Before they rocked out a full-house at the Don Haskins Center on Thursday, Metallica handed over a check for $10,000 to El Pasoans Fighting Hunger.

"They were so gracious and humble. When you calculate how much they give in each city that they could keep for themselves, it's just heartwarming to me," said Terri Wyatt, chief development officer for the organization.

Wyatt said she learned of the donation through Metallica's All Within My Hands Foundation last fall year when tickets were sold. The band also provided two free tickets for the organization to use to help recruit more volunteers.

"They give $10,000 to every food bank in the cities they perform," she said.

Wyatt said she was impressed with Metallica's lead singer, James Hetfield, when she asked him why they chose food banks as their charity to work with.

"I love what he said. He said, 'Food is something that we can all agree on,' " she said.

The $10,000 translates into 70,000 meals, she said.

Wyatt said the organization receives some substantial donations throughout the year, but the main support comes through consistent donations from the community.

"We can always use more volunteers to get the food out to the community and we always need help financially. We distribute food to 130 pantries."

Metallica's performance in El Paso kicked off the final leg of their North American World Wired Tour. So far, they have made donations to food pantries in 29 cities, including El Paso.

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María Cortés González may be reached at 546-6150; mcortes@elpasotimes.com; @EPTMaria on Twitter.

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