ERIK SANZENBACH / L’Observateur / February 2, 2000

LAPLACE – The stray animals of St. John the Baptist Parish will get a littlebit more food and care thanks to the donations of second-graders at LaPlace Elementary School.

On Friday, all four second-grade classes donated 11,600 pennies to the St.

John Humane Shelter. The children had been collecting the pennies forseveral months by asking friends and family and saving their change.

Heidi Hogan, head of the animal shelter, and her associate Cheryl Trigo met all the second-graders in Anita Rodrigue’s classroom to thank the children and answer all their questions about the animals at the shelter.

“The pennies will be used to buy food and medicine for the animals at the shelter, ” Hogan told the students. “This money will help us tremendously.”One of the second-grade teachers, Olga Porteus, said the project was inspired by the new millennium.

“We wanted to do something to celebrate the year 2000,” said Porteus.

Before the money was handed over the students asked Hogan and Trigo about the care and feeding of the animals at the shelter and how to take care of their own pets.

Hogan reminded the children there are lots of animals at the shelter ready for adoption.

Under the weight of a lot of pennies, the classes of Anita Rodrigue, Edna Sylvan, Olga Porteus and Paula Bryan each handed their donations to the shelter representatives. The highest donation was a donation of 3,600 fromone class.

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