Tag archives: philanthropy

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 […]

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 […]

One805’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Firehose
By Jeff Wing   |   January 21, 2025

Richard Weston-Smith is a co-founder & COO of One805 – alongside cofounder/CEO Kirsten Cavendish Weston-Smith and cofounder/CFO John J. Thyne III. What exactly did these folks cofound? It’s a fair question. The nearly indescribable One805 can rightly be called First Responder to our First Responders. Like many nouns in the English language, though, First Responder […]

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 […]

DignityMoves: Montecito Parish Raises Funds to Help Areas Homeless
By Leana Orsua   |   December 17, 2024

Montecito’s Episcopal Parish, All Saints by-the-Sea, has donated $50,000 to help provide temporary shelter to Santa Barbara County’s homeless community. The grant will go to San Francisco-based Interim Housing, a nonprofit that touts an innovative model to end homelessness by taking underutilized or vacant land to build temporary communities using prefabricated materials for mobile housing […]

Richie’s Barber Shop 13th Annual Holiday Tri-Charity Funder
By Joanne A Calitri   |   December 17, 2024

Richie Ramirez and head barber Jessica Jay launched the Barbershop’s 13th Annual Charity fundraiser for the holidays, on Friday, December 6. The annual charity event was started humbly in 2011 with Richie’s love of kids. He launched first the “Toys for Tots” where he collected three oversized moving boxes of toys for kids that were […]

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. […]

Hillside: A ‘Shining’ Example for the Community
By Steven Libowitz   |   December 10, 2024

Next year marks the 80th anniversary for Hillside, the residential home for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, who receive not only quality care, but also whatever degree of independence they can handle, as well as integration within our community.  Those last two parts weren’t always true.  Hillside first opened its doors in the 1940s […]

Direct Relief
By Steven Libowitz   |   November 26, 2024

At the end of July, Direct Relief President and CEO Thomas Tighe announced his decision to step down from his role at the end of the year after 24 years leading the organization, a period that saw unprecedented expansion of the nonprofit’s critical work to improve the health and lives of people affected by poverty […]

A Soup-er Celebration
By Richard Mineards   |   November 26, 2024

The Organic Soup Kitchen, which has served more than three million bowls to needy residents in Santa Barbara County, celebrated its 15th anniversary with a bountiful bash for 250 guests at the Cabrillo Pavilion. Founder and executive director Anthony Carroccio declared: “When we served our first bowl in the park in 2009, we were visionaries […]

Legal Aid: Continuing to Close the Justice Gap
By Steven Libowitz   |   November 19, 2024

Earlier this fall, the Legal Aid Foundation of Santa Barbara County (LAFSBC) marked its 65th anniversary with an early evening gathering at the Anchor Rose in Santa Barbara Harbor. LAFSBC – which works tirelessly to close the justice gap for low-income residents in the area – took the occasion to make note of its own […]

Vintners Give Back: Biennial Auction Raises Money for Direct Relief and Local Health Services
By Gabe Saglie   |   November 19, 2024

The MJ had a seat at the table, and we witnessed the power of giving back. The Santa Barbara Wine Auction was back at the Ritz-Carlton Bacara in Goleta this past weekend, drawing hundreds of oenophiles who dressed up, showed up and raised their paddles up. This is a biennial party put on by the […]

The Gift of Philanthropy: And How Supporting Local Businesses Is Good for Us All
By Deann Zampelli   |   November 19, 2024

Some years ago, I was at a friend’s dinner party where I had the good fortune to be seated next to the late philanthropist, Lady Leslie Ridley-Tree. At the time, she was 92 and clearly had no intention of slowing down anytime soon. As I was in graduate school studying healthy aging, I used this […]

Empty Bowls Runneth Over
By Richard Mineards   |   November 19, 2024

Empty Bowls, the popular fundraiser for the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County, staged its 27th event at the new $20 million Sharehouse in Goleta, with more than 750 guests participating in the artisan bread and soup event. The 77,000 square foot Foodbank property boasts ten times the refrigeration storage space, and the sold-out fun food […]

Casa Dorinda’s Lisa Thomas Awarded by the AFP
By Joanne A Calitri   |   November 12, 2024

To celebrate National Philanthropy Day, the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), Santa Barbara-Ventura Chapter, holds their annual awards soirée to honor those who have made a significant contribution in fundraising and philanthropy. Their 2024 ceremonies took place on Tuesday, October 29, at the Santa Barbara Zoo. The event opened with a meet and greet cocktail […]

Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse
By Steven Libowitz   |   November 4, 2024

The Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, aka CADA, is looking to dive deeper into the ARTS. Lest anyone think the seven-decade old nonprofit is planning on building a theater or promoting a series of rock concerts or dance performances, ARTS is the acronym for CADA’s Adult Residential Treatment Services; a residential treatment facility for […]

Home, Home on the Range: White Buffalo Land Trust’s Open House
By Steven Libowitz   |   October 29, 2024

White Buffalo Land Trust has only been around for six years, and it was only in 2021 that the nonprofit dedicated to restoring our ecosystem through regenerative agriculture acquired the 1,000-acre Jalama Canyon Ranch to establish its center to practice, promote, and develop systems of regenerative agriculture for local, regional, and global impact. Located near […]

Full Moon, Full Potential, Full Fun
By Richard Mineards   |   October 29, 2024

The lunar-tics were out in force for a night on the tiles at the Kimpton Canary hotel rooftop, when Girls Inc. of Greater Santa Barbara hosted a Full Moon, Full Potential bash, their first in-person event since 2019, to coincide with the night’s Super Moon, with 215 guests helping raise around $175,000. After a cocktail […]

TBCF Golden Gala 2024
By Joanne A Calitri   |   October 22, 2024

Teddy Bear Cancer Foundation Golden Gala 2024 was held on Saturday, October 5, at the Montecito Les Belles Fontaines Estate of Alastair and Ann Winn, co-hosted with their daughter Amanda and her husband Travis Twining. The TBCF team asked the more than 300 attendees to wear gold – the internationally acknowledged color of pediatric cancer […]

Ice Cream Is the Key
By Richard Mineards   |   October 22, 2024

Montecito philanthropist Anne Smith Towbes hosted a decidedly chilly reception at her Birnam Wood home when she organized an ice cream social for John Daly’s Key Class which helps to support and educate at-risk youth with basic life skills, including social etiquette, resume building, and the basics of dining. The curriculum is taught from eighth […]