Published: November 05, 2009 12:00 am      

Changing the world, one penny at a time

The Daily Star

In Cooperstown, a village on the shore of Otsego Lake, clean water is a given. Former Cooperstown Trustee Grace Kull and students and staff at Cooperstown Elementary School are now working to make sure others have the same good fortune.

``When I learned that so many people in developing nations don’t have clean water — something we take for granted — I decided to do something about it,’’ Kull said.

Last summer, she did some research on organizations that help dig wells in far-off places and settled on Charity: Water ``because 100 percent of their donations go to the project,’’ she said.

A well costs an average of $5,000 to drill, she learned. So she decided to pay for one, a project that will sustain hundreds of people for years.

``I donated my last year’s salary as a village trustee, $1,000, to get started,’’ she said. ``Then I sent e-mails to everyone whose address I had, about 100 people, and it’s taken off from there. I was thinking that if 200 people gave $20 a piece, we’d have the $4,000, but some people have given a lot more.’’

Since July, Kull has raised about $3,600 and today, Cooperstown Elementary School will contribute hundreds of dollars toward the project.

``We’ve been collecting pennies throughout the month of October,’’ school counselor Christine Mc- Brearty-Hulse said Thursday. At the start of the month, students watched a slideshow, giving them a keener appreciation of how their pennies could do some good, McBrearty-Hulse said. Students took the project and pennies have been rolling in.

``I’d estimate we have about $500,’’ she Thursday. But by the time Friday afternoon rolled around, the pennies came to a total of almost $700.

``The kids have accomplished a great deal,’’ Kull said when she heard the total. ``It’s amazing to me.’’ Kull said that when the fund reaches $5,000, the staff at Charity: Water will decide where the well will be drilled.

``I hope it is in Africa, because I think the students are aware of how great the need is there,’’ she said. A plaque acknowledging the gift from the Cooperstown area will be installed near the well, she said. Kull said she hopes to raise the balance of the money in the coming weeks.

Those interested in donating may send a check to Charity Water, care of Grace Kull at 19 Church St., Cooperstown, NY 13326. On the check’s memo line, they should write ``Grace Kull’s well,’’ she said.

Donations may also be made over the Internet directly to this project through the website www.charitywater.org/pages/graceswell. To donate on line, people will need to use a credit care or PayPal account.