For most people, the pennies, nickels and dimes jiggling inside their pockets or purses do not mean much.

Maybe the coins are destined for a jar, to sit quietly on a windowsill until the day someone decides to take them to a Coinstar kiosk for some quick cash. Or maybe the tiny pieces of metal will be crammed inside a vending machine when their owner decides he needs some caffeine to power through an afternoon slump at work.

For the family of one Dowagiac child, though, the bags upon bags of loose change collected over the last several weeks by his classmates at Kincheloe Elementary will provide a much needed financial — and morale — boost during a very trying time.

Last month, students in all 12 classrooms of the Dowagiac school took part in a lighthearted competition, bringing in pennies and other loose coins for a special “penny war” fundraiser. From Oct. 17 to 28, children brought in pennies to pour into their classroom’s jar in the school’s front office, looking to collect more pennies than other classrooms.

The competition served as a fundraiser for Kincheloe student Lucas Doyle, who was injured last month after an accident with a lawnmower, said Sam Ausra, president of the Kincheloe Parent Teacher Association. With the child still in recovery, Ausra and other members of the PTO wanted to come with a way to help out Doyle and his family.

“The family does not need flowers, or balloons or a card that says, ‘Thinking of you,’” Ausra said. “They will need money, to help pay for medical bills, gas and hotel visits.”

Instead of coming up with a conventional fundraiser, the PTO instead decided to get the students involved with supporting their classmate through a “penny war.”

In addition to pouring pennies inside their own classroom’s jars, children could also put silver coins inside another classroom’s jar, which would take away from the total number of pennies that room collected, Ausra said.

“Sometimes parents had to help carry their child’s backpack to school because it was so full of coins,” she said.

On top of that, some members of the community started pitching to help, either bringing in coins of their own or bringing in checks, some for $100 or more, Ausra said.

In just a single week, the PTO had raised more than $2,000, doubling that number by the time the fundraiser ended the following week, she said.

“I had to walk away from the office a few times because I was getting teary eyed, seeing the outpouring of support these kids — and people from the community — were giving to someone many of them did not even know before,” Ausra said.

Winning the “penny war” were students in Christine Green’s second-grade classroom, with a net total of $143.50. Bringing in the most money overall was Jennifer Wilson’s fifth-grade classroom, with $600, though their net total was in the negatives due the amount of silver coins placed in the class’ jar, Ausra said.

Kincheloe PTO members plan on presenting a check with the proceeds to the Doyle family soon, Ausra said. Members are still collecting money for the family, and may come with another fundraiser in the future to continue supporting them, she said.

For a lifelong resident of Dowagiac like Ausra, seeing such an outpouring of generosity from children and adult alike in the face of the tragedy befalling the Doyle family was humbling, she said.

“We love our little town, our little corner of the country,” she said. “When I see stuff like this, it affirms that love even more.”