It was a sweet way to help children in another country. The Lead-Deadwood Elementary Student Council raised $342.75 selling candy canes to help buy supplies for a medical mission trip to Honduras.

The council will learn how helpful their efforts were when Lead-Deadwood Superintendent of Schools Dan Leikvold returns from the trip, scheduled for Feb. 28-March 8.

A member of the Lead Kiwanis, Leikvold was present at a Kiwanis meeting last year that featured Sue Holloway telling of her experiences traveling to Honduras on a mission trip sponsored by the Methodist Church Dakotas Conference Volunteer In Mission.

"After I heard about the trip, I thought to myself, 'It looks rewarding and interesting,'" Leikvold said.

All of this year's 25 team members, including Leikvold, are funding their own expenses of $1,500 to make the journey. Team members are asked to raise money to help offset the cost of supplies they will take with them. That's when the Lead-Deadwood Elementary Student Council stepped up to help.

Leikvold also secured $250 donations from the Lead Kiwanis Club and the Deadwood Elks to help with the cost of supplies. Leikvold explained that team members use only a small carry-on bag for personal luggage but bring two large bags filled with medical and dental supplies as checked luggage for the flight to Honduras.

Mission trip organizer Gloria Borgman of Spearfish said this is the sixth year people from the Black Hills area have traveled to Honduras to help support a Methodist Medical Clinic in El Pino. Team members come together from different church affiliations and with different skills.

"You don't have to be Methodist, and you don't have to be medically skilled to be on the team," she said.

The group from South Dakota and a Methodist church team from Georgia are the sole supporters of this particular clinic's work. The clinic serves the rural village of El Pino plus surrounding villages. Team members provide dental care and instruction and hope to have up to 6,000 toothbrushes to hand out to villagers.

"Many of the villagers have never seen a toothbrush, or they have only one per family," Borgman said.

Because of the number of volunteers this year, a second team will pour cement walls for a new clinic facility as well as provide additional health care. With the help of mission team members from Georgia, it is hoped that construction of the new clinic will be completed by the end of summer, Borgman said.

"All the little donations add up to a huge amount that makes a big difference in what we're able to supply down there," Borgman said.

"I think it will be a very rewarding experience to help those kids," Leikvold said about his upcoming trip.

Donations of medical and dental supplies or money to purchase the supplies are still welcome. For more information on assisting this mission's outreach to Honduras, call Ron or Gloria Borgman at 642-5321.