DORA — Students from T.S. Boyd’s Junior Beta Club presented Angela Stancil, campaign coordinator for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, with a check for $1,053 that they raised over the last three weeks.

The school participated in the society’s Pennies for Patients program. Each classroom raised money for the cause and the school got the surrounding communities of Dora and Yerkwood involved as well.

According to Stancil, the average school donation last year was $748. Since it was the school’s first year to participate they decided to start with a goal of $500 and, when they exceeded that in the first week, they raised their goal to $1,000, which they still exceeded.

The school’s Beta Club sponsor, Emily Johnson, said the kids worked really hard on this cause, even with all the other fundraising they have been doing to try and get enough money to go to convention.

“I just can’t believe they set their goal at $500 and far exceeded that in their first year” Stancil said. “They are one of our best schools.”

The class that raised the most money will be awarded a pizza party. The fourth grade class, taught by Leathan Waid, raised about $250 by themselves, according to Johnson. Johnson will also receive a $75 gift card for Office Depot for raising over $1,000 for LLS.

Although any donations were accepted, the idea behind the fundraiser was to get students to donate their change. The LLS partnered with Coinstar to simplify the process of converting the coins. Johnson said she would go to the Coinstar at the Winn-Dixie in Jasper and spend an hour inserting coins and getting receipts to ensure that the donations were counted and attributed to the correct classroom.