Tag archives: Flower Empower
Valerie Banks, the dynamic force behind the Dream Foundation’s Flower Empower program, is retiring after nearly 15 years. Since assuming leadership in 2008, Valerie has grown the popular program from humble beginnings at Santa Barbara’s Saturday Farmers Market, forging partnerships with local growers and flower wholesalers, while rallying dozens of volunteers. Today the enthusiastic helpers […]
After a two-year absence given the pandemic, the Dream Foundation hosted its 11th annual Flower Empower lunch at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum, with a record 239 guests raising more than $140,000 for the popular organization that fulfills the final wishes of terminally-ill adults. “It’s so nice to be together again with real people and […]
In the quarter-century since its founding, Dream Foundation, the only national dream-granting organization serving terminally-ill adults, has provided end-of-life Dreams for more than 32,000 terminally-ill adults across the country. Based in Santa Barbara, the organization serves as something of a counterpart to the well-known Make-a-Wish Foundation – the Phoenix-founded nonprofit that for 40 years has […]
Montecito art and car collector Michael Hammer‘s actor son, Armie, 33, is reprising his role in the sequel to the hit film Call Me By Your Name with Oscar nominated Timothee Chalamet, 24. Director Luca Guadagnino, 48, who helmed the original 2017 drama, says both lead actors are keen to reprise their roles in the […]
Despite a last-minute change of venue because of heavy rain, the Dream Foundation’s 25th anniversary Flower Empower lunch at the Page Youth Center was a blooming success raising around $160,000 for the popular charity, which has fulfilled 32,000 dreams for terminally-ill adults since its launch. The 230-guest 9th annual bash was originally scheduled in the […]
In lieu of the Dream Foundation’s annual Flower Empower lunch, the popular nonprofit hosted a bouquet-making event on the front lawn of the Hospice of Santa Barbara. Last year more than 8,300 bouquets were delivered, using donated flowers, to hospices, cancer centers, and personal residences. The event, which raised $25,000, also honored program sponsors Tim […]
