by Brenda Wheelock

More than 30 schools, faith groups and other organizations from across the state will participate in a “Pennies for Peace-Oklahoma” presentation to renowned author and humanitarian Greg Mortenson when he visits the University of Oklahoma on Wednesday, April 21.

Mortenson, who is author of the best-selling books “Three Cups of Tea” and “Stones Into Schools,” is scheduled to give a free, public address at 4 p.m. April 21 at Lloyd Noble Center, 2900 Jenkins Ave., as part of the OU College of Engineering’s Centennial Symposium. Location and parking information are available on the college’s Centennial Symposium Web site at www.ou.edu/coe/centennial.  The Pennies for Peace presentation, led by children, will be held at a private event preceding Mortenson’s public lecture.

Pennies for Peace-Oklahoma organizers Mary Francis [Full Disclosure: Mary Francis is Voices of Oklahoma Board Vice President], Brenda Wheelock and Christy Emig of Norman launched the statewide campaign in February inviting schools, faith groups and other organizations to support Mortenson’s charitable efforts building schools – especially for girls – in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

“The response has been outstanding,” Francis said. “When we began this effort, there were only 10 groups participating in Pennies for Peace campaigns in Oklahoma. Now, there are nearly 40, and more continue to register.”

In addition, nearly 50 Norman businesses have volunteered to put out Pennies for Peace collection canisters, and select Arvest and McClain bank locations around the state have agreed to assist groups free of charge in counting and cashing in their pennies.

Over the past 16 years, Mortenson and his nonprofit organization Central Asia Institute have worked to promote peace through education by establishing more than 130 schools in remote regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Pennies for Peace is a service-learning program sponsored by the Central Asia Institute and designed to broaden students’ cultural horizons while teaching them about their capacities as philanthropists – one penny at a time. Pennies for Peace, which won the 2009 Mom’s Choice Award, is sponsored by National Geographic, the NEA Foundation and the Pearson Foundation.

“When Greg Mortenson was raising money in 1994 to build his first school in the village of Korphe, the first donors to his campaign were elementary school children, who collected more than 62,000 pennies,” Wheelock said. “While a penny may not buy much here in the United States, a penny can buy a pencil, and help start an education in rural Pakistan and Afghanistan. Pennies for Peace teaches children the value of philanthropy and helps them promote peace through education.”

To participate in Pennies for Peace, schools and organizations must register online at www.penniesforpeace.org. To participate in the presentation to Mortenson, groups must also contact Francis at mary.francis111@gmail.com.

While the combined totals of all campaigns will be announced at the presentation to Mortenson, each school or organization is responsible for registering its own campaign, cashing in its pennies and submitting its final contribution to Pennies for Peace.

For more information on Pennies for Peace-Oklahoma, contact Mary Francis at mary.francis111@gmail.com or by phone at (405) 474-0695 or call Brenda Wheelock at (405) 620-1305.  To learn more about Mortenson’s public lecture, visit the OU College of Engineering Centennial web site at www.ou.edu/coe/centennial or phone (405) 325-2621.

UPDATE: Pennies for Peace Oklahoma organizers Mary Francis and Brenda Wheelock did a series of interviews with the Xenia Institute.  You can find part 1 here and part 2 here.