Students poured into the outdoor Ruston Amphitheater on Dec. 5 loaded with gifts for foster children.
The holiday gift drive has become a tradition for Middle and Upper School students.
The Interact Club is responsible for organizing this event which is in its fifth year.
In this year’s drive over 250 gifts were donated, ranging from clothes and toys to new and slightly used bikes and scooters.
At the assembly students piled gifts on to a table in the center of the theater then took their seats and waited for the assembly to begin.
The assembly included speeches from Santa Barbara Social Services deputy director Delfino Neira, Santa Barbara Rotary Club president Chris Clemens and Dana Martin Assistant to MS and US Heads.
“Rotary sponsors the Interact Club. They provide support, and they provide guidance for those in high school who may be interested in Rotary as they get older. The focus is primarily on community service. The Interact Club provides their own president.
They have their faculty advisor, Ms. McHale, and club president, Erica Keane. They have various service projects. One is local and the next project will be an international project that they’ll be working on after the holidays,” said Rotarian and Laguna Blanca parent Michael Lazarovits.
In attendance at the assembly was Danielle Koornwinder, the adoptive mother of three foster children who are siblings and who attend Lower School.
The gift drive begins when the Santa Barbara Social Services gather holiday wish lists for children ranging from the still unborn to 19 years old. Gift requests are distributed to students through advisory.
On the Friday following the drive, students and faculty led by Ms. Dana Martin traveled to Social Services to wrap all of the gifts.
Additionally, the Rotary Club raised over $4,000 to spend on gifts that teens would really enjoy.
Erica met with Rotarian Sandy Nordahl and others at K-Mart to shop for teen gifts on Saturday, Dec. 13.
“The Foster Care Gift Drive was done entirely by the Interact Club. They sponsored it, they coordinated it with the school. Rotary just provided the support for them,” said Mr. Lazarovits.
“The Foster Care Gift Drive is amazing how it seems to get bigger and bigger every year. It’s a great way to involve the Middle School and the Upper School in a collective effort to help local kids,” said Erica.