A group of Riverside High School students spent part of their last day before Thanksgiving break helping to move food supplies, load trays and serve a meal to those in need. The students were one of the groups of volunteers helping to serve meals at the Salvation Army’s Painesville Corps this holiday season. Corps Major Alma Riley said that the organization, located at 69 Pearl St., offers a warm breakfast around 7 a.m. and a warm lunch around noon on weekdays. “I just did it because I thought it would be a good, fun experience to do and see everybody be together and come as a community,” said Riverside senior Ayeka Soria. Soria and fellow senior Regan Havanchak said that their tasks included making to-go bags and serving meals, drinks, and cupcakes for dessert. “It’s really nice to have one day where everyone can get involved and make it a large focus,” Havanchak said. Another group of young volunteers will come in to the Salvation Army later in the week. Cadets from Painesville’s Civil Air Patrol Squadron OH-252 will serve meals there on Nov. 29 and at nearby St. James Episcopal Church on New Year’s Day. Squadron Deputy Commander Jeremy Jesenovec said that the cadets have served at both locations “for many years.” He added that the volunteers help cook, serve, make to-go meals and clean up afterwards. “We do have the opportunity to get them out there, to actually…participate in the community and give back and learn what it means to be grateful and helping the community out, which is something that a lot of kids don’t get necessarily,” Jesenovec said. He added that the group has served meals at the Salvation Army “since around 1995” and St. James since about 2016. “As we know, the Salvation Army’s been around a long time, they have a great mission-focused program and it helps them accomplish their mission as well as, again, feeding the hungry and helping those that are in need,” he added. The Painesville Salvation Army’s Jeanne Kutrapka, left, hands a tray of food to Riverside High School student Taylor Wright to deliver to guests at the Salvation Army’s lunch program on Nov. 26. Riverside students volunteered at the Salvation Army as part of the district’s Community Kindness Day. (Bryson Durst — The News-Herald) Riley said that while volunteers help with the program every day, more outside groups like Riverside and the Civil Air Patrol come to help out around the holiday season. People who are interested in volunteering can reach out to the Salvation Army’s office at 440-354-3774. “We really are grateful to all the people who do reach out to us to volunteer, because without them, we just wouldn’t have the number of hands that we need to be able to serve,” Riley said. She added that even though Salvation Army staff will have the day after Thanksgiving off, the lunch will still be available there that Friday. The Salvation Army is one of a handful of organizations in Painesville that works to offer meals to those in need. Further north in the city, the St. James Episcopal Church meal program serves meals from 1 to 2 p.m. on Good Friday and national holidays. St. James also serves dinner on Mondays and Tuesdays, while the Karpos Ministry at nearby St. Mary Catholic Church serves dinner on Wednesdays and Thursdays. “Nourishment is part of what keeps people going, and we try to make it so that there is always a place to eat,” Riley said. She added that most of the people that come to the Salvation Army’s meals are homeless. They serve an average of 80 people per day, and guests can take seconds home. Cadets in Painesville Civil Air Patrol Squadron OH-252 volunteer at the food program at the Painesville Salvation Army in 2023. (Courtesy of Jeremy Jesenovec) Serving meals is only one way that both the Riverside School District and the Civil Air Patrol squadron hope to give back this holiday season. The Riverside students who served meals on Nov. 26 were part of the district’s Community Kindness Day. Each elementary school had a different activity planned to help those in need or show kindness to the community, said district Marketing Director Nick Carrabine. The district’s latchkey students made cards or other projects for Riverside’s elementary school safety officers. Carrabine added that students from LaMuth Middle School went to sing and make holiday crafts at Vista Springs Assisted Living. High school students held their Turkey Volleyball fundraiser, made cards for Meals on Wheels or made kindness chains with middle schoolers, in addition to the group that helped at the Salvation Army. The district previously held its Community Kindness Day as a summer program for staff members. It moved the event to the spring last year to allow students to participate, and then moved it to the fall this year in response to student feedback and to tie with the theme of showing thanks. “When we do this Community Kindness Day every year, we’re partnering with different organizations and different non-profits so (students) get to learn about the different needs and what different organizations are doing in our community, so we really hope that the students just learn the importance of all the needs in the community and also giving back,” Carrabine said. He added that the school district’s students also volunteer and hold fundraisers outside of Community Kindness Day. “We hope the community knows that we have their back and that we care about them and we want our students, again, to just be leaders in the community and be helpful residents and citizens of Lake County,” Carrabine said. Meanwhile, Jesenovec said that Civil Air Patrol Squadron OH-252 recently raised funds for Wreaths Across America. The program places wreaths on veterans’ graves around the United States and at foreign cemeteries. He added that the Civil Air Patrol serves as the civilian auxiliary for the Air Force. Squadron OH-252 consists of both adult members and cadets 12 years and up, and it meets in the gym at the back of Painesville Church of the Nazarene, 6235 Chestnut St., every Tuesday night from 7 to 9 p.m. “We teach them about leadership, character development, emergency response, safety, emergency services, physical fitness and drill,” Jesenovec said He added that while there are cadets that do go on into military academies, the organization can also provide character development and leadership preparation for members who do not have plans to join the military. Other aspects of the Civil Air Patrol program include free flights with a pilot, a one-week bootcamp-like encampment and trips. Potential members are asked to attend three meetings before joining. “It’s an excellent program with lots of activities, lots of learning, lots of training, and it’s really a very excellent, functional program that really has benefitted a lot of kids that have gone through it,” Jesenovec said.