What if I told you that you can get a whole Olive Garden pasta party for your advisory class for only a penny!  Well, I’d be lying- you would actually need more than 200.00.

Olive Garden’s Pasta for Pennies is a nationally recognized fundraising program that raises money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Since 1994, Pasta for Pennies has supported the fight against blood-related cancers, provided funding for key life-saving initiatives, and has granted critical services to patients and their families that suffer from related illnesses.

Every year, schools such as Joliet West choose a three-week period where students fill collection jars in their classrooms with donations of their spare change. The class that collects the most money at each school is awarded a pasta party delivered to their classroom from their local Olive Garden restaurant.

This year, the winner of the Pasta for Pennies change collection and a very coveted Olive Garden meal was Ms. Snyder’s class with a whopping $204.28. It was a very close race and everyone put in a good effort.

Since their creation in 1994, Pasta for Pennies has raised more than $53 million to fight leukemia and lymphoma. Joliet West plans to continue their fight as well and add to the cause.