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Last hurrah for pennies

Funeral chapel collects coins for Free Press charity

By: Kevin Rollason

Posted: 02/28/2013 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

Trevor Hagan / Winnipeg Free Press Olive Fontaine with Free Press' Pennies for Heaven campaign spokesman Kevin Rollason.

THE Canadian Mint stopped making pennies earlier this month, but in Winnipeg the one-cent coin got one final day in the sun Wednesday.

Desjardins Funeral Chapel, at 357 Rue Des Meurons, capped off a month of collecting pennies for the Free Press' Pennies from Heaven fundraiser by holding a final celebration of the copper coin.

"People have been coming here right from the beginning with their pennies," funeral director Lynette Buchanan said Wednesday.

"We've had quite a line of people coming in. We even had the firefighters from the local station come in with their pennies and they parked their fire truck outside.

"We've been in the community for more than 100 years so we had people from the community come here, too."

At a special event on Wednesday, people donating pennies were treated to coffee and cookies while listening to singer Kristjana Hale and pianist Andrew St. Hilaire play pennies-inspired tunes such as Penny Lane and Pennies from Heaven.

Olive Fontaine, who donated a bag of pennies, said she loves supporting worthwhile causes.

"I've been doing it for years," she said.

"My granddaughter gets help so I support other organizations that help others, too."

The Pennies from Heaven campaign is a fundraiser for the Christmas Cheer Board and Winnipeg Harvest, two organizations that address the problem of hunger in the community.

People who still want to donate pennies can pop into the funeral home until Monday. As well, you can fill out a free ballot, which will be drawn on Monday, for a pair of Jets tickets to see Winnipeg play the Boston Bruins March 19.

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition February 28, 2013 B5

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