COMMUNITY NEWS

Businessman raises money for Camp Avenue

Donations support science and math at school

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Peter Holms knows the value of a penny.

This is the third consecutive year in which Holms, 71, the proprietor of the Mobil station at 329 Merrick Ave. in Merrick, will donate a cent for every gallon of gasoline he sells in March to Camp Avenue Elementary School, just a few blocks north of his station. He said that totals about $2,000 each year.

“I’ve been [in business] since 1971, so Merrick’s like my home,” said Holms, who lives in Stony Brook. “It’s a very nice town. I’ve done very well here, and you’re supposed to give back.”

Holms said ExxonMobil encourages its retailers to contribute money to science and math education in local schools. The company also gives $500 annually to many schools across the country, including Camp Avenue.

He said he does what he can to boost sales in March, from advertising the fundraiser to lowering his pump prices slightly. The result, Holms said, is a win-win for him and Camp Avenue.

“It’s good for the school and it’s good for me — I get more business out of it,” Holms said.

Ronald Reinken, principal of Camp Avenue, said Holms’s 2013 call proposing the annual fundraiser was quite welcome.

“The partnership between local schools and businesses is great,” Reinken said. “It adds to the learning environment and helps offset the costs of these programs … we’re so grateful.”

The funds support Camp Avenue’s first- and second-grade life sciences programs and fifth-grade chemistry program, Reinken said. First-graders raise chickens from egg to chick, and second-graders raise frogs from tadpole to adult in their classrooms. Fifth-graders do easy experiments in which they observe chemical reactions, according to the principal. The funds also support the fourth-grade math program, in which students build simple machines with Legos, he said. Reinken added that the school introduced Lego Mindstorm robotics toys, bought with Holms’s donations, into classrooms as an enrichment activity.

Last June the Camp Avenue PTA recognized Holms’ contributions by awarding him a plaque at its year-end party at Kasey’s Kitchen & Cocktails in Rockville Centre.