During the past two weeks, the Hallmarks in Action board escalated its annual Penny Wars into Dollar Wars.  The “battlefield” was the bulletin board located outside of the reflection space where students dropped off paper bills into four plastic containers.  The “war” is a NDB tradition to get students involved with their sister classes in a friendly competition and raise money for an important cause.

This year included a change from coins to bills.  For every one dollar bill placed in its plastic container, the class receives one point.  For every five dollar bill, the class loses one point. For every ten dollar bill, the class loses ten points.  And, for every twenty dollar bill, the class loses twenty points. Fifty and one hundred dollar bills are not allowed.

At various points throughout the war, some classes had a positive amount of points, while others had a negative number of points.

The fundraiser is held in memory of environmental activist, Sister Dorothy Stang, a Sister of Notre Dame who was martyred in Brazil.  On her way to a community meeting to speak about rights for the Amazon, she was stopped by two men who asked her if she had any weapons.  She told them her only weapon was her bible and read the Beatitudes to them. They shot and killed her.

“This year is the fifteen year anniversary of Sister Dorothy Stang’s death. She was extremely dedicated to environmental justice in the Amazon rainforest. The Dollar Wars is raising money for the victims in recent fires in Australia and the Amazon to honor her,” Spiritual Life Department Chair Ynez Manalo said.