A group of students at Kimbrough Middle School in the Mesquite ISD took collecting food donations to the next level.
Students and staff collected 23,000 items — more than double the 10,000 collected last year — for their "Thanks & Giving Month" benefiting social services and Sharing Life.
Eighth-grader Isabel Ybarra brought in a whopping 5,000 food items to the donation drive, helping them to shatter records.
Isabel's mom told NBC 5 that her daughter started collecting on Nov. 1 and reached out to everyone in their family to collect donations.
"This is such a blessing, she always puts others before herself. Giving back is her passion. She will give you the shirt off her back," said Isabel's mother, Gloria Ybarra. "It's funny how we can learn from a child, just when we think we are paying it forward she goes and does this."
But after the 13-year old thought that wasn't enough, she used her own money to buy more food.
"She asked me if she could go to the store and use her money to purchase more items we told her yes, and for whatever she purchased we would match it," said Gloria.
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While buying more food, Isabel asked several grocery store managers if they had any food to contribute. She ended up partnering with them on a one-for-one match of food items with multiple grocery stores, doubling her food collection.
At one point, her mom says Isabel even told her parents she would sacrifice Christmas gifts this year to pay for more food for the needy.
"It broke me and my husband down in tears to see that our 13-year-old daughter was putting others before herself, she gave up what she was asking for Christmas to use the money to purchase food," said Gloria.
