A group of Outram School children outdid themselves in a recent fundraiser to help Brighton's little blue penguins.
After spending some time choosing a community project for which to raise money, the 58 pupils of the school's two year 3 and 4 classes set themselves the task of raising $200 to help a group of Brighton residents working to re-establish a colony of little blue penguins near Barney's Island, where a colony last thrived more than 30 years ago.
''You see for us at Outram, this is our local beach. This is where we come to the beach,'' teacher Clemency Wright said.
The pupils then put their minds to how they would raise the money, and decided a sponsored run was a good idea.
After a pep talk and some advice from a marathon runner, the children slipped on their trainers and set off, with some some managing six 1km laps around Outram.
Some days later, sitting in the hall amid a pile of the collected money, Ms Wright said she was ''blown away'', by what she saw.
''They'd raised $2078.20. I couldn't believe.
''It was so much bigger than we thought.''
Outram residents were always up for a challenge, and the contribution was a sign of the community's sense of goodwill, she said.
After conferring with Dave McPhee, from the penguin group, it was decided to start a tab at a plant store and buy some flaxes and toi tois to plant on Big Rock to provide the small birds with more protection.
The classes made a day trip to the island last week to help Mr McPhee and his son Seth with planting. Nick Casey (8), who ran six laps and raised ''about $50'' from sponsors said Mr McPhee showed them how to dig the hole, put some fertiliser in and plant the plants.
It was ''good'' to be able to help out the penguins, he said.
Mr McPhee said any money to help make the penguins more comfortable and safer was always appreciated.
The money would also go towards buying more stoat/ferret traps for around the areas at Big Rock and Ocean Beach where the penguins lived.
The value of such traps was seen after a ferret or stoat recently killed 30 little blue penguins at Doctors Point, Mr McPhee said.
