Metro High students spend day helping charities prepare for holidays

CEDAR RAPIDS - Nearly 150 Metro High School students and more than 30 staff members spent Wednesday helping local charities and non-profit organizations gear up for the holidays. The school celebrated its annual service day by volunteering at eleven job sites throughout Cedar Rapids, including Waypoint Services.

'When we have those extra hands, it's unbelievable how much it means to us,” said Sonya Masse, Waypoint's resource development coordinator. 'It's a busy time of year for us and we have a small staff here.”

Kids helped workers build a brand new food pantry that will be available to homeless or near-homeless people, as well as families affected by domestic violence.

'It helps us to remember how important it is to have what we have,” said Izah Condran, a sophomore student at Metro. 'And how important it is to help others get there and keep them on their feet.”

After creating the pantry, the students jumped in to organize leftover toys from Waypoint's holiday toy drive. The toys were stacked in a corner of the building's basement, but full-time staff members haven't had time to clean up the piles.

But now, it's all taken care of.

'High school kids are in their own little circle and their own bubble, but when they're able to get around to organizations like this, they can see what's going on in the community,” Masse said.

Now that the leftover toys are organized, they'll be distributed to local kids for birthdays and other special occasions.