SAN ANTONIO – They're only in elementary school but they just won $20,000, and they're not spending it on themselves.
They're the Northwest Crossing Caring Cardinals and their mission is to make sure their peers don't go hungry.
Kids are told to dream big. The dream these kids have is pretty spectacular. The Caring Cardinals they work every week to pack bags of food for the kids in their school who don't get enough to eat on the weekends.
"I think to them it means that now they can be able to be ready to learn on Monday and to have good nutrition," said fourth grade Caring Cardinal Valerie Macias.
Every grade participates, including special needs students. Recently, their big joint dream came true. They entered their program in the Spurs Silver and Black Team Up Give Back Challenge, and were one of five finalists to win $20,000.
"There were so many good ideas and so many different schools that I didn't know we were going to win," said third grade Caring Cardinal Victoria Adame.
"We won, and we felt so surprised!" Valerie said.
Their reactions showed these generous kids are also humble winners.
What's most impressive to the Northwest Crossing staff members and to the contest judges, is that the program is led almost entirely by the kids.
"They're doing basically everything on their own," said Northwest Crossing teacher and Caring Cardinals mentor Nicole Garza. "They've done all the research, they came up with the plan, they came up with the strategy, they even sat down and figured out what was going to be the best bag to put food in."
With the $20,000 the students will be able to buy more food and pack more bags for the kids and their families. They predict the program will be able to continue for another four years with this type of funding.
The kids also came up with another way to spend the money. They want to send extra food home with their peers, to feed their younger siblings. They said they came up with the compassionate idea by thinking about their own families.
"I have four siblings so I'd want my younger siblings to have food too," Victoria said.
"You're kind of taken about a little bit," Garza said. "It never really occurs to you that kids would think of something like that, and when they do, it's very meaningful and it lets us know we're doing something right."
She said it proves that anyone at any age can truly make a difference.
The kids applied for the Silver and Black challenge at the beginning of the school year, and continued to meet challenge regulations. They were named one of the 15 finalist programs, and eventually were one of the five groups to win $20,000.
One of the other winners was also from Northside ISD. The Construction Technology Class out of Warren High School also won $20,000. That group plans to help the Northwest Crossing Caring Cardinals build their pantry.
Their reactions showed these generous kids are also humble winners.
What's most impressive to the Northwest Crossing staff members and to the contest judges, is that the program is led almost entirely by the kids.
"They're doing basically everything on their own," said Northwest Crossing teacher and Caring Cardinals mentor Nicole Garza. "They've done all the research, they came up with the plan, they came up with the strategy, they even sat down and figured out what was going to be the best bag to put food in."
With the $20,000 the students will be able to buy more food and pack more bags for the kids and their families. They predict the program will be able to continue for another four years with this type of funding.
The kids also came up with another way to spend the money. They want to send extra food home with their peers, to feed their younger siblings. They said they came up with the compassionate idea by thinking about their own families.
"I have four siblings so I'd want my younger siblings to have food too," Victoria said.
"You're kind of taken about a little bit," Garza said. "It never really occurs to you that kids would think of something like that, and when they do, it's very meaningful and it lets us know we're doing something right."
She said it proves that anyone at any age can truly make a difference.
The kids applied for the Silver and Black challenge at the beginning of the school year, and continued to meet challenge regulations. They were named one of the 15 finalist programs, and eventually were one of the five groups to win $20,000.
One of the other winners was also from Northside ISD. The Construction Technology Class out of Warren High School also won $20,000. That group plans to help the Northwest Crossing Caring Cardinals build their pantry.