Tag archives: give back

Montecito Journal Media Group launched The Giving List back in November of 2020 as a way to connect two very important communities in the region: the thousands of nonprofit organizations, totally perhaps more per capita than any other county in the country, and the vast and deep philanthropic community, which supports the organizations working hard […]

Back in 2018, when the Montecito debris flows left huge swaths of the village buried under hundreds of tons of mud and other detritus, the Santa Barbara Bucket Brigade (SBBB) was all over the news. The first responders had moved on, and the job of digging out was just beginning. Nearly every outlet around ran […]

“Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.”  – John Wesley Of all the places I’ve lived or spent any significant […]

Relinquishing an exotic pet bird is rarely ideal, but an owner admitting they have run out of options to handle the full-time needs of a mature parrot is honest and very real. Most people are unprepared for the possessive commitment a parrot exhibits toward its owner or other beloved family member. When that commitment can’t […]

Head Start, the federal early childhood education program, was established in 1965 as part of President Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty with a goal of promoting school readiness to young children from low-income families through providing health, educational, nutritional, and social services. Two years later, Community Action Commission, or CAC, incorporated as a nonprofit to […]

Philanthropy and giving back to the community has been a part of the Montecito Bank & Trust ethos since opening on March 17, 1975. Over the years Montecito Bank & Trust (MBT) has grown from its simple beginnings into a much larger operation, with over 250 associates under its roof. MBT continues to give back […]

California State University Channel Islands (CSUCI) has served as a landing spot for underrepresented minorities and/or the economically disadvantaged since its founding 20 years ago on the former site of Camarillo State Mental Hospital, which closed five years earlier. The statewide CSU website boasts at the top of its diversity page the fact that nearly […]

If the name CommUnify doesn’t ring a bell, Patricia Keelean, the nonprofit’s chief executive officer, thinks she knows why.  “We are our own best-kept secret,” Keelean said. There’s a good reason for that – CommUnify is actually the new DBA for what used to be called the Community Action Commission of Santa Barbara County – […]

“What a difference a day makes, 24 little hours,” Dinah Washington sang in 1959. “What a difference a day made, and the difference is you.”  Washington, of course, was singing about romantic love. But for Santa Barbara’s Community Counseling and Education Center (CCEC), one day can make a huge difference in others’ lives too.  One […]

The COVID crisis has been quite a challenge for nearly everyone in the world. But for Santa Barbara Bird Sanctuary – the nonprofit founded in 2004 by director Jamie McLeod to rescue and often rehabilitate unwanted and displaced companion parrots – the pandemic really has been for the birds. Or rather, not so much, as […]

The Santa Barbara coastal region has largely escaped any major disasters in the past year, save, of course, for the ongoing crisis with COVID-19. There haven’t been any major fires striking between Carpinteria and western Goleta, and no serious flooding despite the recent record-setting string of rainstorms.  On the other hand, some folks out by […]

The statistics on Alzheimer’s Disease are staggering. Someone in the United States develops the devastating disease every 65 seconds. More than one in nine people (11.3%) age 65 and older has Alzheimer’s, and the percentage increases with age, with nearly 35% of those over age 84 suffering from the form of dementia. And Alzheimer’s disease […]

It might seem like bad timing to be writing about Unity Shoppe in the last week of the year, considering the nonprofit just held its 35th annual holiday telethon — the latest edition of the annual marathon fundraiser that airs on KEYT-TV — on December 12. After all, the event brings together all sorts of […]

ShelterBox’s reason for being is because human displacement is one of the biggest issues plaguing our planet, one that’s increasing as time goes on. Over the last year, the nonprofit reports, the number of people displaced due to conflicts, natural disasters, or the consequences of climate change has grown to 113 million people, a staggering […]

It was a very in-tents occasion when Montecito Bank & Trust erected a giant marquee in the rotunda at the Hilton for its 17th annual Community Dividends lunch when $1 million was given to 179 worthy organizations from the local community. The late Mike Towbes, founder of the bank, always described the event as his […]

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite times of year. I love how the holiday allows us to reflect and give gratitude before we launch into the rest of the end-of-year holidays. Oh, and I love the food. This year I find Thanksgiving especially poignant. For those not felled by COVID, we’re coming up on the […]

The past 20 months for educators have been ones of great angst and innovation — with the need for patience and a willingness to embrace the unknown paramount to serving thousands of students in the Santa Barbara Unified School District. It has also been thankless. Educators have not only had to teach students through computer […]

Richie’s Barber Shop on Coast Village Road is having its 10th Annual Holiday Donation Drive, this year for Domestic Violence Solutions (DVS) Santa Barbara, with the theme, “The Limit Does Not Exist.” Shop event lead and barber Jessica Jay is coordinating with DVS Executive Director Jan Campbell to ensure the donated items will work for […]

‘Tis the season for our little slice of heaven to showcase its robust heart, with nonprofits across the South Coast hosting a plethora of events and fundraisers to aid those in need. Throughout the season, we’ll highlight companies that need help in order to hit their goals. This week, we take a look at the […]