Young San Antonio children are banding together to cut out hunger at their school. Students at Northwest Crossing Elementary work each week to make sure their classmates get the food they need on the weekends.
Their mission is mighty, their assembly line is fast and their hearts are as big as their smiles.
"It makes me feel happy because I get to help other people," second-grader Kimberly Leal said.
The Northwest Crossing Caring Cardinals are composed of 67 students from first through fifth grade. They pack bags for 47 fellow students who are in a school food program during the week but don't get enough to eat on the weekends.
"We are a Title 1 campus, so we have a high population of low socio-economic. Some of the kids in the Caring Cardinals would even fall into that category," program director Beckie Derby said.
Derby explained that each grade has a job.
Third-graders pick the bags up from classrooms at the beginning of each week. First-graders count the food. Second-graders are in charge of the pantry.
"We organize it and count it, then we label how much that food is," Kimberly said.
Fifth-graders load the bags up and fourth-graders are the delivery team.
"We take the bags that fifth grade packed and we deliver them to all the classrooms," fourth-grader Lucy Young said.
Each bag is labeled with two numbers: one corresponding to the grade and one corresponding to the student. That's done to make sure all the kids who get the packs are anonymous. It's an idea the kids came up with on their own.
"It's anonymous, because they could feel embarrassed or upset that they have to get it because everybody has the right resources and they don't. So we do it by number," Lucy said.
"They are the most amazing little people," Derby said. "You have no idea. Their hearts are just pure gold. They get joy from doing this and get absolutely nothing in return. They can't even get a thank you because they don't even know who the children are."
The students don't need a thank-you, though. They're happy just to give back.
"I'm very blessed and I have everything I need, and there are a lot of people out there who don't," Lucy said.
The Caring Cardinals also work on a second service project called Looming for the Homeless. The kids loom hats, scarves and blankets. Once they make 10 garments, they deliver them to homeless people.
Both of their projects are funded by a $2,500 grant from the Spurs Silver and Black Give Back, Team Up Challenge. Last year the Caring Cardinals were semifinalists. They also support the programs through very generous community donations. They're working right now to win this year's Team Up grant to keep the programs going. If they get first place, they could win $20,000, which would keep the program running for years.