A group of Drew Charter School students has a chance to present its invention to prevent hot-car deaths at a national showcase at MIT, but they need help getting there.

Drew's InvenTeam designed a tool to keep children and pets from dying in hot cars. The team was one of 15 student groups nationally to win awards through the Lemelson-MIT Program for young inventors.

The InvenTeam must raise the money needed to travel to MIT in June, according to a GoFundMe page. The group has raised about $7,700 toward its $23,400 goal by Monday afternoon.

The Drew team's design includes an easy-to-install device that will sense when a child or pet is in a car after the driver has exited and, after a short period, alert the driver, bystanders and police. The group won a $10,000 grant to create the device and expects to have it completed in time to present it at the Lemelson-MIT event, called EurekaFest, in June.

The project was partially inspired by the death of Cooper Harris, a 2-year old who died in June 2014 after being left alone in his father's car.

VIDEO: More about Drew Charter School’s work with students

Danny Shoy, president of the East Lake Foundation, talks about how Drew Charter School educates students. MARK NIESSE/MARK.NIESSE@AJC.COM

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