Community Stars

Both Erin Graffy de Garcia and her husband, James Paul (Jim) Garcia, will be honored by Catholic Charities at the upcoming 26th Annual Mistletoe Ball at Coral Casino on Friday evening, December 1. The meal will no doubt be excellent, as the food from Four Seasons Biltmore always is, but the real attraction will be the molten chocolate “Dulce de Leche” cake, as Erin is a well-known and irrepressible chocaholic. “If it’s not chocolate, it’s not dessert,” she says during a short interview with the couple held at the Lemon Tree Inn’s Crocodile restaurant recently.

It’ll be a black-tie (preferred) event starring John Palminteri as auctioneer and guest speaker Bishop Robert E. Barron. Additionally, Erin and Jim are notorious dance floor show-offs (and they’re pretty good at it too), so invitations to this gala include the instructions to “bring your dancing shoes.” The R&B group MissBehavin’ will supply the music. The event is co-chaired by Carol Scott Wathen and Debbie Saucedo.

Erin is a longtime contributor to the Santa Barbara News-Press as well as Montecito Journal. She has written a number of books, including the indispensible trifecta for new arrivals to our area: Society Lady’s Guide On How To Santa Barbara, An Insider’s Exposé, How To Santa Barbara, The Advanced Course, and the third volume The Annotated Guide To Santa Barbara Protocol. Other books include Our Lady Of Sorrows, Saint Barbara, Old Spanish Days, and The Santa Barbara Yacht Club.

So, it’s easy to see why Erin would be chosen to be honored.

But her husband, Jim? Why him?

Well, what is surprising is that Mr. Garcia hasn’t been honored more, and more often. He apparently enjoys his anonymity, especially when he’s playing one of his medieval instruments (lute, harp, flute) at yet another fundraiser or cause… as a volunteer. Jim also played traditional Irish music on his guitar professionally with Shepherd’s Pie.

Jim has given his time and energy, for example, serving as secretary and vice president of the Catholic Charities’s Board of Directors. One of the things that brought him notice and a large measure of respect was his chairmanship of a committee to look into the finances of Catholic Charities. It was running at a deficit and Catholic Charities of Los Angeles, which oversees Catholic Charities Santa Barbara, wanted the charity to cut services in order to make up the shortfall. “My emphasis,” he relates, “was to get us more fundraising and to have more community awareness of what we do.” Within two years, Garcia and his committee cut the deficit to zero.

Mr. Garcia was the first person in Santa Barbara County to bring neurofeedback training to the area, a technique that works directly off brainwaves. What he did was – and Erin was instrumental in writing a grant for the equipment – set the program up at Bishop High School and donated his time for some three years to help Bishop students with learning disabilities and other disorders.

He’s worked with Special Olympics and with the more handicapped – the ones in wheelchairs and totally disabled – and created methods to allow them to participate in Special Olympic events too. All volunteer work. On weekends.

Jim holds bachelor degrees in philosophy and psychology from UCLA, a master’s in educational psychology, and a doctorate in psychology. In addition, he holds diplomate status in the American Board of School Neuropsychologists.

Now retired, he has served as an educational psychologist, specializing in K-6, for Goleta Union School District and Santa Barbara County Education Office. 

Erin has her share of awards, but this should top off a long career as a problem solver and trouble shooter for dozens of local organizations. Her specialty is helping with fundraising, special events, writing (and singing) parody songs for myriad events – from the late Larry Crandell’s birthday parties to the Sheriff’s Council. She has emceed and auctioneered at too many events to count. She has been a volunteer for decades for SCORE, WEV (Women’s Economic Ventures), and others and gives free lectures on everything from Vietnam to Old Spanish Days. She also covers many nonprofits in her News-Press column that get little publicity otherwise. She was a crucial factor in helping raise $5 million to endow a chair for Father Virgil at UCSB. 

Catholic Charities’s Mission

“Catholic Charities of Santa Barbara,” says Jim, “does so much with so little. It doesn’t get a lot of the publicity some of the other nonprofits do, but it operates on a shoestring, and yet is the biggest direct distributor of food in Santa Barbara County. And they do it not just in Santa Barbara. It’s Carpinteria, the Valley, also Lompoc and Santa Maria.”

“I think,” Erin says, “when people hear ‘Catholic Charities,’ they’re thinking big, that the archdiocese supports them. But they don’t. They get no money.

“You just have to go to their offices,” adds Erin. “That tells you everything. They’re not spending money there. It all goes out to the poor. The thing I personally like about Catholic Charities,” she continues, “is that they help the working poor. They like to say, ‘with a hand up, not a handout.’ If a guy loses his job, they’ll help out by paying the utilities. If a man’s car breaks down, they’ll get him passes for the bus. If they don’t have enough money for clothes for a job interview, they’ll open up their thrift store where he can find the clothes he’ll need. They have nice clothes,” she adds.

“So many of the working poor in Santa Barbara are just one or two checks away from homelessness,” Jim points out. “If they get hurt and can’t work for a couple weeks, they’re in big trouble. That’s where,” he concludes, “Catholic Charities comes in.”

Jim Garcia and Erin Graffy de Garcia are easily a couple worth honoring. I’m not sure there are still seats or tables available, but if you’d like to attend this year’s Mistletoe Ball, call Yolanda Vasquez at (805) 965-7045, ext. 109, or go online to yvasquez@ccharities.org.