ANDERSON — A class project at Valley Grove Elementary has blossomed into lessons on raising money and the good feeling that can come from giving it away.

Third-grade teacher Julie Chelli devised the idea of selling candy canes for a good cause after some of her students begged to do a service project like the school’s student council.

“When we first started the project, we just knew we’d give the money to charity, but we didn’t know what for,” Chelli said.

Then tragedy struck a Valley Grove family.

Xavier Tilford, a nurse at Community Hospital with two children at the school, died in a car crash on her way to work on the morning of Nov. 30.

After hearing that Community Hospital was establishing a fund for Xavier Tilford’s husband, Dominic, and his four children, Chelli’s students asked to have their candy cane money go to the family also.

As third-grader Hannah Hodson said, “It’s nice to help other people when they need help,”

Two weeks ago, students began working shifts manning a table near the door of their classroom for students or adults who wanted to buy candy canes for 50 cents each, and the students visited other classrooms to make sales to younger students.

Chelli, her class and the school’s principal soon noticed how rapidly they were going through boxes of peppermint and cherry candy canes.

Through the sale of hundreds of candy canes plus some direct donations, the students surpassed anyone’s expectations and raised nearly $1,300 as of Thursday.

“We just thought we’d make $100 in a week, but we’ve advertised, and now we make $100 in a day,” student Lacie Roberts said.

Along with the opportunity to put the money toward a good cause, Chelli has used the candy cane sales to teach basic lessons on business and economics. Her class saw supply and demand in action when the students sold the more popular flavors at a higher price, and competition from the school’s holiday gift shop got the students thinking about ways to better promote their sweets.

The students also began selling broken candy canes for a quarter after talking about how trashing the pieces seemed wasteful and how not everyone has 50 cents for candy all the time.

“It’s not just been a fundraising thing,” Chelli said. “It’s been a very educational project for these third-graders. I’m just glad that they wanted to help somebody and not get a reward.”

Dominic Tilford, a maintenance worker who is currently out of work, said the candy cane money will help him purchase gifts for his children and pay bills in coming weeks.