Pasta rewards students' help in finding cancer cure

William Roller

Apr. 23, 2009 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- Some students are learning a valuable lesson about sacrificing personal gratification in order to benefit a worthy cause when they contributed to medical research this week.

"Pennies for Pasta" is a 15-year-old program that relies on students to help raise donations for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. The nationwide program is a team effort among the society, Olive Garden (NYSE:DRI) restaurants and schools. The Olive Garden in Yuma catered a pasta party Thursday for the second grade at Valley Horizon School, the class that raised the most money for cancer research.

The students are part of teacher Lisa Crayne's class who donated their own allowance or money earned from chores, she noted.

"They decided to spend money on someone else instead of themselves," Crayne said. "A lot of kids emptied their piggy banks to contribute. Kids looked for loose change in their parents' cars, the livingroom couch, even on the playground."

Since the program began in 1994, students nationwide have raised $36 million in the fight against cancer, Katrina Noble, the Olive Garden manager, said.

The restaurant tries to involve as many schools as possible. Other recent participants included James Price School, Castle Dome, Gwyneth Ham, Desert View Academy, Otondo and Aztec Alternative School .

The pasta party is catered right to the classroom and provides a spaghetti dinner with Olive Garden's "famous" bread sticks, salad and chocolate mints that everyone seems to love, Noble said.

"It's a great opportunity for our employees to give back to the community, too, as we take a few different ones each time. And for a lot of the kids, it's the first opportunity to contribute to a cause greater than themselves and that's very rewarding."

Valley Horizon has donated for the past several years but this is the first time the school's new health assistant, Victoria Gonzalez, participated. Gonzalez noted the entire school donated $1,700.

But it was a real close race between the top three classes separated by just a $10 difference. Ms. Crayne's class raised $274, Ms. Zaragoza's fifth-grade class raised $264, while Ms. Kaste's fifth-grade class followed with $254.

"That's amazing for a three-week period," Gonzalez said. "That's almost like every kid bringing in $10 each. It just shows their willingness to help."

Along with Olive Garden, Gonzalez said, she was very thankful to AEA Credit Union for donating the use of its coin counter. This year also set a personal best for the school's fundraising efforts, she added.

The funds raised for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society not only go toward research but also help families with financial assistance who have a member stricken with cancer, Gonzalez noted.

"The kids are very excited about having a catered lunch. I think it's a great event considering one of our own students has a form of leukemia and in this way we get to help someone we all know."

William Roller can be reached at

wroller@yumasun.com or 539-6858.

Newstex ID: KRTB-0239-34370720