Manalapan Elementary Students Break Lego World Records

200,000 Lego pieces, 1,100 students, ten hours and two world records: Clark Mills Elementary School was an exciting place to be on Monday as students put their Lego building skills to work for a great cause.

Students from Clark Mills and nearby Milford Brook, parents and teachers built the worlds longest lego chain to raise money for JAR of Hope, a local nonprofit that raises money for Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

A Clark Mills student was diagnosed with the fatal disease three years ago exactly, and his father, James Raffone, came up with the idea of building a lego chain to represent the dystrophin gene. That gene is absent in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, causing muscle weakness.

"As the 3rd anniversary of Jamesy's diagnosis comes to a close...it will forever have a new meaning," Raffone wrote in a Sept. 13 Facebook post. "In Manalapan, on September 13th going forward it will be know as JAR of Hope's 'Deliver of Hope Day' and will forever have a positive meaning."

The community snapped together 10,000 pieces in just three hours, smashing the previous record of 10,000 pieces in eight hours. Using donated legos from Play-Well TEKnologies, participants bypassed the length record at dusk with an impressive 947 meters worth of Legos.

Raffone was proud of all those who came out to support the cause, writing, "This day was my concept but this day belongs to Manalapan."

Photo credit: Township of Manalapan