Eighteen incarcerated men at SCI Phoenix State Correctional Institution at Skippack Township pooled their resources to buy several science lab kits for Philadelphia first graders, writes Emily Rizzo for WHYY.

The men earn between 19 and 51 cents an hour for doing a range of jobs, including in the prison infirmary and food service.

This means that it took the group thousands of working hours combined to put together $1,450 for at least two science kits.

“If one of those lab kits can change a child’s life or pique their interest enough in science to have them do something other than come to prison, I think that’s a win,” said Terell Carter, one of the men who participated in the initiative.

The men learned about the need for science labs at Stephen Girard Elementary School in South Philadelphia from a DonorsChoose request made by first-grade teacher Monty Yellock.

After his sister told him about the request, Tyree Wallace, who is also incarcerated at SCI Phoenix, gathered his friends to get the money together and help fill one of the many gaps numerous teachers and students in schools across Philadelphia experience.

Read more about the initiative in WHYY.