Hockey Team Heads Up Relief Efforts for Flood Victims (Reflections by Cooper Greene, Team Captain)

On Sunday, August 29, the MBA varsity hockey team along with many other young men spent their day in Waverly, Tennessee helping victims of the recent flood. The young men helped salvage homes that had been damaged by water, helped recover belongings from garages, yards, and homes, and all and all helped in any way possible for those who had their lives turned upside down by the flood. The following week, the whole MBA community came together to donate over $9,000 and a truckload if supplies for the victims of the flood. The hockey team asked each boy to help repair the lives of our neighbors, and MBA answered the call. 

This event helped to open eyes to the real world and the harsh forces of nature. The men became grateful for the ability to help out every way possible, and giving a hand to those in need. The project meant extra for the MBA community as it was the childhood home of our very own Mr. Ferrell. To be able to help his hometown and his former neighbors brought the community closer and gave more meaning to the service they gave.

Reserved Football Parking Spaces for Sale

Team 123 is ready ... are YOU!  MBA Parking is here!  Reserve your garage spot for all home games and support the Service Club at the same time.  $25 for all 6 games, saving $5 off the price of paying at individual games.  You will be guaranteed a garage spot if you arrive between 5:30 pm and 10 minutes before game starting time.  Click here to purchase your pass.  Email serviceclub@montgomerybell.edu with questions.

Travis Swafford Spends a Great Summer with Room in the Inn

I finished my internship at Room in the Inn a few weeks ago, and it was one of the most enjoyable experiences that I've had since coming to MBA. 

Although the two locations are a mere 15-minutes apart, the worlds of MBA and RITI seem to be in almost completely different realms. Each day I encountered situations that reminded me of both my privileges and the thin margin that separates Nashville's homeless population from a normal life. My daily duties most often included washing and folding laundry, sorting and distributing mail to our participants, and helping out with activities such as classes, karaoke, and games. The latter of these duties is where I really found my niche, as the cornhole competitions I organized were a hit among the participants and a great means for cultivating community and a friendly(yet competitive!) atmosphere. 

Throughout the experience, I learned from both the staff and participants at Room in the Inn how community and selflessness can foster hope and redemption for those whom life has hit the hardest. I am deeply grateful for my opportunity at Room in the Inn this summer and would love for others at MBA to have the same experience. 

 

The MBA Service Club Continued Working Through the Spring ... In Spite of COVID!

 As COVID-19 continued to change our community, the MBA Service Club continued to adapt to the new way of business. Here are some of the ways we kept involved with our community partners throughout the second semester:

• Best Buddies met weekly by Zoom, gathering with friends and catching up on the week.  Boys planned individual and small group outings and spent quality time together on their own.  

• Junior School students started the second semester sorting cold weather gear items, bagging them up and sending them to Nashvillians in need.  Blanket Nashville, Oasis Center and UniCycle all received new and gently used items generously donated by the MBA community.

• Under the leadership of seniors Jason Zhu, Mauro Mastrapasqua, William Rogers and others, MBA pulled off a hugely successful Cellophony in early March. The student concert raised $5000 for the W.O. Smith Music School! The talent of our students matched with the technology of the new event center made for a magical evening.  

• Super Bowl Sunday ended with our Just.Glass post-festivities glass recycling efforts.  This annual event serves as a reminder of MBA’s special partnership with Justice Industries. Recycle, reduce poverty and support the MBA Service Club at the same time by signing up for home glass recycling pick up. To learn more, visit our Just.Glass webpage at montgomerybell.edu/justglass

• Thanks to snow, our annual LifeSavers Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness Week was moved from February to beautiful days in March. A special video at Assembly and an information tent and toys in the quad brought education and fun to the MBA campus.  Listen to important words from our students, faculty and alumni to learn how you too can #BetheGiftMBA at https://youtu.be/XvElfF4cZhQ

• While Loaves & Fishes kept the building closed to volunteers until May, MBA worked to continue feeding our hungry neighbors. Thanks to Eastwood Deli Co, we were able to provide catered meals every month, which we supplemented with seasonally appropriate goodie bags. In May, boys finally were able to help prepare and serve to-go boxes and socialize with our guests. The Service Club also helped our Loaves & Fishes partners at a special event where they handed out food, home items and other necessities to Nashvillians who continue to suffer in the aftermath of storms, Covid and other difficulties.

