East Bay high schooler organizing stocking drive for foster kids

An East Bay high schooler is trying to make a difference for kids in need. Mia Metz-White is a ninth grader at Bishop O'Dowd High School in Oakland, and she's organizing a holiday stocking drive for kids in foster care. She joins us now in studio. Hello. Hi. How are you? Were you at the Bishop O'Dowd open house the other day? I wasn't, but I'm sure it was beautiful. That's right, because a lot of the kids who go there are encouraged to do service. Yes. And is this how this came about? Not really. I started it when I was at Park Day School in Oakland when I was in first grade, and I really enjoyed waking up to my stocking, on Christmas morning in the warmth of it. And I'm adopted from foster care, and I really wanted foster kids to experience that. And so I started this project just for them. That's awesome. So, you know, I think a lot of people, and I was told a lot of people don't know how to help. Right. They don't know what to do. But we all feel bad for kids, especially at Christmas, who don't have enough. Right. Yes. You wake up and it's just an ordinary day that that doesn't sound right to me. No. And that's why you did it. Right. Yes. That's why I started it. I wanted them to feel the joy, feel the love because they don't really feel that in their everyday lives. A few things you could do to help. You could. We have. So, Nia, how did you decide, after you decided you wanted to do this, how did you take action? There's a lot of people who want to help, but, you know, you've had to put this all together, You've done it now for a little bit. How did you decide to do it? Well, at first I talked to my mom and we really just discussed like what would be a really good project, a good idea to help give these kids the love that they need. And then I came up with the holiday stocking project. At first it started out with around like 30 kids, but then it grew in this year. We have 180 kids on the list, which is way more than like we've ever had. So that's amazing. And what kind of things are you doing behind the scenes? Are you Where do the donations go? Who puts it all together? So me and my mom, we actually put them all together. We get a list of all the kids' interests, what they like, their favorite colors, their favorite candies. And then we build all 180 personalized stockings for all of them. We get donations from around the community, and then we build them together. And what have you found by doing this? Lots of times people don't realize what the need is until you actually get out there and help. Is there anything that stuck in your mind? It's like, for example, oh, my goodness, there are a lot more needy kids than I thought. Anything like that? Of course there's always so many people in need and just finding even like 180 kids that's just like making the world a much more better place and giving them the love they deserve. So I think even just like focusing on a small group of people changes the world for sure. Do you think this is helping you in your future? I mean, look how organized you are, right? You're in ninth grade? Yes, I am in ninth grade. Are you 15? I'm 14. You're 14? Yeah. Oh, my gosh. All right, so this is going to help you, right? I'm sure a lot of people are proud of you. You probably won't say it, but what do the kids at O'Dowd think? Oh, I mean, they think I'm, like, really good. I'm really cool and I'm doing something for the community but I'm not like really doing it for my future. I'm doing it like for the kids. I'm here to pump you up. You don't have to pump yourself up. I'll do it for you because I know that at that particular high school but all high schools they want you to do a lot of service. So are you going to do anything else? I know that O'Dowd has that service commitment. Are you going to do something else for that? I'm trying, next year I'm definitely going to make my own club and build this even more. I'm trying to make it into a non-profit organization right now, this project. So, I mean, just like growing it, making it more and involving the school community into it as well. All right, one last question. Yes. Do you have any 14-year-old hobbies do you like? Do you like music? Do you like stuff that's a regular 14-year-old would like? I love musical theater. It's definitely one of my passions. There you go. Right now, I'm in School of Rock at Hillbarn Theater, and we're doing a bunch of, like, singing, dancing, acting. I really like it. It's one of my passions. All right. Well, thank you so much. We're very proud of you. This is amazing. Nia Metz-White. And if you'd like to donate, just head to familybuilders.org and click on Nia's Stocking Project on the homepage. There are links on how you can donate. And last year when we did this, they got a lot of donations. We're hoping for the same. Thank you, Nia. Thank you.