Frankie Lane worked for a few months mowing grass with his dad.

Audrey Harder had been taking out the trash for a $1 a day for a year.

Laney Smith and Katie Tipton dipped into birthday and Christmas money.

Naje Bedja asked his family to help.

Because of these five sixth-graders, and the generosity of other Brown County Intermediate School students, local children in need will wake up with gifts under their trees on Christmas morning.

In less than a month, BCIS collected nearly $1,000 through a change drive — the most raised since the event began four years ago, teacher Becky Higgins said.

Half of it came from these five sixth-graders, who donated $100 each.

Why?

“Because I thought about not having presents on Christmas and how bad that would make me feel. I wanted to make sure every kid got a Christmas present on Christmas,” Tipton said. She gave $100 from the money she received for Christmas the past couple of years.

“Some people don’t get a lot of presents like a lot of other people do,” Smith said. She donated her birthday money.

“I just want to give people what they need,” said Harder, who’d been taking out the trash and helping her grandmother after her surgery to earn money.

The other money came in the form of change, a couple of dollars and a few $5 and $20 bills from other fifth- and sixth-graders.

Each class that raised $100 received a reward, like 30 minutes of extra time at recess or a trip to Speedway for slushies.

“My kids really got into it,” Higgins said. “My class raised $534, so we’ve been to Speedway five times to get slushies.”

“All of them wanted to bring money in. I had a specific goal in mind at first, then once they started bringing it in, they really started kicking it up, especially Higgins’ class,” library assistant Teresa Carson said.

Higgins and Carson used the money to go shopping on Black Friday. They spent six hours buying tablets, an Xbox, remote control cars, scooters, Little People toys and more for kids in need.

“We only got run over by the carts a couple of times,” Higgins said.

Those toys were donated to The Salvation Army on Saturday during the Brown County Toy Drive and Christmas Light Parade.

When students returned from Thanksgiving break, they brought in an additional $300, which Higgins and Carson used to buy more presents the night before the parade.

“I just think it’s fantastic,” Carson told the students.

“I am sure you could buy lots of things with $100 for something that you wanted, but to give that much money to help out a child who may not have something on Christmas — and that you think about that — that’s pretty awesome.”

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Brown County High School students are also raising money to buy gifts for students and families in need.

The Interact Club, formerly the Key Club, will take monetary donations until Dec. 13, said club sponsor Pam Bond.

Donations can be dropped off at the high school office. As of Dec. 1, the club had raised a little over $300 to buy gifts through the school’s Angel Tree program.

Students will be collecting donations this week and at at least one basketball game, Bond said.

With the money, club members will buy clothing, coats, gloves, shoes and any other gifts the student or their families have asked for, or gifts the club knows students are interested in as a hobby.

Once the presents are bought, any additional money will go toward the high school’s dance marathon for Riley Hospital for Children Feb. 24 and an international project the club will complete before the end of the school year.

“Our funds are limited, but we do the best we can with the information we have to support as many as possible,” Bond said. “Obviously, the more funds given, the more families we can assist.”

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