Tag archives: philanthropy
The Family Service Agency of Santa Barbara County got into quite a pickle at the Montecito Club at the weekend. The popular charity, founded in 1899, hosted its inaugural pickleball tournament with 68 players organized by local realtor Natalie Collins-Smith, raising $20,000 for senior service programs and youth mental health with sponsorship from Farmers & […]
A tsunami of supporters turned up at the FisHouse for a Heal the Ocean sunset soirée to thank donors for helping raise a most impressive record $350,000 from its fourth consecutive imaginary Silver Anniversary gala. “It’s the perfect kind of event,” enthused Hillary Hauser, president and executive director of the popular charity. “Very little overhead […]
White Buffalo Land Trust (WBLT) is celebrating its fifth anniversary this year, a journey that began in 2018 with a small, 12-acre flagship farm in Summerland that was among the pioneers of bringing regenerative agriculture to the South Coast. The system of farming principles and practices that rehabilitates the land by focusing on biodiversity, soil […]
Uber party planner Merryl Brown hosted a garden party at her East Valley Road antebellum-style home for former international event producer John Daly’s 12-year-old Key Class, which mentors at-risk and other students in learning important life skills, including social etiquette. With a $120,000 annual budget, it has taught more than 10,000 students, mostly from the […]
November is special for many in the home healthcare field as the month is recognized as National Home Care Month, National Hospice & Palliative Care Month, and National Family Caregiver Month. But there’s an extra emphasis for Santa Barbara’s Visiting Nurse Association (VNA), which celebrates its 115th anniversary of caring for the community. Founded as […]
LynnRae Dunn, whose career in education philanthropy has spanned more than two decades, has been appointed director of development for the Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara. A native of Napa and a first-generation college graduate, she earned a bachelor’s degree in political science at Methodist University in Fayetteville, North Carolina, graduating summa cum laude. Dunn […]
On Friday, October 13, Rona Barrett saw her hard work pay off with the opening of Harry’s House (HH), a housing concept for seniors and especially those with dementia, at the same campus of her first housing for seniors, the Golden Inn & Village in Santa Ynez. Harry’s House is named after her dad, who […]
It wasn’t quite Dr. Who and there was not a Tardis to be seen, but the Storyteller Children’s Center celebrated its 35th anniversary with a Totally Awesome ‘80s Gala in the Hilton Rotunda, with the 270 suitably garbed guests raising $327,000 for the therapeutic preschool that provides high-quality early childhood education for youngsters facing adverse […]
Kathryn Westland is the new executive director for the Friendship Center Adult Day Services (FC) in Montecito. This is the first appointment to the position since Heidi Holly, who held the position for 38 years and retired earlier this year. Westland worked at the FC as program manager from fall 2017 through January 2021, and […]
Santa Barbara’s Community Environmental Council hosted its annual Green Gala for more than 200 guests at its new 10,000-square-foot Environmental Hub on State Street, just a tiara’s toss from the Granada Theatre. The handsome property, formerly the home of the Unity Shoppe, underwent a major $3.5 million renovation, with the boffo bash, which brings together […]
After an extensive national search, the Santa Barbara Foundation has appointed Elizabeth Thasiah as new vice president of programs. A longtime South Coast resident, Thasiah brings more than 15 years of relevant experience – most recently four years with the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, where she ledkey strategies. She served six years as division manager […]
One805LIVE!, the organization founded in 2018 after the mudslides that devastated our rarefied enclave, is now By Royal Appointment! For the second consecutive year, Oscar winner Kevin Costner opened the gates of his 10.25-acre Carpinteria oceanside estate, just a tiara’s toss from his $145 million beach compound, which attracted a record 3,000 guests and raised […]
A record crowd of 205 guests turned out for the 7th annual Heart of New House lunch at the Hilton, raising around $120,000 for the nonprofit which has helped men with drug and alcohol problems for the past 68 years. The charity, which has an annual budget of $1.2 million, has 100 residents in three […]
Hearts Aligned, a new charity which supports low-income families with critically ill children, held a fundraiser hosted by the Red Piano on State Street, attracting nearly 100 guests and raising around $10,000. Vivian Solodkin, founder and executive director, acted as emcee for the Rock Your Heart Out bash with the Tearaways, a group combining the […]
An art show at a downtown Santa Barbara gallery might seem to have little to do with a nonprofit working with systems of regenerative agriculture. As it turns out, though, one of the series in Holli Harmon’s To Feast on Clouds exhibit on display at Sullivan Goss – An American Gallery through September 25 is […]
Visionary philanthropists Mary and Richard Compton recently increased their gift to the Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital Foundation, for a total of $65 million to support medical excellence and innovation at Cottage Health. Adding to their prior $15 million gift, a new commitment of $50 million is the largest single gift in Cottage’s 135-year history and […]
The year was 1988. Milli Vanilli was lip-syncing their way to the top of the Billboard Charts, Flo Jo claimed three gold medals at the Seoul Summer Olympics, and a seed that would become Storyteller Children’s Center was starting to take root. Thirty-five years ago, Storyteller began as a roped-off section in the Transition House […]
Storyteller Event Committee Co-Chair Kelly Finefrock – who has supported several fashion pop-ups in Montecito – offers her tips for ‘80s gala fashion. Hair: the bigger, the better. Don’t be afraid of hairspray. Side parts, bold bang waves, and foam-roller curls (brushed out and sprayed) are what it’s all about. Fortunately, today’s hairspray is less […]
The Fund for Santa Barbara’s Development and Communications Manager – Alina Rey Keswani – is understandably proud that Bread & Roses, the organization’s major annual fundraiser, is marking its 30th anniversary this fall. The benefit event that has long been a staple on the social calendar of many in the community has survived massive growth, […]
You might wonder how a chowder festival has anything to do with providing free, high-quality legal services to low-income and other vulnerable residents in order to ensure equal access to justice. The answer is, not much, except that prior to the pandemic, the decade-old Santa Barbara Chowder Fest had become the single largest fundraiser for […]
