SAN ANTONIO – They served their country, and now they are serving the San Antonio community looking to change lives.
Veteran's spent the day on Saturday giving a Southwest Side school a facelift.
The national veterans-based charity "Mission Continues" has the goal of putting military skills to work in battles here at home.
"Give back, and have that sense of purpose, a sense of service that a lot of us loose when we get out of the military, but the desire is still there," said Damion Martin with the charity made up of veterans looking for an outlet to use the work ethic and attributes they gained while serving.
Beginning Tuesday with a team of five at the San Antonio Can High School, a second-chance secondary school, 'Mission Continues' had 300 workers working for four hours fixing up the school in a massive joint operation.
"We do a lot of nation building overseas when we were in the military, we wanna bring that same skill set back here to the communities that need it the most," said Martin.
"It was, it's amazing to see," said Can Principal Mark Tribett, “We don't get funds like most schools do.”
Planning for months and proving that they still have the right stuff, in four hours they nearly completed a new baseball field, playground, daycare space and two outdoor classrooms. They also built picnic tables and benches.
The high school will use them all to create graduates who got a second chance at a diploma.
"Giving the kids the sense of feeling like the school they've chosen to come to is not a throw away school, it's not a back-up plan," said Martin of why they chose to help the school.
"Feeling the inspiration from them and the appreciation, that's what really energizes us," said Martin.
The charity says it doesn't stop here. Workers here from outside San Antonio will go back to their communities to start projects just like this.