Longfellow Middle School and La Crosse Design Institute students and staff were Runnin’ for a Reason on May 26.

And with their 8th annual fundraiser for community causes, they raised $853.92 that will go to support the La Crosse Public Education Foundation’s Random Acts of Kindness program.

Students chose LPEF to benefit from the event, which raises money by selling T-shirts and bracelets. Before heading outside for the run/walk through neighborhood streets, 8th-graders Tasia Kohler and Whitney Misliveck said LPEF was selected because it is “intertwined in all the happenings in our school and our community.” They said LPEF “has a core belief of strengthening the community one student at a time,” and they cited LPEF’s classroom grants and RAK program as “the essence of being kinder than necessary.”

Marci Kline, an 8th-grade teacher at Longfellow, helped to organize the annual event.

See more photos on the School District of La Crosse website — Middle School students are ‘Running for a Reason.’