The coins have been counted and though organizers for Change For The Environment admitted they wished more had been raised, the final tally is impressive for the event’s first time, they said.
The event — which encouraged residents in Belleville, Quinte West and Toronto to drop off spare change between April 30 to May 3 at a variety of locations to be used for environmental purposes — raised more than $12,300.
The largest chunk of that change came from Belleville with citizens here handing over approximately $6,500.
Mayor Neil Ellis, who came up with the idea in April 2008, said he was proud of the outcome considering this was the first year for the event.
“I think one of the best things was it got the communities engaged,” he said. “It’s a start. Rome wasn’t built overnight and it’s got nowhere to go but up.”
The mayor said one element of the event which surprised him was the public reception. He said he had not anticipated the “buy in” to be as strong as it was.
Greg White, chief executive officer for Change For The Environment, said considering this was the first year for the event, the final amount raised was a good start.
“Of course you always want to raise more but we have a pretty good idea that perhaps we didn’t explain it as well as we could,” White said.
He noted when the event returns next year, there will be some “tweaking” to ensure residents fully understand what the program’s goal is and how people can use their spare change to help the environment.
“All in all it was positive and we’ve learned some things that we can change to make it even more successful in the future,” White said.
Fifty per cent of what was raised in Belleville and Quinte West will be donated to Quinte Conservation and to the Lower Trent Conservation Authority to plant trees. The remaining 50 per cent will go to the Lung Association to help battle lung disease.
