BY FRAIDY REISS
Correspondent
LAKEWOOD — Dan Nova-Martinez, a sixth-grader at the Clifton Avenue School, had tears in his eyes as he described his former teacher, Pamela DeFluri, who died of cancer in February at the age of 45.
“She loved us,” Dan said. “She loved everybody.”
In an effort to return some of that love, the 12-year-old insisted on being the only one at the school to make announcements about Pennies for Pam, a fund-raiser the school held in honor of DeFluri.
“I know she’d be proud,” he said.
The fund-raiser was organized by teachers Colleen McCarthy and Karen Woodfin, who became close friends with DeFluri, of Brick, during the four years she spent teaching third and fifth grades at the school.
The proceeds from Pennies for Pam will be used to buy books for every classroom.
“Reading was Pam DeFluri’s passion,” McCarthy explained. “The books will keep her alive with us.”
Pennies for Pam began as a simple program. It involved placing a container in every classroom and in the school office so students and parents could throw in their spare change. Fliers and Dan’s announcements also helped to spread the word. The fund-raiser was supposed to run from May 6 to June 3 with the goal of raising $1,000.
But when McCarthy and Woodfin collected the containers after the first week they found more than $100, and the change kept coming in. In addition, the school PTO contributed $500.
And then the community found out about Pennies for Pam and people outside the school began donating — including Auto Exchange on Route 88, which sent a check for $100, the teachers said. As of last week the effort had raised more than $1,190.
“So we’re keeping [Pennies for Pam] open to the community” until early July, Woodfin said.
Anyone who wants to contribute to the fund-raiser can contact the school at (732) 905-3650.
Woodfin and McCarthy recently spent $589 of the Pennies for Pam money at a Scholastic warehouse sale where they bought 237 books worth $1,389, they said. The books range from the “Captain Underpants” stories to the “Guiness Book of World Records” so every child can find something to read, they said.
The tomes will be stamped with the Pennies for Pam logo and, together with the second batch of books Woodfin and McCarthy plan to buy this summer, will be presented to the school at a September ceremony.
What McCarthy and Woodfin are doing for DeFluri is no surprise, Assistant Principal Anne D. Luick said. The two teachers supported DeFluri throughout her illness, too, she said.
“They’re good managers and good friends,” she said. “They took the bull by the horns and really brought [Pennies for Pam] to fruition.”
DeFluri leaves behind — in addition to the 729 students of Clifton Avenue School—her husband, Mike, 47, and two children, Michael, 22, and Jessi, 16.
Mike DeFluri said he was “ecstatic” when he heard what the school was doing for his late wife.
“She’s going to be remembered for years to come,” he said, “every time someone opens a book.”