YAN plans Pennies for Panzi assembly

By Rhett Everhart

For the past three years the Youth Action Network (YAN) at Tyrone Area High School, has helped raise money for a women’s hospital, called the Panzi Hospital, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The Panzi Hospital helps the victims of regional wars occurring in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

“I wasn’t informed on what was going on in the Congo, but I saw the one commercial on Channel T on Tuesday and it sparked my interest; I think I’m going to help out because I think it will be good to donate some money for the cause,” Jared Beckwith, sophomore, said.

YAN is the organization that helps provide funds for this hospital by holding events at school.

“Pennies for Panzi is a non-profit organization devoted to spreading the word about the Congo and to raise money for the hospital so care can be provided for the injured women,” Seth Barrett, president of YAN, said.
This year TASD will have an assembly on February 22 from 12:20 – 1:50 to spread awareness about the events in the Congo and will hold “Penny Wars” to raise money to help the victims of the regional wars.

Penny Wars is an event where all of the classes in both the middle and high school compete with other classes to see who can collect the most money by putting pennies in donation containers.

By the end of the fundraiser the winning class with the most pennies or other money/change in their donation containers could win a prize.
The assembly this year will include a guest speaker from the Congo to explain the events that are occurring, along with another speaker to speak on behalf of the Panzi Hospital in the Congo.

“The whole purpose of this assembly is to raise awareness of these international issues and to raise money to assist with these efforts,” Mr. McNitt, advisor for YAN and chairman for the school climate committee, said.
Over the past two years TASD has raised over $1,000 for the women’s hospital through these fundraisers.

“There are no cons to this event and the pros are that it’s always exciting to open new doors to the student body and we want the students to know about the valuable work that is being performed at the Panzi Hospital,” McNitt said.