The fundraising effort was part of the students' course work, where they were assessed on their ability to work together as a team towards a common goal.

"One of the best ways to teach that is to give them something real to do," their teacher, Cheryl Bradshaw told the Cootamundra Herald.

The students decided that the Burrumbuttock Hay Runners were a worthy cause as they volunteer their services providing hay to drought-stricken farmers and had no other form of funding behind them. The students then organised a wood raffle, scoring five loads of wood donated from various local sources.

Raffle tickets were then sold in five locations throughout the area, including Cootamundra, Harden, Temora, Tumut and Wagga. One load of wood was raffled per town. The result of the venture saw a grand total of $4,162.40 raise, an amount that exceeded the expectations of everyone involved.

Founder of the Burrumbuttock Hay Runners, Brendan Farrell, expressed extreme gratitude to the students for selecting his group as the cause and then successfully raising such a "beautiful" amount of money.

"We're just a bunch of blokes with trucks organising what we can," he said. "To have the nation raising money for what we do is pretty special."

The fundraising activity was the final assessment of the students' 18-month course. They will be ready to enter the workforce in July.