The day before the March 23 fire, the philanthropic-oriented 8-year-olds hit upon the idea to sell cookies and lemonade and donate the money to a homeless shelter. But after the fire, the girls redirected their efforts, donating the $135 they raised to help the fire victims.

"There are 18 students at our school who were affected," Alexes says. The third-grader says she could empathize with the students at her school who were suddenly lacking shelter and all their personal possessions, because she had also experienced the fear and devastation of being the victim of a fire.

To help the displaced families, the girls decided to have a fundraiser at their elementary school on April 8. They sold chocolate chip, peanut butter-chocolate chip and caramel chocolate chip cookies for 50 cents each. They made the cookies themselves.

"We got pretty sick of cookies," says Camille, who admitted that she and Alexes taste tested the samples they baked. And the girls baked a lot of cookies.

To promote the fundraiser, the girls designed and produced flyers complete with clip art cookies and lemonade and handed them out to all the classes at school, as well as to the PTA. The sale was set to take place at lunchtime in front of the school's cafeteria.

"It was raining that day and we thought we would have to go from classroom to classroom selling the cookies," says Alexes' mother, Tamee Niekamp, "but the sun came out at just the right time, and the sale went on as planned in front of the cafeteria."

The response was more than the girls had hoped for.

"The line was never-ending," Alexes says. "It seemed like 10 people would leave and 10 more would get in line."

"There were people still in line after the bell rang to go back to class," Tamee says.

The girls were also surprised and pleased at the generosity of their customers. "Some people would pay for the cookies and then tell us to keep the change," Camille says.

The experience was so rewarding that the girls are now thinking of another way to raise money for their community. "We feel it is important to give back to the community," Alexes says.

"Our parents raised us to help others," Camille adds.

The girls' mothers were clearly pleased with their daughters' efforts and accomplishment. "I am so proud of my daughter and Alexes," says Cass Contreas, Camille's mother. "I think what they did is great."

"They came up with the idea and asked for our help," Tamee Niekamp says, "but they planned everything, including the promotion, and did all the follow-through. I guess children at any age can understand when someone is in need."