Annette Tiegreen says her second-graders are excited to help out other children around the world, namely those enslaved in Thailand.

“They have been very passionate about making sure that these children were saved and helped, and it’s been neat to see that in their hearts that they wanted to be a part of that,” the Veritas Christian School teacher said.

A month ago, Tiegreen’s class decided to save their own money, with the goal of freeing one enslaved child at a cost of $128. Shortly after the project began, it came to an abrupt end. Outside of school hours, a thief walked into the classroom and stole the children’s money from the teacher’s desk drawer.

“I was really sad, and I wanted to help,” second-grader Isaak Torkelson said.

Determined in their efforts, the class and school pulled together in a remarkable way.

“I went home, and everyone was packing their lunch in my family, and my mom gave me a big jar of money and there were pennies and dollars and everything,” said Chloe Holland, a second-grader.

Chloe wasn’t the only one helping out. Some students set up a lemonade stand. Others did chores to earn money. And many donations came from students in other classrooms.

Overall, the students collected more than $1,700, which helped them meet their goal 13 times over.