• With a lot of help from our friends at Big Al’s Catering, the MBA Service Club was able to put on a great Valentine’s brunch for the ladies at Mending Hearts. Decorations, goodie bags, a biscuit bar, huge sweet rolls, eggs, bacon and much more greeted our guests as they arrived for fun, fellowship and amazing food. We also were able to fit in a work day on the Mending Hearts campus with extra hands provided by Coach Pippin, Coach Redmond and the MBA Track and Field Team.

• Due to COVID, Montgomery Bell Miracle went virtual, but the changes did not hamper the spirit of the group or the donors to the Children’s Miracle Network. Partnering with 11 other schools, the MBA Service Club helped raise over $335,000 #forthekids!

• Dr. Bailey and his crew of history buffs spent several Saturdays working to preserve historic sites around Nashville. Fort Negley, Glen Leven, Shy’s Hill and more benefited from the expertise, commitment and hard work of MBA students and faculty.

• While we are anxious to get our community tutoring program back on track for in-person learning, Saturday Scholars continued to do their thing throughout the second semester.  Each week MBA students worked one-on-one with students from different schools around Nashville using Zoom, Google Meet, and FaceTime. We hope to continue virtual learning as needed in the Fall even as we return to in-person programming.

• Our partnership with Second Harvest continued into the Spring semester with groups heading to the warehouse to sort food to be distributed throughout the community.

• We are grateful to have been able to continue our work with Urban Housing Solutions by delivering another amazing meal through their Last Saturday Dinners program. With a little extra help from Senor Paolicchi and Dr. Marro, the boys prepared a sophisticated and delicious variety of dishes for our friends at Mercury Court.  

In addition to our usual partnerships, thanks to the leadership of Frank Pierce (MBA ‘24), the Service Club put together over 150 snack bags for our neighbors served by Room in the Inn.  Using money raised by Frank and with special help from the MBA Mother’s Club, we purchased protein snacks, granola bars, fruit cups and much more. We then gathered in the MBA Student Center, formed an assembly line and got to work. Once that work was done, we loaded the pick-up truck and delivered the bags. Rising MBA Senior, Travis Swafford, who is interning at Room in the Inn this summer, had the privilege of gifting a bag he helped prepare as he served our neighbors in need.

The MBA Service Fellowship was founded in 2020 with the intention of giving dedicated MBA Service Club members the opportunity to explore more deeply the work they do, and fellowship candidates, Jack Kim and Ian Durelli (MBA ‘22) continued to advance their research throughout the second semester. These boys are taking work they have done in the community to another level by engaging in a study of some aspect of that work and ultimately producing a final project that expresses what they have learned. Jack’s project is based in his partnership with Mending Hearts and focuses on addiction and addiction services. Ian is building on his partnership with Best Buddies to investigate services available to those with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Both boys are doing amazing work! To learn more about the fellowship or Jack’s and Ian’s projects, visit the fellowship webpage at https://www.montgomerybell.edu/programs/overview-of-student-life/service-club/mba-service-fellowship.

Thanks to the generosity of an MBA donor, the MBA Service Club has placed interns in five different non-profit organizations this summer as part of our Sophomore Summer Service Leadership Internship Program.  These gentlemen will spend approximately six weeks working with their assigned organization, gaining skills and insight into the operation and leadership of a non-profit and learning more about our neighbors served by the organization.  The students will receive a stipend and the organization will also receive a small monetary gift.  The 2021 interns are as follows:

• Connor Carr - Operation Stand Down  

• Will Elrod - Preston Taylor Ministries

• Travis Swafford - Room in the Inn (leftover from 2020)  

• Harrison Zoller - Urban Housing Solutions

• Henry Lee - W.O. Smith Music School  

MBA is proud of the work our students do to better themselves and our community.  With a little luck, we hope to return to our full schedule of opportunities, including international service trips, during the 2021-22 school year.  To learn more about all of our partnerships and to keep track of what is going on with our service programming, visit us at https://www.montgomerybell.edu/programs/overview-of-student-life/service-club.

Fall Semester Provides Opportunities In Spite of COVID-19

 COVID-19 has brought both challenges and opportunities for growth to the boys of the MBA Service Club.  The needs of our community partners are greater than ever, but the traditional ways of meeting those needs simply do not work during a global pandemic.  Barriers and complications have not stopped the Service Club.  We simply have put on our thinking caps, engaged our creativity and continued to move forward.

