Students Raise $1,400 for Heart Patient

When students at Banyan School decided to have a penny drive to raise money for heart transplant patient Jeff Litoff, they figured they would come up with about $140.

They were a little off in their estimates.

Wednesday, the elementary students went to the bank, dragging bags and bags of change totaling $1,400. The haul weighed more than 500 pounds.

Litoff made headlines last month when he and his wife of 25 years, Rosemarie, said they might have to divorce to get his much-needed heart transplant. Their insurance would not cover the operation, but if Litoff was single and declared himself indigent, Medi-Cal would pay for it.

To save the happily married Litoffs from divorce, friends and family launched a frenzy of fund-raising, and their efforts spurred a national nonprofit group to guarantee payment for the operation. Litoff got his new heart two weeks ago but still needs to raise about $150,000 to pay for it.

The Banyan students read about Litoff in the newspaper and began the drive two weeks ago, with the help of fourth-grade teacher Janet Cooper.

“When they realized they were going to help this man, they went crazy,” Cooper said. “We had buckets of pennies and basins of pennies.”

Opting not to hand over their gift in its natural--and weighty--form, the students plan to present the Litoffs with a check in the next few days.