A $2 table that her mother bought at a thrift shop became the inspiration for a $5,000 prize for a North Harlem Elementary School fifth-grader.

Mary Frances Vest, 10, was one of 10 winners in the inaugural LEGO Creativity Awards essay contest. She wrote about the half-moon table she painted in memory of Cora Neal, a third-grade teacher at North Harlem Elementary who died of breast cancer in 2006.

"Each part of the table that I painted represented something about Ms. Neal," Mary Frances said.

LEGO Systems Inc. funded the contest in which children ages 6 to 13 described a way in which they had been creative at home or at school and explained how their efforts made them feel.

Mary Frances' essay was selected from almost 1,000 entrants from the United States and Canada.

Her mother, Bonnie, said Mary Frances wrote the 150-word essay during breakfast one morning. They mailed the essay and forgot about it -- until two weeks ago, when they got a phone message that Mary Frances had won, Mrs. Vest said.

The fifth-grader, who hopes to be a missionary doctor one day, said it took about five hours to paint the table.

North Harlem teachers bought the table at a silent auction to support Cora's Cruisers, the school's Relay for Life team. The table, on display as a 4-H Club contest entry at the Columbia County Merchants Association Fall Fair, permanently sits in the school's Parent Resource Center.

Mary Frances said she will save half of the prize money in a college fund and donate 10 percent to Harlem United Methodist Church, where her father, Roger, is pastor. She also said she would like to use part of the money to make something for next year's Relay for Life silent auction.

Grady Vest, 13, a Harlem Middle School eighth-grader, said his sister enjoys helping other people.

"She does a lot for the community," he said.