"We're hoping to raise about $5,000 more and then we'll be able to breath easier," said teacher Barb Leuze. "We are so close and we are going to bring back a vanload of excited and motivated kids."

Last Saturday, the group held a successful television auction which raised over $2,000 for the trip. And, the Hay River Reserve's Robert Lamalice found out that he is the owner of a brand new snowmobile after his name was drawn at the group's draw which raised approximately $4,000.

All told, 506 tickets were sold for the draw.

"We'd like to thank Kingland Ford who sold a lot of tickets and who provided the snowmobile at cost," Leuze said. "And so many people sold tickets -- thank you."

Departure for Florida is set for March 28 and Leuze says that fundraising efforts will continue until the very end. Flights and hotel rooms are now paid for and additional funds will be used to pay for educational programs for the kids at the Epcot Centre, Orlando Science Centre and other Florida attractions.

"We're having a mock-jail tomorrow," she said. "You pay $5 and you can have anyone you want put in jail for 15 minutes. If they don't want to go to jail, they have to put up the same amount of money that was raised by others to put them in jail in the first place."

And, bottle drives, television bingos on Tuesdays and a barbecue during next week's parent-teacher interviews are also planned.

This group never gives up.

"There is genuine excitement now," Leuze says about the 11 kids who will be going on the dream trip. "We're hearing reports of new bathing suits and packing tales all ready."

It should be noted that besides a generous grant from Brighter Futures, the group has raised all this money on their own.