Sanger students spread love this Valentine's Day

"Peanut butter jelly! Here you go."

Peanut butter and grape jelly are the sticky sweets at Jefferson Elementary in Sanger. On the weekend before Valentine's Day--the entire 5th grade gave up having a party with candied hearts and cupcakes to make bag lunches for the homeless.

"It's actually pretty fun actually not being selfish. It's helping others," Jefferson Elementary Student Miranda Wilson said.

Bags are made with handwritten messages, stuffed with fresh oranges and sandwiches.

"I've got fruit, I've got fruit."

"Everybody likes peanut butter and jelly, and they're homemade."

The lesson is compassion --and students say they're helping because they see people struggling to make it on the streets.

"They don't have much. They don't have much clothing," Giovanni Leyva said.

"When I see a homeless person I think how sad it is if everybody in the world didn't have a house," Wilson said.

Jefferson Elementary is a title one school which means at least 40 percent of their students receive free or reduced lunches--and many live at or below the poverty level.

"Families struggling to pay PG&E or buy food," Jefferson Elementary Teacher Janell Miller said.

"Kids say I don't think my parents can afford dinner tonight we were concerned and said ok, we'll do it," Natalie Boust said.

More than 200 bags stacked up--and St. Mary's Catholic Church will deliver them to those in the Sanger community who need them most. Kids say this Valentine's Day they are proud that instead of simply making paper hearts, they are actually spreading love.

"I think they are going to be really happy. We're happy making them for them," Jefferson Elementary Teacher Natalie Boust said.