday: This is it: Only one week to go with our Pennies for Patients/Olive Garden's Pasta for Pennies campaign, and every coin makes a difference! Remember, _____'s class is currently in the lead, and the top fundraising classroom has a chance to win a pasta party. This week, challenge yourself to talk to two people like an older sister, an uncle , or a grandparent, about Pennies for Patients/Olive Garden's Pasta for Pennies. Who knows, maybe that person will decide to donate a few dollars for you to bring back to your classroom's box!

Tuesday: The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's mission is to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma and improve the quality of life of patients and their families. By raising funds, our school helps families who need LLS's Patient Financial Aid program. Yearly, this can help pay for medicines, the doctor or other treatment-related expenses. How many families will we help through Pennies for Patients/Olive Garden's Pasta for Pennies?

Wednesday: Every four minutes, another child or grown-up will be diagnosed with a blood cancer. Remember, your efforts are helping local kids with cancer and funding research around the world to find cures. The sky is the limit! Did you know that it would take 270 billion pennies stacked up to tower 238,857 miles to the moon! Keep up your great teamwork and generosity with Pennies for Patients/Olive Garden's Pasta for Pennies!

Thursday: George Washington may have been our first President, but he wasn't the first president on a coin. In 1909, President Lincoln appeared on a one-cent coin and became the first real person, and the first president to appear on a US coin.

Friday: Congratulations on a great job with the Pennies for Patients/Olive Garden's Pasta for Pennies campaign! Remember to get any last-minute donations into your classroom box, and we will announce the winning classrooms as soon as we have the totals. You all can feel very proud of yourselves, because with every penny, nickel, dime, quarter, or dollar you donated, you helped save lives of cancer patients! Give yourselves a round of applause!