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September 19, 2009
18th Annual Day of Caring
Page Youth Center - "PYC, the place to be!"
October 10, 2009
Red Feather Ball at Fess Parker's DoubleTree Resort
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United Way of Santa Barbara County Honors 33 Local Businesses, Leaders, Organizations and Community Volunteers!
Bob & Val Montgomery, honored for Outstanding Volunteers of Time, Talent and Treasure for Individual Leadership Giving
United Way of Santa Barbara County hosted its 86th Annual Awards Celebration at the Four Seasons Biltmore Hotel in Montecito, on May 5, 2009. Community Campaign Chair Lynda Nahra presented the evening's awards, assisted by mistress of ceremonies Debby Davison Phelps, along with other presenters and speakers.
Almost 200 attendees were present, (225 had RSVP'd to attend) which is a record-breaker for this annual event. It was especially astounding, considering not only the economy but the Jesusita Fire that had begun just hours prior to the event.
Special appreciation was given to Earl Damitz, CPA, who founded United Way of Santa Barbara County's Endowment and Gift Planning Services; John Mithun for his outstanding philanthropy; Bob & Val Montgomery for their valuable leadership; and Lynda Nahra, who has served as Community Campaign Chair for the past two years.
A total of 33 awards was given to local volunteers, as well as businesses, schools, organizations and the individuals that lead them, for their outstanding support of United Way of Santa Barbara County and its numerous programs.
And the awards go to:
1.Legacy Supporter of the Year: Earl Damitz, Founder of Endowment
2.Alexis de Toqueville Award for Outstanding Philanthropy: John Mithun
3.Outstanding Volunteers of Time, Talent & Treasure for Individual Leadership Giving: Bob & Val Montgomery
4.Community All Star- Leadership Circle Individual of the Year: David Prichard
5.Community Impact Volunteer of the Year: Al Soenke
6.Outstanding Fun in the Sun Volunteer: Tina Nelson
7.Outstanding Day of Caring Individual: Larry Urzua
8.Power of Partnership Individual: Martin Conoley
9.Outstanding Community Partner: First 5 of Santa Barbara County
10.Outstanding Fun in the Sun Partner: Dancing Drum
11.Outstanding Day of Caring Partner: Albertsons
12.Outstanding Youth Investment Partnership: Jo Ann Caines, La Cumbre Jr. High
13.Community Impact Organization of the Year: Isla Vista Youth Projects
14.Best New Campaign Supporter: Deckers Outdoor Corporation
15.Best New Corporate Supporter: Verizon
16.Outstanding CEO Campaign Supporter: John Wigle
17.Outstanding Leadership Workplace: Cottage Health System
18.Outstanding Employee Campaign Manager 1-100 Employees: Louie De Rueda, Allied Waste
19.Outstanding Employee Campaign Manager 100-250 Employees: Heather Hoffman, Wells Fargo
20.Outstanding Employee Campaign Manager 250-400 Employees: Angel Elliott, Nordstrom
21.Outstanding Employee Campaign Manager More than 400 Employees: Tiana Riskowski & Karen Jones, Cottage Health System
22.Outstanding Campaign Cabinet Member: Janet Garufis, Montecito Bank & Trust
Paul Didier with Janet Garufis, President & CEO, Montecito Bank & Trust
23.Outstanding Division Award Finance: Montecito Bank & Trust
24.Outstanding Division Award Education: UCSB
25.Outstanding Division Award Public: City of Santa Barbara
26.Outstanding Division Award Professionals: McGowan Guntermann
27.Outstanding Division Award Business: Cox Communications
28.Outstanding Division Award Non- Profit: Visiting Nurse & Hospice Care
29.Outstanding Division Award High Tech: ConMed Linvatec
30.Outstanding Division Award Health: Cottage Health System
31.Largest Overall Campaign: County of Santa Barbara
32.Power of Partnership Employer: Venoco
33.Most Outstanding Employee and Corporate Campaign: Santa Barbara Bank & Trust
Thank you to our generous sponsors:
Four Seasons Resort The Biltmore, Debby Davison, AMS Entertainment, Arlene Larsen, The Magic Castle and The Village Gardener.
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Earl Damitz Honored as Legacy Supporter
Earl Damitz, retired CPA, was honored at the Annual Awards Celebration for his outstanding volunteerism as the founder of United Way's Endowment and Gift Planning Services Program, which was established in 1982. As a long-time member of United Way's Board of Directors, Earl understood the need to create a solid financial foundation that would support the important work that United Way does in this community.
Driven by his vision, Earl recruited a group of Santa Barbara's top estate planning professionals. Together these volunteers wrote the policies that paved the way for United Way of Santa Barbara County to accept and protect Endowment gifts.
The results of Earl's efforts in Santa Barbara were so innovative that he was asked to establish a similar program for United Way of America, making these programs available to United Ways nationally. In 1985 Earl was officially recognized at the National Volunteer Leaders Conference in Los Angeles.
Earl is a retired founding partner of Damitz, Brooks, Nightingale, Turner & Morrisset. He and his wife Merrilyn were among the first donors to make a legacy gift to United Way, thereby establishing the Heritage Club, an elite society that honors those forward-thinking people who make provisions for United Way of Santa Barbara County in their estate plans.
