Some of the Pasta for Pennies fundraising boxes on display in the first-floor hallway. Gargoyle photo by Maritza Mestre (click to enlarge)

URBANA — In just two weeks, Uni High raised more than $1,700 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in the Pasta for Pennies fundraiser organized by Student Council.

The final total, as reported Wednesday by Student Council executive secretary-treasurer Natsuki Nakamura, was $1,710. The money will go to the Society to assist with blood-cancer research, education, and patient services.

Pasta for Pennies is a nationwide fundraiser sponsored by Olive Garden. Each participating school is divided into teams; the group that raises the most money within each school gets a free pasta party lunch from the restaurant chain.

Uni organized itself into 11 groups — male and female teams for each grade and one for the faculty. The subfreshman girls won the free lunch, raising a school-best $390.18, followed by the freshman girls with $377.71 and the sophomore boys with $376.16.

According to Nakamura, the subbie girls should be getting their lunch near the end of April.

What makes the final total especially impressive is that the drive is intended to last three weeks, but because of various delays, the Uni fundraiser lasted only two weeks, from March 9 to 20. Last-minute contributions made a big difference, as almost $700 came in on the final day.

"I am very, very happy with the success of this program," Nakamura said. "The average money raised per school is $1,800, so for a school this small, $1,710 is really good.

"I must say I was hesitant to do this since Uni has so many fundraisers for different charities throughout the year that I wasn't sure if people would have money to give. But I guess the competition between teams really helped fuel this, and all the pennies added up. I think next year it could be organized a little bit better, but it wouldn't be a bad idea to have again."

Here are the official tallies for Uni's 11 fundraising teams:

• 1. Subbie girls: $390.18
• 2. Freshman girls: $377.71
• 3. Sophomore boys: $376.16
• 4. Senior boys: $118.99
• 5. Junior girls: $116.50
• 6. Subbie boys: $109.61
• 7. Freshman boys: $66.05
• 8. Junior boys: $63.83
• 9. Faculty: $40.72
• 10. Senior girls: $25.22
• 11. Sophomore girls: $25.03

The Pasta for Pennies campaign began in 1994 in the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Central Florida Chapter.

The mission of the Society, based in White Plains, N.Y., is to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease, and myeloma, and to improve the quality of life for patients and their families. Since its founding 60 years ago, the Society has invested more than $550.8 million into research concerning blood cancers.