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KIRKSVILLE, MO. -- What started off as an idea has become a reality for a group of 5th grade students in Mrs. Lori Pinkston's class at Ray Miller Elementary school in Kirksville.

Each year students make books to send to students in Uganda, but this year Ethan Gooch wanted to do something a little extra.

"Mrs. Pinkston told us we could raise money for Uganda and I've wanted to do that for a long time so she suggested some different things so then that night I looked on the computer," Ethan said.

And that's how Beads of Hope came about.

"They make these beads in Uganda and so I think it's cool that we've made those beads and done what they did and helped them out," said Andrew Gooch.

The beads are made out of paper that is rolled tightly around a toothpick and since they started the project, the students have made dozens of bracelets and necklaces.

Money from the sales will be sent to Uganda and used to by and install a water purifying system for school kids.

So just how much do they need and why a water purifying system?

"Well right I think we have around $300 and they said the water system should be around $300 so we made our goal but we're hoping to raise as much as possible," Andrew said.

"We don't think anything about our water when we go get a drink, we're like oh, we got a drink of water," Ethan said. "But for them to go get a a drink of water they have to get a pale of water from the creek and then they just drink it and it's not very clean."

And these kids are well on their way in making a difference, not only that, this idea has other classes thinking about how they can help out too.

"My fourth graders are actually saying what can we do next year? So it sounds like its going to snow ball from there," Mrs. Pinkerston said.

If you would like to purchase a necklace or bracelet click here to get to Ray Miller's website.