2,000 golf balls rain from helicopter

COSTA MESA, Calif., Nov. 19 (UPI) -- A private elementary school in California rained about 2,000 golf balls from a helicopter to its athletic field to raise money for student scholarships.

Carolyn Johnson, advancement specialist for the Mariners Christian School in Costa Mesa, said students sold the balls at $10 each to raise funds to provide scholarships to lower-income families and the golf balls were then dropped from the chopper onto the field Friday afternoon, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday.

Johnson said an additional $50,000 was raised by a golf tournament.

"We have families whose children have been here for a number of years," she said. "If they hit a bump [financially] ... this money really allows these kids to stay here."

"I thought it was pretty awesome and really cool," third-grader Gabriella Creamer, 9, said of the golf ball drop.