LISBON – Students at Lisbon Community School collected Pennies for Patients to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society during March. Students brought their spare change to school for three weeks, raising $1,266.01. School volunteers counted the coins.

The top fund-raising class was Elaine Halchuck’s third grade. They raised $106.91 and won the pizza party awarded by the society.

“I am so proud of our students,” said Carlene Iverson, school principal. “They did a great job of giving selflessly and they really understood the mission of the society and what the money is used for.”

Leukemia is the leading cause of disease-related death among children. An estimated 712,145 American have blood cancers, and every five minutes, someone new is diagnosed. Since 1992, millions has been raised in pennies and spare change by more than 12 million elementary, middle and high school students nationwide.

The mission of the society is to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma, and to improve the quality of life of patients and their families.

For information regarding local programs and services of the Massachusetts Chapter of the society, call (888) 688-6572 or visit the Web site at www.lls.org/ma.