A common tradition at CHS during homecoming week is the Penny War. During this event, different grades donate money to earn points for their grade for the homecoming competition. This year, the donations for the Penny War went to Pedal the Cause, a biking organization that helps raise money for cancer.

Senior Jocelyn Cooper, active member of DECA and Pedal the Cause, talks about the profits made from the Penny War.

“This year we earned $1016 dollars, which was a little less than last year, $1336, for Pedal the Cause,” Cooper said.

Through the money earned from the Penny War, Pedal the Cause had enough funds to organize the bike event to raise money for cancer. In the event, people pay a registration fee between $50 and $75 to participate, which goes to cancer donations. The event was matched by Mike Staenberg, earning a total amount of $16,000 for cancer.

Senior Nicole Indovino, leader of Pedal the Cause, explains the hard work and amount of effort put into Pedal the Cause.
“We had a lot of meetings before school,” Indovino said. “We had a fundraiser at Chill, and everyone fundraised individually.”

Cooper talks about how the Pedal the Cause event played out.

“It started out on Saturday October 1st with a kickoff event, which was dinner and dancing down at the soldier’s memorial,” Cooper said. “There were also speakers, such as Leisa Zigman, the chair of Edward Jones and survivors of cancer. They spoke to us about their fight against cancer and how it affected them. It was really touching and inspiring.”

Overall, the event was very successful and Indovino adds a couple words for the hopeful success of future Pedal the Cause events.

“This year, the team has a lot of seniors on it,” Indovino said. “But were hoping for a lot juniors and sophomores to lead the club in upcoming years so Pedal the Cause can be as successful as it was this year.”