A community service project by four Montwood High School students that provides birthday celebrations for children whose families may lack the resources to celebrate received a $2,000 Lead4Change grant to continue the program.

Recent graduates Matthew Arno and Melany Gutierrez, along with seniors Arleen Maldonado and Kayla Garcia Caldera, were recognized during a check presentation on June 3 for their project, Bake-A-Wish, which successfully distributed 30 birthday boxes to students at Montwood Middle School. Each box included cake mix, frosting, candles and party supplies to help children celebrate their birthdays.

Maldonado said the group created Bake-A-Wish to help children in the community who were unable to celebrate their birthdays due to financial limitations.

“We wanted to take away that financial burden from them and just to make sure that they're celebrated because everyone deserves a chance to be celebrated on their special birthday,” Maldonado said.

The $2,000 Lead4Change grant will help the students to provide more birthday boxes and reach more children in the community.

“We get to create more birthday cakes, more birthday boxes and more decorations so we can make more kids happy,” said Caldera, who planned to continue working on the project during her senior year.

This marked the third consecutive year that a team from Montwood High School has been awarded a Lead4Change grant. As part of the program, middle and high school students work in teams of three or more to identify a local school or community need and develop a service project to address it. Teams submit their completed projects along with a pitch detailing their results. Winning teams receive grant money of up to $10,000.

Ana Player, Montwood’s student activities director and leadership curriculum teacher, said that students not only take pride in their projects, but also learn organizational skills and a valuable lesson about helping the community.

“They take a lot from this,” Player said. “Most importantly, (they learn) the importance of giving back to our community, how such simple acts of kindness can make a difference in someone's life.”

Melany Gutierrez, who graduated from Montwood in June 2026, said the experience boosted her confidence and helped her develop skills for future success.

“I feel like having Ms. Player in my class made me feel more assured of myself, to make plans and make them happen, and to bring my plans into life,” Gutierrez said. “It also helped me become more organized and more efficient with getting tasks done and working as a group.”