A new fundraiser is helping ensure that a little change can go a long way, or perhaps a short way if that’s where the need is.

The First National Bank of Talladega has started a yearlong fundraising partnership with the North Talladega County Chapter of the American Red Cross to raise money to help those in need locally as well as to assist in fundraising efforts for the recent earthquake recovery in Haiti.

This relief comes in the form of loose change. Because of the bank’s new self-service coin machine, people can recycle their loose change and donate it to the effort.

The machine automatically counts the change and people can choose to donate it directly to the cause. The money is then transferred to the Red Cross for distribution locally or to Haiti.

In addition, bank employees will donate funds each month for a casual Friday, with half the funds going to local needs and half the funds going to relief efforts in Haiti.

Executive director of Talladega’s Red Cross chapter Pat Miller is excited about this new effort.

“The Red Cross relies heavily on donations for many of our programs,” said Miller.

“We hope this will encourage other businesses, civic groups, churches and individual citizens to collect change for this effort. Both locally and abroad, the Red Cross helps people in a wide range of ways year round. This assistance will be big help throughout the year for our chapter.”

Although the coin machine normally charges a fee, that fee is waived for those donating to the Red Cross.

Contributions are tax deductible and receipts will be available from the bank.

“After hearing about the numerous coin drives in other areas, we thought this would be a good way the bank could help out,” said FNB spokesman Chip Moore.

“However, after talking to Ms. Miller about the idea, we decided to raise money for the local chapter needs as well. The Red Cross does a great job with their primary mission of assisting members of our armed services and their families, as well as meeting the needs of our local community. This way the citizens of our community will have a chance to help out locally and abroad.”

Moore said the bank is involved with a number of fundraisers throughout the year.

For the general fund drive, donations can be dropped off at any First National Bank location in Talladega, Lincoln or Munford. Donors are encouraged to specify whether they would like their donations to be used locally or specifically for the Haitian relief efforts.

Moore said the machine opens a door for these types of donations because it removes the tediousness and time involved in people counting coins for donations themselves. He hopes having the machine will encourage others to host their own coin drives throughout the year.

The idea of using loose change to help Haiti turns out to be a commonly shared sentiment. Students at Lincoln Elementary School came up with the same idea at the same time, and so found they could use this idea from FNB and the Red Cross to put their idea into practice.

Teacher Shannon Hill said the students in her third grade class all wanted to explore how they could help those affected by the earthquake. The idea they thought of was collecting pocket change donations to send over.

The students launched their own coin fundraiser that will last through February 12. They set a goal of $2,000.

The third grade teachers are planning a check presentation with the Red Cross once the fundraiser is complete.

Hill knew about FNB and the Red Cross’ similar effort and decided to take advantage of the coincidence by having the school’s donations counted and distributed as part of their fundraiser.

She said the idea came completely from the students who were all eager to help.

“They’re very proud of what they’re doing, and they’re showing a real sense of community with it,” she said.

Hill said the project is directly related to her class’ study in natural disasters.

Change can be dropped off at the school to support the students’ fundraising drive.