Iowa’s slogan is “Fields of Opportunities” and for a few Greene County youngsters, they took advantage of an opportunity to help others and made the most of it.

Four Greene County Elementary fourth graders, including Krista Larson, Lillian Barrett, Kylie Kinne and Aliyah Forkner made over $900 in just two months for a new fundraiser. Larson tells Raccoon Valley Radio how this new venture started.

“We decided we wanted to help someone or do something for somebody and so we came up with the idea to start a fundraiser to make bracelets (and) raise money for St. Jude’s (Children’s Research Hospital) for cancer research.” 

The girls made rubber band, bead, knot and glass bracelets and sold them for $1-$3, with a goal of raising $300, which they went over by $600. Barrett says they sold all of their items during the school day.

“After they ate lunch, they would come up to the table. Most of the people said, ‘How much were they?’ And if they wanted the bracelet, then they asked one of us to help them buy it.”    

Fourth grade teacher Stormy Fish describes how impressed she was with how dedicated her students were to this endeavor.

“No time out of the classroom, work time, did they take. So every single day, they miss their recess, their lunch recess, and then they would eat lunch and make bracelets as they were selling them. They paid for all of their supplies on their own, they made them all by themselves. So I’m really proud of them.     

The girls are including all extra bracelets, along with the money they raised, to be sent to St. Jude to help the research efforts to fight children’s cancer.