A few days each summer, Cheryl Davis strings beads to make bracelets from sunup until the wee hours of the morning.

She becomes obsessed, she said, and can't stop until she has made about 50 bracelets.

Jewelry making is something she has always been interested in.

About three years ago, she found a way to put her obsession to good use.

Davis, a librarian at Kelly Walsh High School, now exclusively makes and sells her bracelets to benefit Students Offer Support, or SOS.

SOS helps students at the high school who have financial troubles, said founder Pat Fonnesback. It pays for items or services that are necessary for students to be successful in school

"We see so many kids who need stuff," Davis said. "From glasses to doctor's appointments to prom dresses."

Davis was selling some of her bracelets at a Jewelry, Jeans and Bag Sale at the high school Saturday. She sells each item for $18 and donates half of that money directly to SOS.

Fonnesback calls SOS a lifeline for students. The service becoming more and more necessary, she said.

Since the organization began in 2002, Fonnesback said the number of kids needing the service has grown each year.

In August, Fonnesback purchased $200 worth of gift cards from Wal-Mart and gave them to the school nurse to distribute to students who needed help.

They were gone within two weeks, she said.

Natrona County High School has a similar type of program as well.

Vicki Eve, a reading teacher at Kelly Walsh High School, said the organization provides a very valuable service to her students.

"There is a bigger division between the rich and poor, now," Eve said. "And we are seeing it in our students."

Eve helped out at Saturday's event. More than 20 tables were lined with bright costume jewelry, stacks of blue jeans and purses in every color.

All the items, most of them used, were donated by the Kelly Walsh community. The money raised from the sale will go directly toward purchasing gift cards for students and their families, to pay for kids' medical bills, even to buy shoes for the high school prom.

"Sometimes it is just school clothes or a new backpack," Eve said. "If they are in choir, maybe they need black pants."

During the Christmas season, the organization buys gift cards for families so they can get a tree, food for a Christmas dinner and presents.

After SOS announced it was putting on the event, item and money donations began to pour in. Eve said they had already raised more than $1,000 before they even began selling anything on Saturday.

Eve says the organization would like to do more to help those in need.

She said teachers, school nurses or counselors and even fellow students do a good job of recognizing which students at the high school need help, but it is difficult. Kids with financial problems don't always let on that they are hurting.

"I think we are not serving enough," Eve said. "We need to know who these kids are. You wouldn't know them, if you just saw them walking around school."

Contact health reporter Allison Rupp at (307) 266-0534 or allison.rupp@casperstartribune.net.