Students at Crestwood Elementary School love to serve the community.

Over the course of three weeks in March the youngsters collected change for the latest fundraiser project, Pennies for Patients, a cancer education program with proceeds benefiting the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Crestwood principal Linda Butts said the project was quite successful because “the school as a whole collected $1,541.32.”

“The idea came from a third grade class,” Butts said in an e-mail. “In that classroom there is a student, Haley Hutchens, with cancer. They wanted to do the fundraiser in her honor.”

Liane Rizzo, who teaches this particular third grade class, contacted Crestwood’s PTA to see if they could help out with the fundraiser.

“Kim Webster, PTA president, agreed to spearhead it,” Butts said. “She contacted the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and got things going. The student government made posters to help advertise the fundraiser. Information also went home. I made weekly announcements — introduced it then give information about the totals — to keep the excitement going.”

The amount of money collected “was amazing,” Butts said.

Webster told Butts that the final numbers were “so much better than we could have ever dreamed of.”

Jeff Nettle’s class collected the most change and won a pizza party as well as a silver pennant to display in the classroom.

In an e-mail to Crestwood staff Webster congratulated the entire school.

“We have proven just how caring and truly amazing our school is,” she said. “The Hutchens family is overwhelmed by our accomplishment.”