When young students recently hopped to music at Littleville Learning Center, they were doing more than getting some good exercise. They were raising money for the American Cancer Society.

On Wednesday, May 7, and Thursday, May 8, preschool, prekindergarten and kindergarten students took turns hopping for a total of 30 minutes each day. During two weeks leading up to their hop-a-thon, they had collected pledges from relatives and friends.

“The kids love it,” said Littleville’s co-owner, Laura Devine, who explained to the students that they would be helping people with cancer, including sick children. “They get a kick out of it.”

Their hop-a-thon supports the Relay for Life fundraiser that is held in Salem annually to benefit the ACS.

This is the third year that Littleville students have hopped to make a difference in cancer patients’ lives. In 2006, Salem resident Dawn Mastrogiacomo and the school’s staff came up with the idea for a hop-a-thon. That year, students raised $1,700. They brought in $2,300 last year.

A Relay for Life is an overnight event where participants raise money for cancer research and ACS programs and celebrate cancer survivorship. Relays are held in communities throughout the nation.

This year’s relay in Salem begins at 4 p.m. on Saturday, June 21, and concludes at 10 a.m. on Sunday, June 22. Over 18 hours, members of teams will take turns walking laps at Salem High School’s Grant Field. Last year’s event raised approximately $250,000.

Mastrogiacomo, a breast cancer survivor, is a member of a group of women, Team Mom-O-Gram, who will be participating. Mastrogiacomo will bring the money the Littleville students raised to the relay.

“They can play a big role in Relay for Life even though they’re on (summer) vacation,” said Mastogiacomo who had sent her daughter, Jamie, now 8, to the school.

On the first day of this year’s hop-a-thon, the children hopped to music by Hannah Montana and Kidz Bop as Devine’s sister, school co-owner Valerie Longo, cheered them on.

Colorful helium-filled balloons decorated the area, and nearby hung an American Cancer Society Relay for Life banner. It read: “It’s about being a community that takes up the fight.”