HAHIRA— Hahira Elementary School adopted a motto years ago, “Helping Everyone Succeed.”

The students and faculty wholeheartedly live this motto, according to a press release from the Lowndes County School System. Each year, the school chooses to participate in numerous charitable events.

Hugs of Hope, a local effort to assist childhood cancer patients, kicked off the school year. HES students raised $600 in a week-long dash to collect spare change. Each class attempted to fill a container with coins.

HES participates in the American Heart Association’s “Jump Rope for Heart” annually, according to the press release. Students collected $10,300 to assist in heart research and patient care. Three-hundred-and-thirty students chose to help the AHA, while 83 students raised more than $50 each and 40 students raised more than $75 each.

In an effort to defray the cost of the fourth-grade Atlanta trip, students sold $1 raffle tickets for two 20-pound smoked hams. Students sold more than 6,000 tickets, therefore earning more than $6,000 dollars for trip expenses, according to the press release. Approximately 100 students will visit Atlanta in March. The group’s stops include Georgia Aquarium, World of Coke, The Varsity, the Georgia State Capitol, Zoo Atlanta, SkyZone, and Fernbank Science Museum.

The HES family donated more than 7,000 food items to the Hungry at Home Food Drive, a program which helps students have healthy food during the weekend while away from school. HES continues to be one of the largest donation sites in the history of Hungry at Home, according to the county school system. The top classroom was Mrs. Lipscomb’s fifth-grade class which collected 1,049 items. Third-grade topped the charts for grade levels and collected more than 1,700 items for others.

The fifth-grade BETA Club students collected funds to be Christmas Angels for two HES students. BETA members donated more than $250 for clothing and toys.