Last March, the tornado put an abrupt end to our ability to prepare and serve our monthly meal at Loaves & Fishes, our nearly 40-year-old partnership with Catholic Charities.  With the virus hitting hard right after the physical destruction of the neighborhoods surrounding Holy Name Church, we have not been able to return since.  In the meantime, hunger and homelessness issues have grown, and we have continued our support.  What began initially with sack lunches has turned into a catered meal prepared monthly by our friends at Eastwood Deli Company.  While the building remains closed, the Service Club has sponsored delicious, seasonally appropriate take out lunches.  Recently, to make sure the boys remain engaged, we have been packing and providing provisions bags to go along with the meals.  Socks, masks, nutritious snacks, special treats, toothbrushes, hand warmers, notes of encouragement and more have been included.

The tornado and virus also disrupted the weekly tutoring program at East Park Community Center, but they did not stop the Service Club.  With the prevalence of online school, tutoring needs are greater than ever.  Saturday Scholars is our new online tutoring program for students around Nashville.  We pair students who need help with an MBA boy, and they meet one-on-one every Saturday morning via Zoom, Google Meet or FaceTime.  Through the online platform, the Service Club has expanded the number of students and schools served.  To learn more, visit us at https://www.montgomerybell.edu/programs/overview-of-student-life/service-club/community-education.

Best Buddies has continued to be active with weekly Saturday morning Zoom parties, virtual birthday parties, and more.  On Saturday, October 31, the Service Club hosted a drive-through parade as part of the Best Buddies Friendship Walk.  The Parade of Heroes included MBA boys dressed as superheroes, decorated cars and more.  Thanks to David Wilson (MBA ‘98) for loaning us amazing costumes!  Students of Mr. Kelly or classmates of Robert Sawyer may be interested in a competition the boys cooked up to see which one of THEM would don a superhero costume!  The boys voted with their money, and Mr. Sawyer “won,” and the student leaders raised $625 for Best Buddies. 

We have been busy with many other events as well.

• Second Harvest: The MBA community again set a new record with Second Harvest donations during homecoming week, and the Service Club followed up with sorting sessions at the Second Harvest warehouse.  On Saturday, October 24, fifteen students and two faculty members spent three hours working to get hungry Nashvillians fed.  Additional events are being scheduled for later this semester and the spring.

• Rally Foundation for Childhood Cancer: Losing the opportunity to COVID for our traditional 4 Quarters for Research during this football season, the Service Club held our first ever Outdoor Movie Night on October 24.  The ticket price included a COVID-safe showing of Pirates of the Caribbean, all-you-can-eat popcorn and candy, a blanket and an MBA mask compliments of the Mother’s Club.  After braving the rain and other roadblocks, the event was a huge success, raising $1500 for Rally. 

• Urban Housing Solutions: On Saturday, September 26, a small group of MBA students and faculty gathered to prepare dinner for our friends at Mercury Court.  While our Last Saturday Dinners program typically is served white tablecloth style to seated guests, the Service Club focused on equally as delicious take-out dinners. 

• Past Preservers:  Past Preservers, the history related service project, has been spent several Saturdays working around Nashville.  While working on the grounds and otherwise supporting Fort Negley, Glen Leven, Shy’s Hill and other spots, the boys serve and learn about and explore history sites at the same time.

• Just.Wash: Over Homecoming Week, the Service Club extended our relationship with Justice Industries by bringing Just.Wash to MBA for the first time, offering its mobile car washing service on campus.  Just.Wash and our ongoing collaboration with Just.Glass bring employment and dignity “to those who find it difficult to obtain and retain work because of barriers, such as criminal history, addiction recovery, mental illness, domestic abuse, and generational poverty.”

• Komen Foundation More Than Pink Walk: COVID, Homecoming and the SAT took away our ability to participate in this year’s More Than Pink Walk on its scheduled day, but the Service Club did not rest! The boys hosted our own COVID-friendly More Than Pink Walk at the MBA track on October 10.  Despite the barriers, including constant rain, the Service Club raised almost $3000 for breast cancer research.

• Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital: On PSAT Day, October 14, the Service Club worked with Seniors and their 7th grade little brothers to complete almost 400 craft kits for the patients at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital.  Because of COVID, the patients cannot leave their rooms for the community activity area, so the staff brings the fun to them.  Each kit contains everything they need to complete one of six different craft projects, and we were happy to do our part in making the kids’ days a little brighter.  On January 29, the Service Club will host our Second Annual Montgomery Bell Miracle dance marathon to benefit the Children’s Hospital.

