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Kids and toys go together like cake and ice cream. And some students at Green Valley Elementary School enjoyed collecting money and buying new playthings to donate to "Foster a Dream," an organization that provides toys for Bay Area foster children who otherwise might not receive a gift.

The students in the second-grade classes of Brenda Aepli and Lisa Maher starting collecting coins in October to buy toys for the cause. Then the two classes sorted and counted all the coins.

"I really liked counting the money and seeing how much we had," said second-grader Annie Edmondson. "It was really fun."

Next they went on a purchasing expedition to Target, where they decided what toys to buy.

The students found the project to be a fun one in their area of expertise.

"To me, it just feels good raising money to help some other kids," said Kyle McCullum.

"It just made me feel good that we were helping someone out," agreed Michael Ford.

"I was happy that we were actually doing this to help others," said Casey Steffen

They sent the toys off happily, knowing they were going to others who would appreciate them.

"I hope the kids have a great time with the toys," said Alec Wentner.

— Dolores Fox Ciardelli

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