Tag archives: donations

Richie’s Barber Shop 12th Annual Holiday Donation Collection
By Joanne A Calitri   |   December 12, 2023

It was an animated holiday gathering of Richie and his Montecito barbers with this year’s selected nonprofit organizations for his annual holiday toys and funds drive. Richie’s Barber Shop is starting to collect the donations – feel free to drop off any time the shop is open or by appointment. The donations will be heading […]

MBT Gives Back
By Zach Rosen   |   March 29, 2022

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 […]

Richie’s Annual Barber Shop Holiday Donation Drive
By Joanne A Calitri   |   November 30, 2021

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 […]

Celebrating Gifts Worth More Than $15 Million
By Scott Craig   |   September 21, 2021

With great appreciation, Westmont announces two major gifts totaling more than $15 million, the two largest cash gifts in college history. In late August, Westmont received $8.2 million from Ed and Mollie Miller, the largest single gift ever. It supports the Paul Raymond Miller Scholarship Endowment, named in honor of Ed’s father and originally established […]

Latest on School Reopening
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   March 18, 2021

In addition to the majority of the business sector permitted to reopen indoors with modifications earlier this week, most county public schools – bolstered by happy and tired parents and caregivers – reopened in early March. Montecito public schools, Montecito Union School and Cold Spring School, have been open for in-person learning since late September, […]

SBCC Foundation Receives Generous Gift
By Richard Mineards   |   March 4, 2021

The Santa Barbara City College Foundation has received a major gift of $375,000 from anonymous donors to support the college’s music department’s jazz and symphony programs. The funds will provide the department’s faculty and staff with the necessary resources to initiate and fund special projects and intermittently critical needs of the programs. “This generous gift […]

A Great Montecito Neighbor is Making Stories Matter
By Sharon Byrne   |   December 31, 2020

Last Sunday, community godfather and Christmas Elf Dana Newquist organized the second Montecito-To-Unity toy and fundraising drive and caravan for delivery. A great group met up at the Upper Village in classic cars, ready to donate toys and funds for the second week in a row. Dana asked me to get up on the 1937 […]

Santa Barbara Salvation Army Toy Drive Helps Hundreds of Families Celebrate Christmas
By Nick Schou   |   December 31, 2020

The shortest day of the year turned out to be an unexpectedly generous one for needy Santa Barbara area drive families. From 9 am to 6 pm on Monday, December 21, the Santa Barbara Salvation Army held a food and toy drive at its headquarters on Hollister Avenue, providing gifts of food and toys to […]

For 2021, Let’s at Least do the Least
By Gwyn Lurie   |   December 31, 2020

It’s hard to believe that this decade (and by decade, I mean this past year) is finally coming to an end. However, for those of us fortunate enough to have made it through, it does seem we are about to see the backside of the most tumultuous, trying, and confusing year in memory. 2020, don’t […]

The Little Fire Engine That Could
By Nick Schou   |   December 24, 2020

You might recognize Dana Newquist and his 1937 Ford Fire Engine from Montecito’s annual Fourth of July parade, which he cofounded in 1996. Newquist bought the engine about 20 years ago from a Hollywood producer who used the vehicle for only a day – the lovingly restored, bright-red truck still bears the previous owner’s initials […]

The Giving List
By Gwyn Lurie   |   December 10, 2020

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving, even if it wasn’t the raucous family-packed affair we’re all used to. Hopefully by next year it will be safe for all of us to return to that long-cherished tradition of gathering with loved-ones even if we dread being seated next to that one random cousin with whom […]

Richie’s Barber Shop Annual Toy Drive Adds a Twist
By Joanne A Calitri   |   December 10, 2020

Richie’s Barber Shop has held its annual toy drive for kids for nine years and this time it has added an element for our lockdown times: adopting a pet from the local animal shelter. The shop’s annual Christmas tree is decorated with photos of the pets for adoption, and the American Flag stands proudly at […]

A New Lease on Life
By Richard Mineards   |   November 19, 2020

Carpinteria twosome Ashton Kutcher, 42, and wife Mila Kunis, 37, have listed their 7,351-square-foot Beverly Hills home on half an acre for rent. The property in Hidden Valley in the mountains above Coldwater Canyon is a guard-gated community with neighbors including singers Adele and Katy Perry, and actresses Nicole Kidman and Jennifer Lawrence. The estate, […]

Having Hope
By Richard Mineards   |   May 21, 2020

Beanie Baby billionaire Ty Warner‘s limited edition multi-colored Hope Bear, which I wrote about in this illustrious organ last month, has been donated by the hundreds to children served by CALM and Storyteller Children’s Center, with 100 per cent of proceeds from sales going to the United Way Worldwide fund. “The world needs hope and […]

Protecting the Community
By Richard Mineards   |   April 16, 2020

Santa Barbara fashion designer Catherine Gee is doing her part in helping with the coronavirus pandemic. Her company has partnered with Grant House Sewing and donated hundreds of yards of cotton linen for face masks, which will be given to doctors, nurses, and the local community. Additionally, the companies have donated stock fabrics to LAProtects.org, […]

First Responders Battle in Basketball Court of Champions
By Scott Craig   |   December 5, 2019

The Santa Barbara Basketball Court of Champions, begun in 2014 to recognize people in the community who have made significant contributions to the sport, hosts charity basketball games to honor our local First Responders Saturday, December 7, at 2 pm in Westmont’s Murchison Gym. The event features teams of police and sheriffs against firefighters and […]

Santa Barbara Rescue Mission
By Zach Rosen   |   December 3, 2019

Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, this time of year is when giving is on the mind. The winter season brings with it thoughts of donated gifts or providing hot meals to those in need or without a home. Since 1965 the Santa Barbara Rescue Mission has been giving to the homeless of the area, acting as […]

On a Mission
By Richard Mineards   |   October 10, 2019

Black and white checks were de rigueur when the Santa Barbara Rescue Mission hosted its 18th annual benefit, Bayou 500, at Goleta’s Dos Pueblos Ranch. A record 365 guests attend the car racing themed fun fête, emceed by radio host Catherine Remak and co-chaired by Susan Hughes, Kim Mullen and Joan Wimberly, which featured a […]

Gold Ribbon Luncheon
By Lynda Millner   |   October 10, 2019

The paddles never stopped going up during “the ask” for dollars for the Teddy Bear Cancer Foundation (TBCF). In all the 25 years I’ve covered non-profit events, it was amazing. All the proceeds go to help children with cancer and their families in Santa Barbara, Ventura, and San Luis Obispo counties. TBCF was founded in […]

ACS Bash
By Richard Mineards   |   September 26, 2019

After hosting annual evening events, the Santa Barbara branch of the American Cancer Society threw a lunch this year in the Hilton’s Reagan Room for nearly 100 guests, which raised around $100,000 for the popular organization, which helps more than 100,000 people in the western region annually. Chairwoman Denise Sanford emceed the fete which honored […]