Some kids collect bottle caps, Andrew Niemi collected pennies. Lots of them. For over a year, the 10-year-old collected the copper coins and held fundraisers -- aptly named Andrew's Pennies -- at his school and church. On March 17th, the ambitious fourth grader finally reached his goal of one million pennies.

He then handed them over, in the form of a $10,000 check, to his school -- St. Patrick Catholic School in Carleton, MI. The money will be used to buy AV equipment, classroom maps, curriculum materials, and a bench for the school's garden.

Suddenly, my $25 contribution to the last school fundraiser seems kind of pathetic. I'm guessing that St. Patrick Catholic School is going to miss this cool kid when he graduates. With his ability to turn pennies into gold, however, I bet he'll do well where ever he goes.