Richmond Hill, Ontario -- (SBWire) -- 02/19/2013 --Richland Academy was honoured to be one of three GTA guest schools invited to Free the Children’s "We Create Change” celebration on Monday February 4th. Richland Academy’s student ambassadors represented their school community and presented Craig Kielburger, founder of Free The Children, with 78 bags, each bag filled with 2,500 pennies - which are no longer being minted in Canada as of earlier this month.

The event also marked the start of Penny Drop-Off Week, a special week-long drive where Canadians are invited to bring their loose pennies—in any amount and any container—to any RBC Royal Bank branch across the country. Dave McKay, Group Head, Personal and Commercial Banking at RBC came out to share this exciting news, alongside Olympian Jennifer Botterill. “At RBC, we wanted to do something big,” McKay said, “something we’ve never done before, to show our appreciation for the tremendous effort being made by young Canadians in support of this great cause.”

Lieutenant Governor David Onley also made a special appearance at the event to celebrate what can be achieved when we come together. “Change only happens when people like you, two by two, school by school, province by province, rally together for a common cause,” he said.

Richland Academy students collected the pennies in their communities over the past several weeks. The money raised by Richland students will change the lives of 78 people - by providing them with clean water for life. View the latest Richland Academy blog, “Inquiring Minds” post for photos and more details.

About Richland Academy
Richland Academy is a private Reggio-inspired day school in Richmond Hill, Ontario. The school offers programs for grades PK to 6 with enrolment of 100 students, with an average class size of 12 students. As the first private elementary school in York Region to adopt a Reggio-inspired Inquiry Learning approach, Richland Academy students think deeper, are more confident, and are world ready. Every child feels connected and counted in our happy, safe and nurturing community, capable to approach authentic tasks with confidence and the courage to act decisively and responsibly.