United Way of Santa Barbara

l-r Kathie Organ and Eileen Bunning of Visiting Nurse and Hospice Care with Steve Ortiz, United Way of Santa Barbara County

Over 150 supporters of United Way of Santa Barbara County (UWSBC) gathered for the annual Holiday Bash on Wednesday, December 6, to celebrate the successes of the 2006-2007 campaign and enjoy an evening of holiday cheer with other community leaders. The festive evening was held at Fess Parker’s DoubleTree Resort, and the program began with an engaging performance by “The Killer S#arps,” high school age jazz performers in retro zoot suits.

The enthusiasm continued as Annual Community Campaign Chair Jim Armstrong, together with Deputy Campaign Chair Brian Sarvis and United Way’s Steve Ortiz recognized and awarded some of the key supporters of United Way. Bank of America Senior Vice President David Prichard was recognized for his phenomenal presence as a Leadership Circle supporter of UWSBC. AGIA Insurance was honored with the “Outstanding Campaign Committee Award” and L-3 Communications MariPro Inc. was recognized for having an “Outstanding Employee Campaign.” Kathie Organ was acknowledged for her exemplary leadership of Visiting Nurse and Hospice Care of Santa Barbara’s employee campaign. Visiting Nurse and Hospice Care of Santa Barbara was honored once again for its “Outstanding Non-Profit Campaign.” With increased totals of over $7000, UPS set the stage for this year’s campaign and was honored with the “Outstanding Pacesetter Campaign.” Santa Barbara Bank and Trust was honored with the “Outstanding Corporate Gift” award for their continued generosity and support of UWSBC. Raising over $265,000 (and still counting) the County of Santa Barbara had this year’s “Largest Employee Campaign.”

Finally, the awards ended with a number of Power of Partnership™ Honorable Mentions which included: Business First National Bank, Nordstrom, Fess Parker’s DoubleTree Resort, Montecito Bank and Trust, Venoco, Inc., and Santa Barbara City College.

Jim Armstrong and Brian Sarvis unveiled the 2006-2007 campaign results to date – celebrating that over 59% of the $2,630,000 goal has already been reached! With more than $1,551,069 currently in and with more workplace campaigns to run, hopes are high that the campaign goal will be reached again this year. United Way's Community Campaign kicked off at the Day of Caring on September 16, 2006 and will culminate in the Annual Awards Celebration on May 2, 2007 at the Four Seasons Biltmore.