Four Benton Elementary School students raise thousands for Waterville Humane Society

Four sixth-graders at Benton Elementary School had a big idea for a project that ended up helping out the community.

Alyssa Welch, Abigail Taylor, Meara Flood, and Paige Goodwin turned a class project into a school-wide fundraiser for the Waterville Humane Society.

The Humane Society has been struggling with funding and was in jeopardy of closing.

The goal of the girls' Cause for Paws fundraiser was $2,000, but they soared past that, raising nearly $3,000.

"Our class was doing an effective citizenship project and we wanted to pick something that would go above and beyond," said Welch. "We came up with the idea of the Humane Society because they were closing and we didn't want that to happen."

"It means a lot, because it feels really good helping the community," said Goodwin.

The girls told us they even stayed in during recess for over two weeks so they could count all the money students were bringing in.