Running a marching band is expensive.

If you don’t believe that, ask Michael Kiyoi, director of San Marcos High School’s award-winning Marching Band and Colorguard Program. According to him, running Marching Band and Colorguard costs a whopping $50,000.

The SMHS Marching Band and Colorguard, which recently swept up all-around awards at the Valencia High School Field Competition, not only performs in the Santa Barbara community but also competes throughout Southern California. To cover the costs of these ventures, the SMHS band is constantly fundraising throughout the community.

“Right now, we’ve got food trucks, See’s Candies, and we just finished with Santa Barbara Axxess Books and wrapping paper sales,” Kiyoi told Noozhawk.

Along with these fundraisers, the band finds other ways to bring in some money for the program.

“We rely heavily on donations from the families,” Kiyoi said. “It actually covers about half of our costs.”

The program also receives a substantial amount of money from the San Marcos High School-based student-run nonprofit Kids Helping Kids.

While families and friends contribute straight to the program and give a lot of time to fundraisers, the food truck nights attract a lot of community members and students.

Among the local food trucks that pull up in the campus parking lot at 4750 Hollister Ave. are Sweet Arleen’s Cupcakes, Georgia’s Smokehouse and The Burger Bus. Tables and chairs are set up in the area, and sodas are sold by band parents for $1. Music is played from a speaker and laptop while people mingle around the tables, talking and taking pictures.

“We only get a certain percent of the proceeds from the food trucks,” Kiyoi said, noting that the band has made around $1,200 in total from food truck nights.

While Tuesday night’s event was the last of this year, you can anticipate the return of the food trucks in January. Until then, the Marching Band and Colorguard continues to fundraise by selling advertisements in their Band Yearbook.

Click here to make an online donation to the San Marcos High School Marching Band.

— Noozhawk intern Frankie Victoria can be reached at fvictoria@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.