Students from Mars Primary Center listen as money is presented to the Butler County Humane Society and the Wild Bird Recovery Center during an assembly at the school Wednesday. The students raised more than $3,000 through a nine-day raffle and donated pet food and supplies.

ADAMS TWP — The smallest Mars School District students raised big money recently for injured birds and homeless pets.

Students at Mars Primary Center, which houses kindergarten and first grade, raised more than $3,000 for the Butler County Humane Society and the Wild Bird Recovery Center in Middlesex Township.

Kindergarten teacher Sue Kaminski, an animal enthusiast, organized the event after a section of curriculum on animal shelters moved students to a state of empathy for their furry and feathered friends.

"It's so important to realize (the fundraiser) was not about them," said Kaminski, whose family includes three dogs, two guinea pigs, a cockatiel, a fish tank, a stray mother cat and five kittens found at the school, and the wild deer and turkey she and her husband feed in the winter.

Kaminski said all students brought in dog and bird supplies, and the school held a nine-day raffle in which students purchased tickets for a quarter or a can of pet food to win Webkins and other toys. Students placed tickets in a bucket coinciding with the toy they wanted, and a winning ticket for each toy was drawn May 22.

First graders created paintings of dogs and cats that were sold at the school's spring open house on April 24. Baskets containing a variety of items donated by local businesses and residents were raffled off at the open house.

Kaminski said the Humane Society was an easy choice to receive funds, but she is especially thrilled to be helping out the Wild Bird Recovery Center on Forsythe Road.

"I have lived in Mars for three decades, and I didn't know (the bird recovery center) was there," she said. "I found out about it when I took a baby killdeer to her that I found on the playground, and she rehabilitated it."

Beth McMaster has operated the center on her farm in Middlesex Township for nine years.

McMaster takes in an average of 400 injured songbirds each year and nurses them back to health before releasing them back into the wild. The nonprofit facility, built largely by her husband, Dave, begins its busy season as the end of April nears and baby birds begin falling from nests and becoming the victims of prowling felines.

McMaster spends 16 to 18 hours per day in the bird nursery at the height of baby bird season, feeding and warming her chirping charges until they are strong enough to move to the outdoor rehabilitation enclosure. Food alone costs $250 to $300 per week.

"I am absolutely just awed that the school would do this," McMaster said. "It also teaches conservation and to be good neighbors with wildlife. These are the things to teach our kids."

McMaster said she will use part of the Primary Center funds to augment her three-year-old bird education program, in which she teaches groups about the eastern screech owl, American kestrel and American crow she rehabilitated. None of the three birds were able to return to the wild after they regained their health at McMaster's facility.

McMaster's dream is to build an outdoor educational facility at her farm so people can come during the summer to learn about birds.

The educational facility would be separate from the recovery center, and the education birds would be kept in flight cages.

"It would be comfortable for the birds — a natural environment — but accessible to the public," McMaster said.

Both McMaster and Humane Society officials received their funds from students at an exhibition at the school on Wednesday.