LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – Students at Littlefield ISD are making a difference in the lives of children battling cancer. The money they raised this year through their Coins4Kids drive will stay right here on the South Plains.
Littlefield Primary School hosted a rally Thursday afternoon to recognize their students, and the longtime leader of the Coins4Kids organizer, Peggy Robison. The teacher’s aide has encouraged students to save up what’s in their piggy banks and donate it to the Children’s Neuroblastoma Cancer Foundation for 11 years.
“We’re always happy to get whatever we can get and the kids love it. The kids have such a good time bringing their money in, it’s just a joy to see them bringing their coins and dollars,” Robison said.
Every year, the kids raise about $1,000 for the foundation that supports families and funds research. Dr. Patrick Reynolds, a member of the medical advisory board for the foundation, was there to congratulate Littlefield at the rally. He’s also the director of the Cancer Center at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center.
“We’re very proud to do that, but we’re exceptionally proud of Littlefield. What a great town and what a great set of kids and what Peggy and these teachers have done to teach these children about helping others is just overwhelming to us,” Dr. Reynolds said.
Dr. Reynolds says neuroblastoma, which forms in nerve cells, requires aggressive therapy and a lot of molecular analysis.
“We do a number of those for the whole country at the Cancer Center at Texas Tech Medical School,” he said. “We contribute a lot because we do a lot of the laboratory studies. We characterize those tumors to know whether they should be treated one way or another.”
This year, the CNCF is giving the money the students raised directly to the work Dr. Reynolds and his team is doing in Lubbock. He surprised Robison by showing up to the ceremony and presenting her with an award for making a difference.
“I hope that it will teach them kindness and to realize there are people that have so much more problems than we do, and to help them out with them, try to help as much as we can,” she said.
The foundation also surprised the kiddos with Blue Bell ice cream for their hard work. United Supermarkets provides the kids with popsicles to reward them every year.
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Source: Littlefield students raise money for cancer foundation; organizer recognized for ‘making
