Marymount of Santa Barbara’s “Service Brigade” elective produced, packed and delivered 62 bagged lunches to the local Transition House this week.

The students planned this project from start to finish and began by brainstorming what they wanted to include in each bagged lunch. They quickly realized that providing these lunches would cost money, so they put their heads together about how to raise it.

Each bagged lunch costs approximately $2.50 to make, which sounds like small amount but adds up quickly once the students realize that they have to earn this money on their own.

The Service Brigade class decided to raise money by serving two “Special Lunches” to their fellow classmates, and to use the profits from that to buy the Transition House lunch ingredients. The students raised more than $150 in their two weeks of serving special lunches to their classmates, which involved a pizza sale from Rusty’s Pizza and a classic burger lunch from Chubbie’s burger.

“Special Lunches” are offered most Tuesdays to sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders. Lunches are planned and organized by the elective class and range from Presto Pasta and Natural Café to the Tiki Taco food truck.

On Tuesday, the students worked throughout their elective period and set up an assembly line to make sandwiches and stuff lunch bags. The culmination of the project was the delivery to Transition House, where students got to see where the lunches were actually going and heard from one of the volunteers how thankful they were for the generosity. The Transition House has been in existence since 1984 and serves local homeless families and provides them with shelter, support and services.

The “Service Brigade” is one of Marymount’s electives that focuses on serving their fellow students, as well as those in the greater Santa Barbara community. Their school responsibilities range from planning dances, organizing team building and bonding activities and event planning. The Service Brigade elective allows for the students to practice important life and leadership skills, in safe age-appropriate settings, that will then set them up for success in high school, college and beyond.

Marymount is an independent coeducational school, junior kindergarten through eighth grade, on a picturesque 10-acre campus nestled on the Santa Barbara Riviera. For 75 years, Marymount has prepared young people for the academic challenges of high school and college, while laying the foundation for lifelong character, achievement and love of learning.

If you are interested in learning more about Marymount or scheduling a tour, please contact the Admission Office at info@marymountsb.org or 805.569.1811 x131.

— Molly Seguel is the admissions director for Marymount of Santa Barbara.