Coins glittered inside glass beakers during the month of October as students and faculty used their spare change to donate toward breast cancer awareness and research. The College of Science & Engineering’s annual event, Pennies for the Cure, inspired both competition and charity among departments. This year, their efforts raised $1,060.05 for TCU’s campus-wide Frogs for the Cure event supporting the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

Hosted by the CSE Student Advisory Board, Pennies for the Cure is a penny war – where all money counts positively towards a department’s total, except for pennies. “Pennies are negative,” Sue Dolce, administrative assistant, explained. “It’s a competition between departments where to put the pennies.”

 
Penny placing was a strategic move for contributors participating in this friendly competition – if placed in a rival department’s beaker, a penny counted against its final total. When the competition ended on Oct. 31, members of the Student Advisory Board counted more than 17,000 coins, calculating each team’s amount as well as the College’s total amount raised.

The Department of Engineering claimed the top prize – a pizza party – for their donations. The department also won the competition last year, which was the inaugural event for Pennies for the Cure that raised more than $400.

Supporting breast cancer is a meaningful cause to the College. “[We] lost a wonderfully passionate Academic Program Specialist in April 2012,” said Dean Phil Hartman. Denise Bennett lost her battle with breast cancer, but left a lasting impression. Pennies for the Cure is one way the College supports finding a cure.

"I am so pleased with the way the College responded this year, and to raise more than twice as much as we did last year was both fun and gratifying," Hartman said.