SHELBY — Students at Dowds Elementary School spent Friday shopping to help families in need.

Two classrooms at a time, students visited either Cornell’s IGA Foodliner or Save-A-Lot in Shelby to purchase food for the pantry with money they had earned by completing tasks around their homes.

“It was a take-home project,” said Michelle Smith, a fourth grade teacher at Dowds. “They would do a chore and earn money from their parents. They would rake leaves or take out the garbage.”

Students brought in $2,107 for the student body to spend on groceries for the pantry.

Smith said each grade is involved, though Kindergarten students can bring in a canned food item instead of visiting a grocery store.