Over the course of just three lunches Feb. 13, the Sussex Academy Leo Club raised $894 for childhood cancer research as part of International Childhood Cancer Day.

Club members organized, advertised and then managed a homemade Shirley Temple drink sale during all class lunches to support cancer research.

Jayani Boopathi spearheaded the fundraiser; she said it was because many of her relatives and family friends who had cancer didn’t know they were sick until late stages.

“I wanted to do something to spread awareness for this problem and also help out families who were already going through the struggles caused by cancer,” she said.

For Jayani’s senior service project, she previously raised money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and for families of cancer patients.

“This sale was a continuation of that, but I wanted to donate to children specifically this time,” she said. “I wanted to help them in any way I could, and donating money for research is one way I could make a small change in their lives.”

Sussex Academy is a tuition-free, public charter school in Georgetown. Its mission is to foster academic achievement and social responsibility in a small-school environment where students participate in a highly accelerated college preparatory program that prepares them for the technological and global mindedness needed for the 21st century. It also instills ethical conduct and service to others in their day-to-day lives.