United Way of Santa Barbara

Each year, Santa Barbara County United Way's Day of Caring brings community members together in a morning of inspiration, service and fun to kickoff the Annual Community Campaign. This year more than 1,000 community volunteers of all ages helped 54 charities by providing gardening, painting, cleaning, office work, maintenance and repairs, valued at $195,000. This year the Day of Caring was part of National Civic Participation Week.

At the breakfast event, United Way announced an ambitious goal to raise $2,933,000, with an average gift of $208 and at least 37% participation by employees at workplace campaigns in this year's Annual Community Campaign.

The event started with a rousing rally at the Page Youth Center in Goleta. The program began with a flag ceremony led jointly by local Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, and an inspirational rendition of America the Beautiful by Sgt. Dave Gonzales of the Santa Barbara Police Department. Presentations were made by United Way Board President Rick Nightingale, Congresswoman Lois Capps and Volunteer Campaign Chair Ron Werft, CEO of Cottage Health System. "The Day of Caring effort encourages our spirit of volunteerism and enriches our community. Today, you have the chance to help your neighbors and see how the services you support accomplish their work", Werft proclaimed.

The work assignment sites covered a lot of ground, including Girls Inc. in Carpinteria, Friendship Center Adult Day Care in Montecito, Transition House downtown and Dos Pueblos High School in Goleta. Eighty-four organizations sent teams of 10 or more people to work at various charities. Among the largest teams were employees of Santa Barbara Bank & Trust, Raytheon, Wells Fargo Bank, Cox Communications, City of Santa Barbara and County of Santa Barbara.

Several volunteers from Wolfe and Associates "adopted" the child care programs at Cottage Hospital where, in addition to their volunteer service on the Day of Caring, the company sent a few of their employees back to the site to complete work the following week. "It was wonderful that the Infant- Toddler Center was chosen as the target for their generosity." said Keyo Russell, director of the Infant-Toddler Center. "Childcare is often overlooked and is so critical for a thriving community."

Some of the tasks performed at this year's Day of Caring were:

Local companies that participated in the Day of Caring were:
A.G. Edwards	Digital Instruments/Veeco Metrology Group	Pacific Scientific
ABC-Clio, Inc.	Dos Pueblos High School	Platinum Insurance Marketing
Alpha Kappa Alpha	eMentis	QAD
American Red Cross	Exxon Mobil	Raytheon Company
Americorps-Santa Barbara County Office of Education	Fess Parker's Doubletree Resort	Ronald L. Wolfe & Associates
Anacapa School	Four Season's Biltmore Resort	Rotary Club of Goleta
Astro Aerospace	Girl Scouts Tres Condados	Sansum-Santa Barbara Medical Foundation Clinic
Bacara Resort & Spa	Goleta Lions Club	Santa Barbara Axxess
Bartlett, Pringle & Wolfe	Goleta Water District	Santa Barbara Bank & Trust
Business First National Bank	Hager & Dowling, Attorneys	Santa Barbara City College
Byrd Financial	Hewlett Packard	Santa Barbara News-Press
Californians for Population Stabilization	Home Improvement Center	Santa Barbara Peace Corp. Association
Cancer Center of Santa Barbara	InRoads Technology	Santa Barbara Regional Health Authority
Center for Policy Redesign	Karl Storz Imaging	Santa Barbara Staffing
Children & Families Commission of Santa Barbara County	Lawyers Title Company	Seymour Duncan
Cisco Systems	Lockheed Martin, Santa Barbara Focalplane	Snelling Personnel Services
City Housing Authority	Los Prietos Boys Camp	State Farm Insurance
City of Santa Barbara	McFarlane Faletti & Co. LLP	Teen Court
Combined Federal Campaign	Macy's West	Tenet Healthcare Corp.
Computer Motion	MariPro, Inc.	The Territory Ahead
Cottage Health System	Medtronic Neurosurgery	Tynan Group
Cottage Health System Santa Ynez Valley	Merrill Lynch	UCSB
Council on Alcohol & Drug Abuse	MFC&V Insurance Services	Vetronix Corp.
County of Santa Barbara	Montecito Bank & Trust	Warp 9 Technologies
County of Santa Barbara Public Health Dept.	Ogilvy-Hill Insurance	Washington Mutual
Cox Communications	Openwave	Wells Fargo Bank
Damitz Brooks Nightingale Turner & Morrisset	Pacific Coast Business Times	Westmont College
Delco Defense Systems Operations		Yardi Systems

Helper Sponsors
Balance Bar Co.	Hager & Dowling, Attorneys	Smart & Final
The Berryman	Jeannine's Bakery	Snelling Personnel Services
Debbie's Delights	La Arcada Investment Corporation	Steven & Suzanne Weintraub
Exxon Mobil	Lawyer's Title Company	The Territory Ahead
Foodbank of Santa Barbara County	Lockheed Martin, Santa Barbara Focalplane	Trader Joe's Goleta
Gelson's	Maripro, Inc.	Tri-County Produce Co.
Graphic Traffic	MFC&V Insurance Services	United Parcel Service

The letter below, which was sent to and published in the Santa Barbara News-Press, tells it all from a Day of Caring agency's point of view.

"I would like to say what a great experience I had on the September 14 United Way Day of Caring. A great group of volunteers showed up at the Kinko's Early Learning Center at Santa Barbara City College to paint, fix and garden. They were tireless in completing the projects in front of them and it was done with a smile and lots of encouragement.

Our playground and building looked great and the children and families were so excited on Monday morning. I am inspired to volunteer more because of their attitude and ability to demonstrate that a small group of people can make a difference. Thank you, Lynda Fairly and crew!"

-Lea Blackburn, Director, Kinko's Early Learning Center, Santa Barbara City College

For more information on Santa Barbara County United Way's Annual Campaign call 965-8591 or email us at info@unitedwaysb.org.