Over 3-dozen seniors were awarded with a $2,500 Prairie Meadows scholarship this week.

Each spring, Prairie Meadows offers two $2,500 scholarships to every public and private high school in Polk County. Student-offspring of employees were also eligible.

Applicants had to write essays on pre-selected topics and have letters of recommendation.

To view the 37 recipients, click here.

A metro realtor has been honored by an industry magazine this week.

Cy Phillips has been selected as a "30 Under 30" honoree by Realtor Magazine for 2013. He is one of 30 selected based on several factors including business success, community and professional leadership, and diversity in business.

Phillips will be featured in the May/June issue of magazine, “I am truly humbled to represent the state of Iowa and the Des Moines Area Association of Realtors among this talented group of young professionals and am grateful for the ongoing opportunity to help people and families in central Iowa find the perfect home within our community.”

Waukee-based Phillips earned his residential real estate license in July 2007.

Close to a million meals were packaged over Spring Break as part of a Meals from the Heartland effort.

Over 3,000 people from all over the metro packaged 895,104 meals in three days at the Iowa State Fairgrounds.

Organizers say the event was worth the effort, “It was an overwhelming success,” said Dave Bradley, executive director for Meals from the Heartland. “We have ideas already about how to increase the event to package even more meals in 2014.”

The meals, consisting of rice, soy protein, dried vegetables and vitamins, were paid for through donations. They're destined for Haiti, South Africa, Tanzania, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Kenya, the Dominican Republic, Philippines and Ethiopia as well as to food banks in the United States. 

Last year, volunteers packaged more than 7.7 million meals through Mobile Hunger Fights throughout the year and the Annual Hunger Fight at Hy-Vee Hall in September.