TALLADEGA — A combination of efforts can often make the whole greater than the sum of the individual parts.

The Talladega City School System pooled the schools’ individual fundraisers for the “Relief for Haiti” effort and in doing so was able to give more than $4,000 to the Red Cross at the Board of Education meeting Monday night.

“This was a chance to bring all the schools together,” said “Relief for Haiti” organizer Katie Reynolds. Reynolds sponsors the Student Government Association at Talladega High School and supervises the school’s Alternate Education Program and In-School Isolation.

Through various fundraising programs, each of the schools in the system combined the fruits of their efforts to present to the Talladega County Chapter of the American Red Cross at the Board of Education meeting Monday.

Together, the School System raised more than $4,000 for the cause.

The bulk of the joint donation came from Talladega High School’s free-dress week, during which students paid $5 to wear what they wanted rather than their dress code uniforms.

“One quick way to raise money is to afford a way to get out of those uniforms,” said Reynolds.

It worked well. Talladega High raised $2,405 through this fundraiser. The SGA presented this donation combined with Salter Elementary’s donation of $195 in an oversized check at the board meeting.

The free-dress week idea was the brainchild of Talladega High senior and SGA president Xavier Embry.

Embry said he knew he wanted to do something to help the people in Haiti as soon as he heard about the earthquake on his car radio.

“I thought to myself, ‘What if I was in that situation?’ Once I arrived to school, I sat behind my desk and thought to myself, ‘How can I help?’” Embry said.

He researched donation efforts online and found that other schools were raising funds, and therefore Talladega could, too.

Embry proposed a free-dress day, which was later retooled to be a full week.

Other fundraising efforts in the schools included a “pennies for Haiti” program at Houston Elementary that yielded $400 and donations at Zora Ellis Junior High that added up to around $200.

Northside Hal Henderson Elementary combined its donation program with its black history program, titled “See a Need, Fill a Need.” The result was $275.

Graham Elementary raised around $100 and R.L. Young Elementary raised $640. R.L. Young students included messages of hope along with the money.

Reynolds came up with the idea of having the system donate as a whole shortly after the earthquake struck in Haiti. She knew donations would be needed, and it was something the students could do.

She said she thought it would be wonderful if the system would unite in such an effort.

After some investigation, Reynolds learned that some of the other city schools had started their own fundraising efforts. She said she decided to present the idea to Interim Superintendent Douglas Campbell for each school to do its own program but present them as a whole.

Campbell agreed. The schools were informed and the united effort went into affect at the beginning of February.

At the Board of Education meeting, Pat Miller, former executive director of the Talladega County Chapter of the American Red Cross, accepted the donation. The city schools asked for Miller specifically, as she has done countless projects with the School System in the past.

Having officially retired on Feb. 26, Miller said she was glad to be a part of the presentation. She considered being there for “Relief for Haiti” part of her goal to stay active in volunteering for the Red Cross and called the event her “final appearance as director.”