Jennifer Ring told her third-graders at Dimmick School they’d collect toys for the Operation Santa toy drive run by the La Salle Police Department.

Then, one of Ring’s students posed a question: What about kids fighting cancer? Ring decided on the spot to expand the drive to St. Jude Children’s Hospital, as well.

The response, she said, has been heartwarming. Students drew up fliers, posted Facebook appeals and simply approached their neighbors to donate to the less fortunate.

“The campaign is ‘Small School, Big Hearts,” said Vera King, a third-grader from Peru. “It was a lot of work. We had to record a video and make fliers.”

“It makes me feel good to help people at Officer Santa and St. Jude,” said Finley Seghi, another third-grader from La Salle.

Gradually, the boxes of donated toys and winter apparel are groaning with goodies waiting to be given away – and donations will be accepted through Dec. 12.

“It’s continuing every day,” said Kearsten Zielinski, special education and co-instructor for third-grade math. “When the kids come in, they have more and more things to put in, and you can just see from the looks on their faces they’re so happy to be able to help other people.

“I’m really pleased,” Zielinski said. “Our school and our community are super generous and giving, and we couldn’t have done anything like this without the families that we have in our school. We have great parents.”

Dimmick third-graders still are accepting donations through Dec. 12, after which La Salle police will distribute half the proceeds to local families in need.

La Salle Police Chief Jason Stubler said he’s looking forward to collecting what Dimmick students have collected – and he’s impressed with their efforts to date.

“Their generosity is truly inspiring by helping brighten the holidays for children who need it most, and their kindness reflects the very best of our community,” Stubler said. “It’s a reminder that even the smallest hands can make the biggest impact,”

The remaining toys will be taken to St. Jude by the Rosploch family as part of the “Rally for Lily,” launched in memory of Lily Rosploch, who succumbed to cancer in 2015.

“It’s a very moving gesture for young kids to do,” Lily’s dad, Mike Rosploch, said of the Dimmick students.

Ring said the fundraiser is as much a teaching tool as a noble initiative.

“The kids worked really hard,” Ring said. “When we first started planning this, the first thing they wanted was to have a video so that everybody on Facebook could see what they were doing.

“We might have skipped math or reading one day, but you know, like teaching them to be good humans and be generous and to be kind to me is almost more important than the reading in the math.”