Students at the Lower Campus of Ojai Valley School set a new standard for giving this holiday season on their way to providing Thanksgiving meals for needy Ojai families.

With the theme from “Rocky” serving as inspirational background music, students ran hundreds of laps during the Lower School’s annual Turkey Trot fundraiser.

The event, held Friday at the Lower School field, raised $4,300 this year, a portion of which went to HELP of Ojai to provide Thanksgiving dinners this week.

Every student at the Lower Campus raised money during the campaign, marking the first time that the Turkey Trot has received 100% participation.

"In this year of recession, our families came through to help their community," said OVS pre-kindergarten teacher Linda Gartrell, who helped the student council organize the event.

After the run, the school recognized those students who had raised the most money, gathered the most pledges and run the most laps.

But the biggest applause went to the entire student body, which collectively came together to help the less fortunate in the community through HELP of Ojai. For more than 40 years, the nonprofit has provided a range of social services – from providing meals to seniors to meeting the needs of the homeless – to residents of the Ojai Valley.