Coins for charity

Small change can do much good. The Ronald McDonald House Charities is donating $27,522 in grants locally to good causes.

Thus, $5,000 is going to Cornell Cooperative Extension of Jefferson County to help 20 children attend 4-H Camp Wabasso in Redwood this summer.

A similar grant will help provide vouchers for needy children in the Canton area to buy shoes.

Video equipment and other needed items for E.J. Noble Hospital in Gouverneur. Financial assistance for the Jefferson Community College's Super Science Saturday. A playground area for kids at a domestic violence shelter in Lewis County. A basketball court for St. Lawrence County NYSARC.

The Ronald McDonald House Charities has also pledged $50,000 to Samaritan Medical Center for the hospital's expansion and renovation.

Since it formed a local chapter here 11 years ago, the organization has given $625,000 to good causes.

Much of the money comes from change that McDonald's customers put in containers at the restaurants.

In the same way, the March of Dimes raised money for polio research which led to development of vaccines by Dr. Jonas Salk and Dr. Albert Sabin that have nearly eradicated the dread disease.

Is small change still worth something?

As the Ronald McDonald organization shows, a few coins donated by many people can still go a long way.