N.J. Boys & Girls Club Wins $20,000 Worth Of Technology For Eco-Friendly Efforts

PEQUANNOCK, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- It pays to be kind to Mother Earth, and a group of New Jersey students has found that out first hand.

As CBS2's Elise Finch reported, the students are members of the Pequannock Boys & Girls Club, and their eco-friendly efforts just won them a national competition and new computers.

In total, the students have earned a prize of more than $20,000 worth of computers, televisions and tablets in winning the Samsung Climate Superstars Challenge.

The kids from Pequannock secured their win with a series of earth-friendly events. They thought they were just competing for one 55-inch smart television, but with the grand prize, they have three – along with 20 tablets and 20 Chromebooks.

"I was like, 'O… M… G…, like, we won it? Wow!'" said Jaylene Combs, 13.

"I'm just so surprised and, like, grateful that we got the opportunity to even do this," said Emily Kovacs, 12.

Students from nearly 300 Boys & Girls clubs competed in the contest, made up of six weekly challenges. Each one focused on things like water conservation, energy efficiency, and reducing waste.

The kids from Pequannock secured their win with a series of earth-friendly events, such as a river bank cleanup.

"We like to clean them up, because we want to know that the environment is a safe place," said Shanna Echeverry, 13.

They also hosted an Earth Hour party, turning out the lights to conserve energy.

"All the kids had glow sticks on, and we were just dancing," said Sydney Vandeputte, 13.

The prizes will be used by all the kids at the Boys & Girls Club.

"They're not standing in line or waiting when it's their turn in the education center," said Joseph Lynch of the Boys & Girls Club of Northwest New Jersey. "There's technology available to them that they can take with them into their own quiet space."

"We are able to allow children to use more of this technology, as opposed to 10-minute intervals; that they can sit on a computer in a half-hour roration," said Boys & Girls Club unit leader Danielle Altman. "half hour locations.

"Now it will be easier to do all the stuff we want to," added Bryan Mucha, 13.

This was the first time Samsung held the competition, so these kids are the first winners.