By Byron Wilkes
The Meridian Star
Most high school kids are looking forward to receiving gifts this time of year, but four juniors from Lamar High School decided they would put others before themselves for the holidays.
On Wednesday morning, juniors Grace McKelvey, Victoria Poole, Resham Rahat and Spencer Van Zandt doled out breakfasts at Love's Kitchen and gave a bundle of present-filled stockings to sheltered individuals at the Meridian Multi-County Community Service Agency, Inc.
The students raised money for the gifts by selling tickets that exempted students from the dress code for a single day at their school, raising exactly $700.
The generosity is more than seasonal goodwill, though; it's a community service project the four students devised for Leadership Lauderdale Youth, an organization of 29 high school juniors that engages the community proactively.
"You get to meet a lot of people who want to learn about their community," Poole said. "It's good to be around people like that."
The kids contacted Chik-Fil-A, which in turn provided chicken biscuits for the breakfast at Love's Kitchen, a local charity that offers free breakfasts and lunches six days of the week, excluding Sunday. Sure enough, shortly after 7 a.m., the hungry started to trickle through the doors.
"Y'all need to come back tomorrow, too," said one man to the philanthropic teenagers.
From Love's Kitchen, the group headed to the MCCSA, where they gave 25 stockings brimming with sundry presents to the men, women and children staying at the shelter.
But the kids weren't finished spreading seasons' tidings yet. In a particularly poignant moment, they surprised shelter manager Linda Jones with a little under $400, the funds remaining after the students purchased the gifts.
"God bless you all," Jones said. "You didn't have to do it, but you took the time to do it, and you did."