• Mending Hearts: On PSAT Day the boys also put together Happy Halloween treat bags for the ladies at Mending Hearts.  Since we cannot celebrate the holidays in person with them this year, we wanted to send our love another way.  Each bag contained a unique fabric mask (as sold by the Service Club), candy, spiced tea mix, black and orange halloween necklaces and more Halloween treats.  On November 7, the Service Club will have a work day on the Mending Hearts campus, putting to work their raking, sweeping, trimming and other outdoor skills.  

• Safe Vote Kits: On October 28, the Service Club joined hands with the girls at www.safevotekits.com to put together kits full of tools to help voters feel safe at the polls.  Hand sanitizer, a mask, a pair of gloves and a mint made up the almost 750 kits we assembled on Wednesday morning.  

• Veteran’s Day Projects for Task Force Dagger, Operation Stand Down and Mending Hearts: The Service Club raised money for Task Force Dagger in support of our wounded Veterans and collected gently used business attire for the men and women at Operation Stand Down and Mending Hearts.  Many of our friends do not have appropriate clothing for interviews and work, and the MBA community worked to fill in some of these gaps.  

• Cold Weather Gear Drive for UniCycle, Oasis Center and Blanket Nashville: Beginning in late November, the 7th and 8th grade students, led by their Junior School Service Representatives, began their annual cold weather gear collection.  The collection continues through mid-January, and we welcome your donations.  The list of needed items includes coats, hats, gloves, jeans/joggers, hoodies, blankets, hand and foot warmers, and gift cards to 24-hours fast food restaurants and gas stations.  You may also join our virtual drive at https://cold-weather-gear-drive-101248.square.site/.

• Holiday Bazaar and Gift Wrapping Services: The Service Club raises money to support all of our projects and receives no direct funding from the school.  As COVID took away most of our fundraising sources, like bake sales and reserved parking for football games, we have gotten creative in closing some of the gaps created by those losses.  This year we joined forces again with the MBA Mother’s Club by participating in their Holiday Bazaar on December 5.  Since March, we have sold unique, comfortable and CDC-compliant face masks made by a family company in Chicago, and we added a variety of other items for the very successful market.  We even tried our hand at gift-wrapping!  

• Last Minute Toy Store: For a number of years MBA students have helped with the Last Minute Toy Store.  Whether a shopping assistant, a translator for spanish-speaking families, or a bag-to-car carrier, students have been essential to the store’s running smoothly. MBA also has supported the store during the setup and breakdown periods.  As with many things, COVID changed this year’s Last Minute Toy Store, and many MBA students were not able to attend in person.  Not to be deterred, the Service Club, led by Matthew Thayer (‘22), held a very successful toy drive.  The MBA community showed up, and we gathered a load of gifts for the kids of Nashville.  At the last minute, members of the hockey team were able to help in person and helped make this year’s drive-in store a great success!  

As we move into the second semester, we hope to expand opportunities to improve ourselves, our community and our world.  The Service Club greatly appreciates the support of the MBA family as we seek to fulfill our mission “to give back to the larger Nashville community and to help boys realize their own roles as leaders within our city and world.  We hope that over time MBA gentlemen will learn to appreciate their relationships with others across the sometimes limiting lines of race, ethnicity, economic status, and other group identifications and to experience the value of working together towards common good.”

For more information about the MBA Service Club, please visit our website at https://www.montgomerybell.edu/programs/overview-of-student-life/service-club or contact the Annie B. Williams at annie.b.williams@montgomerybell.edu or 615-369-5333.

Birds Visit Junior School Service Rep Meeting ... INSIDE!

On an otherwise typical weekday, the Junior School Service Reps met in the Innovation Room to plan the Cold Weather Gear Drive, and the meeting was hijacked by three birds who flew in through an open window.  Thanks to the ingenuity of our Junior school boys and the expertise of Mr. Mario and Mr. Comer, the birds finally round their way back to nature.

Last Minute Toy Store Drive Thank You!

Each year the MBA Service Club and the Hockey Team volunteer many hours helping Nashvillians in need shop at The Last Minute Toy Store.  This year our the store needed more than our time.  Due to the coronavirus pandemic's increasing need and decreasing donations, they also needed toys.  On November 23 and 24, the Service Club, led by Matthew Thayer, gathered a great load of toys for neighbors.  Thank you for all who helped us make this a huge success!