Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : AIDS Committee on Penny Drive to Raise $10,000

As part of a continuing effort to promote AIDS awareness, members of the Antelope Valley Faces Up to AIDS Committee are paying for thread with pennies.

In support of the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, which will be on display at the Palmdale Cultural Center in mid-November, the committee is conducting a penny drive called “Pennies From Heaven,” through which members hope to raise 1 million pennies, or $10,000.

Work on the quilt, a memorial to people who have died of AIDS, was started in 1987 in San Francisco. It now includes more than 23,400 panels from the United States and 29 foreign countries. The committee plans to display 440 of the panels in Palmdale and will add 12 to 20 new ones.

According to Jim Lindsay, a spokesman for the committee, the penny drive began on July 4 and will continue through next weekend. He said the committee has 20 collection cans at retail stores. The pennies have not been counted, but he said the response has been overwhelming.

“We’re absolutely amazed,” Lindsay said. “People have brought us cans full of pennies that they’ve accumulated for years.”

The estimated cost to display the quilt, including money for transportation and staffing, will be about $5,000. Lindsay said any extra money will go to Catalyst, an Antelope Valley organization promoting AIDS awareness and treatment that was formed this spring by Susan Lawrence, whose husband died of AIDS last week.

On Saturday and Sunday, the committee will collect pennies from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Antelope Valley Mall, at both area Wal-Marts and at Albertson’s in Rosamond.