AURORA — S.W. Snowden Elementary School students are putting their own twist on the Bright Futures Beaufort County winter coat drive.

Each student is asked to donate $1 to go toward the coat drive, and the students who donate will have their names displayed by the front office on paper mitten cutouts, according to Robin McKeithan, coordinator of Bright Futures Beaufort County.

Barbara Jones, who serves on the Bright Futures board, said the idea came about after PotashCorp-Aurora decided a couple of weeks ago to donate free coats embellished with the Trojan logo to every student and staff member at S.W. Snowden.

She said the school is using the donation period for the coat drive to pay forward the kindness shown to them by PotashCorp.

“Our kids are really good about sharing things and giving back to others,” Jones said. “What we decided was it might be better for, you know, a ‘pay it forward’ thing.”

The Bright Futures coat drive runs from Nov. 2-13, so volunteers are just starting to collect $1 donations at the school. Jones said they have already collected more than $60 so far.

“It’s truly a community thing,” she said. “Our parents are very supportive in everything that we do.”

After the coat drive is over, Jones said she hopes to get a group of students together to use the donation money to go shopping for some of the coats. She said she thinks it will be a good opportunity to teach the children about financial responsibility and taxes, as well as pick out coats their peers would like.

Although the school is mainly pushing the $1 donations, volunteers are also happy to take coat donations as well.

“I have been asked by some of the parents, ‘Are you taking gently used coats’? … I said, ‘Sure, we’ll take them,’” Jones said. “People are cleaning out their closets and things to help out.”

Along with the parents, she said the students have also reacted positively to the drive, and S.W. Snowden has a history of students who willingly give back to those in need.

“The kids do have such a giving heart,” Jones said.