CORNER BROOK — Monica Hicks did something she has been waiting 11 years to do.
Hicks, 19, donated every penny she saved since the second grade to the Janeway Children’s Miracle Network Telethon.
In Grade 2, Hicks met a friend who went annually to the Janeway Children’s Hospital to address eye problems.
Hicks felt lucky to be a healthy kid and wanted to do something to help her new friend.
She started putting away pennies, and never stopped.
With the help of her mom Christine, a long-time telethon volunteer, Hicks made a habit of dropping pennies into her pink Fisher Price piggy bank.
“I never thought it was a big deal,” she said. “It was a back-of-my-mind kind of thing.”
This year, Hicks knew it was the year to turn in her copper coins.
“I’m growing up now, and it’s probably the last year I’m going to be here,” Hicks said. “Corner Brook is where I raised the money.”
Sunday, Hicks rolled 6,500 pennies and dropped off $65 at Corner Brook City Hall, where the telethon was broadcast on the west coast.
For 28 years, the Janeway Children’s Miracle Network Telethon has been raising funds for the province’s only children’s hospital.
Through corporate and personal donations, the 2012 telethon raised over $2.5 million for the Janeway Children’s Hospital in St. John’s.
