MULLAN — Though the school year has been over for weeks, the effects of student generosity are still impacting the community in the Silver Valley in new and positive ways. From April 10 until the end of the school year, students brought in pocket change to fill up coffee cans in classrooms throughout the school to raise money to fund resources for cancer patients and their families.

Of course, there was a slightly competitive edge to the fundraiser, and student classes competed against each other to see who could raise the most money. The freshmen class wound up taking the bragging rights.

A total of $618.39 in funds was donated to Shoshone Cancer Resource Center on behalf of the school by Mullan student council adviser and teacher Paul Elston on Thursday.

It was especially important to the students that the money benefit people in need of cancer resources locally, which is why eventually the Shoshone Cancer Resource Center was selected.

“The kids voted to keep the money here to help people in the Silver Valley,” Elston said. “It shows you that no matter where you are from, there’s a lot of people willing to be generous for a good cause.”

The idea to help fund cancer resources came from outgoing student body president Caitlin Garitone, and class officers helped coordinate the money collection throughout the coin drive.

“We had coffee tins set up in each class adviser’s room. Kids could put in coins or dollars, which some did,” Elston said. With there being only 54 students spanning grades seven through 12, it’s all the more an impressive fundraising feat.

At the height of the student fundraiser, the students had gotten into their heads to have Elston dye his hair a dramatic color. He agreed, but had a stipulation: he wanted it to be a celebration of Mullan students doing something exciting.

“If we reached $500 in [coin drive] donations, the kids got to see me with purple hair,” Elston said.

While Elston doesn’t plan on continuing to sport the new hair color while teaching and coaching football in the fall, he feels that it’s worth it in the meantime to show the kids at Mullan that if they persevere toward a goal, cool things can happen.

“I'm definitely open to the idea of doing something similar for next school year. I think it's a great thing our kids, staff and community did, to raise money like they did for a great reason. It's a great example of neighbors helping each other out,” Elston said.