LEWISTON – Students from St. Joseph’s School are learning early how important it is to give something back to the communities they live in, and even to those far away.

Connie Ayotte’s seventh-grade class was studying about justice and community service when a classmate alerted them to the plight of some residents of Oxford County. More man 40 homes in Canton were severely damaged by flood in December.

The class wanted to do something to help, so they brainstormed some ideas to raise money. They came up with a plan to sell raffle tickets for three home-made gift baskets. “They did all the work themselves,” Ayotte said. “They brought in items for the baskets, put them together, and sold the tickets.” They also held a “guess how many M and Ms in the jar” contest at the school.

The students raised $210, which they presented to Koriene Low, director of Community Services for Community Concepts, a nonprofit organization which is coordinating relief efforts for the affected residents.

“What a wonderful thing you have done,” said Low. “It’s heartwarming to see young people who care about others.” She went on to tell the students their donation would be put to use helping other children. The Canton Elementary School, located in the midst of the flooding, experienced some damage, including ruined books. The St. Joseph’s contribution will be used to replace those books.

Anyone interested in donating to the Canton flood relief can contact Koriene Low at Community Concepts in South Paris at 743-7716, Auburn at 795-4065 or Rumford at 364-3721.