While many local residents were caught up in the fever of the holiday season, local students at area schools decided to work to make a difference. Joaquin Moraga Intermediate School "adopted" classes from Cambridge and Fair Oaks Elementary Schools in Concord. Camino Pablo Elementary School's student council sponsored the Pennies for Patients program, which raises money for leukemia/lymphoma research. The student council chose this organization because they "want to help, to remember and to honor staff, students, families and friends whose lives have been touched by cancer." Rheem Elementary School kindergarten through third graders provided holiday cheer to the children and mothers at the Women's Drop-In Center in Berkeley, while fourth graders collected spare change to benefit the Heifer Project, and fifth graders supported the current relief effort in the Philippines. Los Perales Elementary School again held their annual Toys for Tots program, and also raised $420 in their "Chores for a Cause" campaign to support those affected by the recent typhoon in the Philippines by helping with chores around the house and the neighborhood. KTVU (Channel 2) matched these donations and $840 has now been donated to The Red Cross to provide assistance and relief.
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA