Kailey Maschott and Payton Willox looked forward to Wednesday’s annual St. Jude Carnival at Stella Brockman School.

In this day of games and activities, the two third-grade students decided to put combine their money to buy 50 tickets.

Their goal was to win more prizes during this event benefiting the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in collaboration with Chili’s Create-A-Pepper Childhood Cancer campaign.

Chili’s Bar & Grill in Manteca hosted a “Give Back Night” on the previous day, donating 10 percent of the proceeds to the school.

“Our hope is to raise $2500,” said Amy Albrecht.

As the organizer for the sixth straight year, she noted that the carnival held in the school’s multi-purpose building involved leadership students and about a dozen volunteer Chili’s employees.

So far, the carnival has raised $12,000 during the last five years. The money will go to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, which is internationally recognized for its pioneering work in finding cures while saving youngsters with cancer and other catastrophic diseases.

“Together, we’re one big team,” said Christine Karmolinsky, who is the Chili’s general manager.

She was amazed on how the event came together. At the same time, Karmolinsky had a chance to see her team members outside of the work environment. They used their skills to face paint or lead youngsters in games and other activities during the carnival.

“This puts them in a different light,” she said.

Third-grade student Zachary Carpenter liked his face-paint of the Major League Baseball team logo, the Cincinnati Reds.

“I like the Reds,” he said. “They have (slugger) Joey Vatto – he’s my favorite player.”