Pounds of pennies, bushels of nickels, stacks of dimes and piles of quarters -- along with some cash and a few checks -- were delivered to Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh by a local college this week.

This year, Thiel College, for the first time, picked up the job of organizing the annual walk-a-thon. The fate of the event, and the money that the hospital counted on, was thrown into doubt when Phi Theta Phi, the fraternity that held the event each year, was disbanded because of a drinking party.

While the amount was a few thousand dollars less than when the fraternity organized the walk-a-thon, a grand total of $27,228 was raised this year, said Stephanie Erdice. The student service specialist at the college quarterbacked the effort.

"We started from scratch this year," Ms. Erdice said. "We went through some new towns, where people really weren't familiar with what we were doing. We got a lot of positive support; at nearly every intersection, someone would tell us how they once had a child at the hospital, or had one in there now."

The walk-a-thon, Ms. Erdice said, was held Friday and Saturday. While they'd held some fund-raisers throughout the year, most of the money came from the two-day event.

"Everything came in change, or one dollar bills," she said. "If someone donated a $5 bill, we cheered."

One hurdle that could have been difficult for the rookie organizers was the problem of counting the hundreds of thousands of coins that were collected.

Fortunately, Ms. Erdice said, a group of volunteers with experience counting coins for other fund-raisers like the Relay for Life, which brings in as much as $80,000 in loose change in one night to aid the fight against cancer, helped out.

"It was like an assembly line," she said. "They were very efficient, and we couldn't have done it without them," she said.

"Thiel College has a wonderful history of supporting Children's Hospital through a variety of fund-raisers," said Gerri Giles, of the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh Foundation. "We are extremely grateful for all Thiel has done to help Children's in its mission of providing care to all children."

Thiel's fund-raiser for Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh supports the hospital's Free Care Fund. The fund supports Children's century-old pledge that no child in the Pittsburgh region be denied care because of a family's inability to pay, according to the hospital.

In 2003, Children's provided nearly $24 million in free care, according to the hospital.

Being able to give the money to the hospital was a satisfying experience, Ms. Erdice said, especially since this was the first year the college undertook the fund-raiser as a community event.

"We had students, staff, faculty members, friends of the college, alumni, even students from other colleges helping out," she said. "It was wonderful, all the support we got."

Fund-raising for next year, Ms. Erdice said, will begin next semester, which opens in January.

The fund-raiser was originally held by Phi Theta Phi fraternity, which was disbanded after a drinking party Nov. 23 and 24, 2002. Members of the fraternity borrowed a van from Thiel to transport people to the party, saying they were using it for the fund-raiser.

Four girls younger than 21 had to be treated at a hospital for alcohol poisoning following the party.

You can e-mail Herald Staff Writer Amanda Smith-Teutsch at: ateutsch@sharonherald.com

030509