Tag archives: nonprofit

Friendship Center Annual Legacy Award Luncheon
By Joanne A Calitri   |   June 10, 2025

The Friendship Center Montecito held its annual Legacy Society Award Luncheon on Wednesday, May 28, at the University Club. This annual event has returned from its lockdown-related hiatus. The organization honors those who have committed to allocate funding via their estate to support the FC endowment. FC Board Finance Chair and Legacy Leadership Committee member, […]

Los Padres Council Scouting America
By Steven Libowitz   |   May 27, 2025

The clichéd image of a random Boy Scout helping grandma across the street to earn points toward a merit badge is a thing of the past with the reinvigorated launch of Scouting America – a new identity that reflects the organization’s commitment to inclusivity and welcoming all youth, including girls, into its programs.  “We’re all […]

C.A.R.E4Paws Happy Tails Celebration and Fundraiser Event
By Joanne A Calitri   |   May 13, 2025

The C.A.R.E4Paws organization held a “Happy Tails Celebration and Fundraiser” event on Sunday, May 4, at the Cabrillo Pavilion. The event focused on celebrating the organization’s establishment 16 years ago this May, its mission, and the work it does for pets and their owners on the Central Coast.   Starting with a silent auction during […]

Savie Health
By Steven Libowitz   |   April 22, 2025

Fictional detective Harry Bosch, the star of more than a dozen best-selling books by Michael Connelly and two TV series on Amazon Prime, operates with a credo he adopted early in his career: “Everybody counts, or nobody counts.”  That’s basically the same philosophy behind Savie Health, the nonprofit free clinic in downtown Lompoc. It’s the […]

REACH
By Steven Libowitz   |   April 15, 2025

REACH is a small local organization that provides comprehensive transformative support and development opportunities to first-generation college-bound students as they navigate the transition from high school to postsecondary education. The name is an acronym that stands for Resilience, Education, Adventure, Community and Health, but the word itself perfectly describes what the organization does, which is […]

Parkinson Association of Santa Barbara
By Steven Libowitz   |   April 8, 2025

April is always a big time of year for the Parkinson Association of Santa Barbara (PASB). That’s when the very local, very grassroots nonprofit organization puts together its symposium, an annual event that’s at once a community builder, educational offering, and social gathering.  Which makes it not all that different from the ongoing activities of […]

SBC Search and Rescue
By Steven Libowitz   |   April 1, 2025

Santa Barbara County Search and Rescue (SBCSAR), established decades ago by the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department to provide vital emergency search and rescue services for Santa Barbara County and surrounding areas, is an important first responder team for the community. The all-volunteer group of dedicated and highly trained search and rescue professionals is committed […]

Faith of a Child Foundation
By Steven Libowitz   |   March 21, 2025

Just over a dozen years ago, the Sonrise Baby Home in Uganda was started by a young woman named Damali Mirembe. She was one of many orphans raised by an American Vietnam War veteran on disability who had, years ago, moved to Uganda to help the orphaned children there. When they grew he put them […]

1st Annual Gilded Gala for the SB Museum of Art
By Joanne A Calitri   |   March 18, 2025

In what will turn out to be setting the bar for galas in our town, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art’s 1st Annual Gilded Gala Fundraiser was held on Friday, February 28 at none other than the Rosewood Miramar Beach. The gala’s mission is to raise funds for the SBMA’s “…dawn of a new era, […]

YouthWell
By Steven Libowitz   |   March 4, 2025

There was no doubt that top staff at the nonprofit YouthWell would show up at the sold-out Arlington Theatre last week to hear social psychologist Jonathan Haidt talk about The Anxious Generation, his new book that examines why, after more than a decade of stability and improvement, the mental health of adolescents plunged in the […]

Youthful Vision — Big Impact: Chloe Voigt and YOUTHCLUSIVE Present ‘SpongeBob the Musical’
By Dalina Michaels   |   March 4, 2025

A new generation of young creatives is shaking up the local arts scene, and at the helm of this exciting movement is none other than Chloe Voigt, a 14-year-old high school freshman with big dreams and a passion for theatre. As the founder and leader of YOUTHCLUSIVE, a new nonprofit theater company dedicated to giving […]

Freedom to Choose
By Steven Libowitz   |   February 18, 2025

Last Sunday night, actor Clarence Maclin spoke to a sold-out Arlington Theatre audience at SBIFF’s Virtuosos Awards about why he had spent years co-writing and then acting in Sing Sing, the feature film up for Best Picture at next month’s Academy Awards. The movie depicts his earlier life, when he was sentenced to 17 years […]

White Buffalo’s Roots of the Future: Celebrating the Culture in Agriculture
By Steven Libowitz   |   February 11, 2025

Eighteen months ago, White Buffalo Land Trust (WBLT) celebrated the culmination of its year-long pilot of the organization’s Artist in Residence program. The program represents the dipping of a toe into expressing – through fine art – the Trust’s work to restore the ecosystem by practicing, promoting, and developing systems of regenerative agriculture at Jalama […]

Flowers on Board
By Richard Mineards   |   February 4, 2025

U.S. Marine Corps veteran and principal consultant with Zensights, Michael Flowers, has joined the advisory council of the Dream Foundation’s Dreams for Veterans Program. Flowers served in the Marine Corps for 24 years retiring with the rank of lieutenant colonel. He has since held various leadership and management positions within the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries. […]

Future Smiles
By Steven Libowitz   |   January 28, 2025

Health insurance companies and even Medi-Cal still think of orthodontics as a non-essential, even esoteric expense, even for kids – one that they’re not willing to cover. But brace yourself for the truth: getting braces is by no means simply a cosmetic procedure.  For kids who have misaligned teeth – including crooked teeth, gaps between […]

Angels Over the Holidays
By Richard Mineards   |   January 7, 2025

Adam’s Angels celebrated their fifth annual Holiday Community event at the Veterans Building when more than 100 volunteers prepared 650 meals of both meat and vegetarian lasagna, salad and dessert to make sure no one was left hungry during Yuletide. A ‘pop up shop’ had racks of new jackets, warm gear and shoes provided by […]

National Disaster Search Dog Foundation
By Steven Libowitz   |   December 24, 2024

Thirty years ago this coming April, FEMA-Certified Canine Search Specialist Wilma Melville and her black lab Murphy spent a week rummaging through the rubble of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building bombing in Oklahoma. What stood out was just how few other rescue dogs were on site to search for survivors. When Melville realized only […]

Celebrating the Relief Chief
By Richard Mineards   |   December 17, 2024

Thomas Tighe, who is retiring as head of Direct Relief after 24 years was fêted by members of the charity’s Legacy Society at the organization’s headquarters. Since starting in 2000, Tighe has seen the charity’s expansion become the fifth largest charity in the U.S. among the largest providers of charitable medicine in America and globally. […]

Friendship Center’s Annual Thanksgiving Dinner
By Joanne A Calitri   |   December 10, 2024

The Friendship Center in Montecito held its annual Thanksgiving lunch for its members and their families and friends, on Wednesday, November 27, outside on the patio. The membership has grown 30% in the last year and the event was packed. Noted members at the lunch were Luis Cabello with his daughters Patty and Graciela;and 101 […]

Friendship Center Dresses Up and Wines Down
By Joanne A Calitri   |   December 10, 2024

At the beginning of November, the Friendship Center held its 12th Annual Wine Down at the Arlington Theater with a special twist – this year’s event included a ghoulish costume theme given its proximity to Halloween. This sold-out event brought food, dancing, and much more to a crowd of 130 guests, raising nearly $60,000 in […]