Amid economic woes, the Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools triumphed, raising $98,000 for the annual Kiss-A-Pig campaign for the American Diabetes Association.
Team Liberty candidate Jason Rogers, along with campaign managers Danny Creasy and Chris Anderson were not far behind.
“We hit a couple of bumps, but still $78,000, considering the economy we live in today, is not bad,” Rogers said. “We raised the most money we’ve ever raised within our school system. We hit an all-time record. Liberty Elementary raised $5,600.”
He said Liberty County schools raised more than $6,000.

The marathon category includes only the teams from Liberty and Savannah, and is a separate division based on a long standing competitive rivalry which has raised large sums of money over the years. Last year, Team Liberty upset the reigning champions by clearing $160,000.
This year Snope took the crown back to Savannah. Savannah has competed for 17 years, Team Liberty for 13.
Snope puckered up to kiss Hamlet the pig at Saturday evening’s gala held at the Hyatt.
“I was a little bit upset about not being able to kiss Hamlet,” Rogers added. “But it was all for a good cause and at the end of the day all the teams raised more than $260,000 and you can’t beat that.”
Kiss-A-Pig was first held in 1993 and the event has steadily grown in popularity and success. Last year the campaign collected around $370,000.
The annual event has raised more than $3 million to support the association’s research, information and advocacy initiatives.
This year the theme was the OlymPIGS and the campaign pitted several candidates in the sprinters category as well as the marathon teams from Liberty and Savannah.
Wining the sprinters category was Beaufort, S.C., Mayor Billy Keyserling.
The pig is honored due to its role in the discovery of insulin, which were originally derived from the pancreas of a pig in 1921.