Rotary Club of Santa Barbara Sunrise 4th Annual Dolphin Dive
The Rotary Club of Santa Barbara Sunrise held its 4th annual Dolphin Dive Fundraiser at Chase Palm Park on Sunday, July 9. The event funds local youth programs and supports the club’s international outreach missions.
The event for all ages had kids racing their purchased dolphins for donation to the fund. The dolphins were neon pink, orange, and blue colored slippery plastic toys with numbers on their bellies, that got loaded in a bin for their water journey down a 200-foot pool slide! This took place hourly starting at 12:30 pm until the final and grand prize race at 4:30 pm. Cash prizes were up to $2,500. Donations via adopting a dolphin to race could go directly to the rotary club or one could give 50 percent to one of the event beneficiaries.
Booths were set up around the park for learning about the community sponsors and beneficiary organizations. Many attendees brought blankets for a picnic lunch, and there were trucks with Brewhouse beers, wines from Ken Brown, Cape D’Or, and Arlington, soft drinks, Cousins Maine Lobster, Gloria’s Gourmet Kitchen, and Kona Ice.
Kids activities included dolphin coloring and face painting.
Two bands, The Do No Harm Band and The Molly Ringwald Project Band, played top dance cover songs. Event emcee was Drew Wakefield, who got people up dancing and donating along with SB Sunrise Rotary Club President Bruce Belfiore.
I spent some time with the Explore Ecology team of PR Officer Jill Cloutier, Coastal Clean Up Intern Mia Rahman, Development Director Melissa Brooks, and newly appointed Environment Ed Coordinator Veronica Lee. Brooks shared that Explore Ecology is thankful to the Rotary Club of SB Sunrise for their recent grant of $2,500, as well as being a beneficiary of the Dolphin Fundraiser.
Event sponsors were Minno Rugged Tablets, Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians, NHH & Co LLP, Alpha Fire, American Riviera Bank, Benchmark Portal, Dolphin Pools/Montecito Pools, Santa Barbara Auto Group, Lily Carey, Lori Daffron/UBS Sycamore Wealth Management, Silvia Erickson DDS, Kate Hamilton/State Farm Insurance, Innovative Dispute Resolutions LLC, Lanre Johnson, Karen Y. Kawaguchi, Paul and Judith McCaffrey, Bryan Petersen Agency/Farmers Insurance, Smith & Ortiz Insurance, Point Market, Edhat, and MarBorg.
You might also be interested in...
