Little 'Superheroes' Far Exceed Fundraising Goal For Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Cancer and finance are two topics that a lot of elementary schools probably don't offer in their curriculum.
But they know all about it at Rumbaugh Elementary School in Mount Pleasant.
A few weeks ago, the 156 students there set out on a mission to save lives. Their goal was to raise $1,000 through the "Pennies For Patients" fundraiser for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
But they far exceeded that goal, raising $3,560.
The students say raising all that money was actually pretty easy.
Kindergarten student Hunter Thomas says, "I looked under my bed and found tons of money."
His classmate Kate Wisniewski donated part of the money she received for her birthday, but she also says, "my dad and mom put in a lot."
"I am so unbelievably proud of these children. To raise over $3,500 in such a limited amount of time, at their age, they are very much superheroes today for all of our patients," says Angela Austin, with The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
This is not the school's first time learning about leukemia.
Several years ago, when Amy Myers was in second grade at Rumbaugh, she was diagnosed with it.
"It was a very hard and devastating time for me. Being only 7-years-old, that's scary for a child. And I just felt like there was so much support and so much love in this school," says Myers.
Over the past three weeks, the students - all between the ages of 5, 6 and 7 - have learned valuable life lessons, everything from counting money to helping others in need.
Kindergarten teacher Vickie Hickle says, "Every time I visited the classrooms, I would tell them, 'Boys and girls, someday, someday you will realize what you did and you will be proud of yourself, not only today, you'll be proud of yourself 40 years from now.'"
