VIDALIA &8212; Vidalia Junior High students have raised three times their original goal, and there&8217;s still one day of Pennies for Patients left.

The school&8217;s 4H club chose the fundraiser months ago and started collecting last Tuesday. As of the Wednesday morning&8217;s count, they&8217;d raised $1,569.34 for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. The fundraiser will end at 3 p.m. today.

Each homeroom has a bucket for change &8212; and dollars &8212; the money is collected and counted each afternoon.

The homeroom that raises the most in each grade will receive a pizza party.

&8220;I brought $138 in two Wal-Mart bags,&8221; sixth-grader John Michael Cowan said.

Sixth-grader Michael Nelson brought in around $100 in quarters, all money he collected from around the house.

Victoria Dobson, an eighth-grader, took a different approach and asked for the money she contributed.

&8220;I went in the room and said I need to help these people,&8221; Dobson said.

The money will be sent to the society for use in researching a cure for leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin&8217;s disease and myeloma, and to improve the quality of life of patients and their families.

Nelson said helping other people was just something he wanted to do.

&8220;We feel better when we do something to help,&8221; he said.

News came recently that a former VJHS student now at the high school was diagnosed with lymphoma, something that&8217;s been an extra push in the fundraising effort, teacher and 4H adviser Belinda Freeman said.

Currently Sherry Barfield&8217;s sixth-grade classroom is leading the school in total money raised with $286.31.

Students help Freeman count the money each afternoon, and Britton & Koontz Bank is rolling it for free.

Since 1994, $55 million has been raised by schools throughout the country, which participated in programs like this one. Over 100 schools in Louisiana are participating in the campaign.