Book inspires drive for school in Asia

Local philanthropists Jim and Pam Keeling, half of the force behind the Keeling-Puri Peace Plaza, are organizing a massive “Pennies For Peace” campaign to raise $50,000 to build a school in war-torn and impoverished Central Asia.

It will be a loose change drive like Rockford has never seen, set to launch in the fall. It will be in dozens of area public and private schools and spill into local businesses. And it will be all about the giving — not how much, but how and why.

The idea was inspired by a book that the Keelings put in gift baskets last year, sent to area classrooms that participated in Rockford’s annual International Day of Peace.

Now the book, “Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace … One School at a Time,” is the selected reading for this year’s One Book, One Rockford, the Rockford Public Library program that encourages all residents to read and discuss the same book.