This year, Karen's Heroes offered most of its annual support to two shelters, one for animals and one for the homeless.
"Hillside SPCA was the top vote-getter from the third-grade class at Pottsville Area's John S. Clarke Elementary," Thomas Ney, one of the organizers of the Karen's Heroes program, said Friday.
The event is a traditional tribute to elementary school teacher Karen Chattin-Ney, who died of cancer in 1998 at age 46. Chattin-Ney's friends and family, including widower, Thomas Ney, and parents, Joseph and Joan Chattin, developed the program in 1999 as a way to remember her.
Every year, the third-grade students at Pottsville Area vote to distribute $1,500 from the Karen Chattin-Ney Education Fund to five local charities. During the week of April 28 to May 2, representatives of five local charitable organizations made presentations to the class, a total of 174 students.
"The five lessons explained how charities need volunteer and financial support from people in the community who can afford to give a little time or money," event chairwoman Anita Dwyer said in a press release Friday.
The organizations and the amounts totals they received this year through the Karen's Heroes program were:
- Hillside SPCA, $533.
- Servants To All homeless shelters, $348.
- Schuylkill Conservancy, $248.
- Avenues of Pottsville, $188.
- Pottsville Free Public Library, $183.
On May 2, the Karen's Heroes organizers gave the students one-page ballots to take home. The ballots listed each of the organizations, and the students were encouraged to vote to donate $5 to one by circling the name of the organization, Dwyer said.
Each student's vote turned into a $5 donation. With 174 students, that came to $870.
"The balance of money - $630 - will be distributed equally among the organizations," Thomas Ney said May 2.
Last year, Hillside SPCA received the most votes and received a total of $616. Meanwhile, the Make-A-Wish Foundation received $301, the Sovereign Majestic Theater received $246, the American Cancer Society received $181 and the Schuylkill County Diabetes Task Force received $156.