Journey Elementary Students (And Community Partners) Raise $11,000 for Local Non-Profits

Start 'em young, they say. And that's exactly what the parents and educators of Journey Elementary School students have been doing, as evidenced by the recent announcement that students and community partners have raised close to $11,000 for local non-profit organizations.

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According to a Facebook post from Journey Elementary, Kindergarten through 6th grade students took part in a kinda/sorta fundraiser to raise money for three separate organizations.

"All year long, students have been donating some of their Hero Bucks to various organizations selected by the students in each village," the Journey Elementary Facebook page wrote. "With the help of some incredible Community Partners, the money raised by the Journey Students was matched in REAL funds and donated to these worthy organizations."

Those organizations were The Orr's Hope Foundation, Make-A-Wish Wyoming, and the Casper Humane Society.

'Hero Bucks' are a form of currency that students get at the end of each quarter for doing their classroom jobs. Students could then use their Hero Bucks to purchase various fun items or, in this case, they could save their money and donate it to different causes.

According to the post, Kindergartners and 1st Graders raised $1,240 Hero Bucks for The Orr Foundation, which was matched community donors Jim & Shannon Orr.

2nd and 3rd Graders raised $1,595 for Make-A-Wish Wyoming, which was matched by First State Bank, represented by Brettnee Tromble.

"We also had two AMAZING Journey Heroes bring in and donate some of their own money to the cause," the post stated. "Way to go, Garrett and Sawyer!"

4th and 5th Graders raised $2,573 for the Casper Humane Society. That sum was matched by John Miracle.

"However, Mr. Miracle had a surprise up his sleeve!" the post said. "His business partner, Mr. Jordan Kalinowski, and the local Bank of America branch contributed another $1000. But… he wasn’t done yet! The national Bank of America organization matched those funds! Bringing the grand total donation to $8142!!!!"

Read More: A Christmas ‘Miracle’ – Casper Man Donates $45K to Homeless Teens

Altogether, Journey Elementary students and their community partners raised $10,977. In doing so, these students learned the power of giving. And that's something that, hopefully, they'll take with them throughout the rest of their lives.

"Journey Heroes would like to extend a HUGE thank you to the community organizations who joined us today, and to the incredibly generous donors who helped us make a difference in a BIG way!" the post closed.

The post concluded with the hashtag #RaisingHeroes, and that's exactly what Journey Elementary School did.