The Marblehead Council on Aging will use grant funding to create an Intergenerational Garden near Stramski Beach aimed at bringing together local students and senior citizens.

The garden project will be a collaborative effort between the council and the town's Recreation and Parks Commission. According to the council's outreach worker, Terri Ann McDonough, the garden will be maintained by local seniors and student volunteers from Marblehead High School as part of a partnership with Heads Up MHD! and the school's Interact Club.

The garden is meant to provide a place where "young Marblehead citizens and older adults can exchange both ideas and practical experience around understanding, building, planning, planting, maintaining, and harvesting a significant new community asset," according to a release issued by the Marblehead Rotary Club, a Heads Up MHD! partner.

Once the garden has been established, each year will be marked with an Annual Harvest Banquet and a portion of the vegetables and herbs grown at the site will be donated to local food banks, McDonough said.

The garden is expected to be planted in a small grassy area at the end of Stramski Way near the town's new pier and will feature both raised garden beds and planting tables to make participating easier for elderly residents and those with disabilities.

McDonough said funding provided by the recently-approved two-year grant will be used to design the garden, which she hopes will have space for a community bulletin board and a shed stocked with gardening supplies.

The site is also expected to host community workshops on everything from soil preparation to planting vegetables.

"We're looking for local seniors and students right now," McDonough said. "This will be a great way for them to interact. We're looking to involve local high school students and we thought that some elementary classrooms could even raise some seedlings for us to plant."

In addition to bringing together students and seniors who may not otherwise cross paths, McDonough said she hopes the project will be a great way for local youths to learn the importance of giving back to the community.

"The end result will be mostly vegetables and herbs, which we can give out as a donation to the food pantry," McDonough said.

McDonough said the Council on Aging will schedule a series of community interest meetings later this month. Residents interested in more information are encouraged to contact the Council on Aging at 781-631-6737.