Heritage Club members will be honored at a special luncheon on June 10. If you have named United Way in your estate plan, please let us know. We would like to have the opportunity to thank you today for your generous support. For more information about the Heritage Club please contact our Gift Planning Service Officer, Judy Goodbody, CFRE, IAR,CRTP at jgoodbody@unitedwaysb.org.
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Young Leaders Society
Presents First in a Series of Professional Development Events!
Featured Guest Speaker: Dr. Relly Nadler
June 9th, 2009
11:30 am to 1:00 pm
Soho Restaurant & Music Club
1221 State Street, Suite 205
Santa Barbara, CA 93101
Dr. Relly Nadler is a leading psychologist and Executive Coach focusing on developing and providing cutting edge Emotional Intelligence tools and strategies for CEO's, Executives, leaders, managers and their organizations and teams.
His book, the Leaders' Playbook, gives hands-on solutions to become a Star Performer. After working with over 15,000 leaders over 30 years, he has distilled some of his best advice and tips. In addition to his Coach's Corner sections, he has interviewed exceptional leaders and gleaned their practices into Star Secrets.
The goal of the Young Leaders Society is to promote and encourage philanthropy and volunteerism among the young leaders of Santa Barbara County, through participation in a variety of social, educational, volunteer and networking opportunities.
You've heard about our volunteerism, now advance your career goals by coming to our professional development events!
$10 Young Leaders Society Members
$20 Non-Members
RSVP to Juli Askew, 805-965-8594 or
We hope you'll pass this invitation on to your friends and co-workers! We look forward to seeing you!
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United Way Establishes Jesusita Fire Long Term Recovery Fund to Support Post-Disaster Recovery of the Community
 In anticipation of the long term recovery needs of the community affected by the Jesusita Fire, United Way of Santa Barbara County has established the Jesusita Fire Long Term Recovery Fund. The purpose of the fund is to assist those affected by the fire with their long term recovery needs after the initial disaster response has passed. 100% of funds raised will go to those in need.
The Jesusita Fire Long Term Recovery Fund will be based on the same model as The 1990/1991 Painted Cave Fire Fund and the 2008 Santa Barbara Tea Fire Response Fund, which was established in the two days following the Tea Fire. Both the Painted Cave and the Tea Fire funds were able to raise enough money to have a significant impact in helping community members rebuild their lives.
"Local agencies are stretched to respond to the immediate needs of this extreme disaster; however, if history has shown us anything there will be a long road ahead for many individuals and families to recover from this devastation," said Paul Didier, President and CEO of United Way of Santa Barbara County. "Previous experience has proved that planning for the long term recovery of the community needs to begin right away and this is a role Untied Way has been able to fill responsibly and effectively."
"The generosity of the Santa Barbara community toward our neighbors has always been overwhelming, and we believe it will be the same for this tragic disaster," said Didier.
Donations can be made to:
Jesusita Fire Long Term Recovery Fund,
c/o United Way of Santa Barbara County,
320 East Gutierrez St., Santa Barbara, CA 93101
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Fun in the Sun Announces New Partners!
Although Fun in the Sun is just around the corner, new developments are happening all the time. Every year, we look forward to partnering with local clinics, agencies, and organizations who provide free health and dental screenings for Fun in the Sun participants.
This year, we are thrilled to add the Santa Barbara Eyeglass Factory and SEE (Surgical Eye Expeditions) International to the growing list of partners.
Rick Feldman, owner of the Santa Barbara Eyeglass Factory, recognized an unmet need with the population Fun in the Sun serves. He recommended approaching SEE International, who then generously offered eye screenings for all participants this summer.
They will provide volunteers to perform the eye screenings and refer children to a volunteer ophthalmologist if an eye exam is necessary. Once the referred children receive their free eye exam, they will receive a gift certificate to the Santa Barbara Eyeglass Factory for a pair of eyeglasses free of charge.
By finding a need in the community and coming together to solve an issue, this is one of many examples of the Power of Partnership in the Santa Barbara community. What a wonderful additional service this will be to the Fun in the Sun kids.
Want to get involved with Fun in the Sun? Sign up for Lunch Bunch! Come see the program in action and join in on the fun!  We are currently recruiting new and old volunteers for Lunch Bunch, our one-hour lunchtime mentoring program from June 29 to August 6.
To learn more about Lunch Bunch, and how to reserve a day or week with your organization, please contact Jenny Lewallen at 965-8581 x138 or email jlewallen@unitedwaysb.org. Or go to www.volunteersbc.org, create a username and password, and pick your dates and locations.
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United Way Participates in Pre-K Parent & Caregiver Expo!
Theresa Weissglass with young student at Pre-K Expo
Parents and children were actively engaged during the Pre-Kindergarten Parent & Caregiver Exposition on Tuesday, May 12, 2009 at Goleta Union School District. The exposition was put together by First 5 of Santa Barbara County and the Goleta Union School District. Shuttle buses were made available to pick up parents and their children from various school locations.
In an effort to emphasize the importance of parent involvement in a child's early educational career, United Way of Santa Barbara County, in partnership with Healthy Start programs, was able to provide parents with Home Play Learning kits. These kits are meant to help develop a child's skills at home, preparing them to enter kindergarten, while also promoting child-parent interaction.
The kits included a bilingual parent instruction letter, a Counting/Sorting kit (for developing number, classification, color, and vocabulary skills) and 2 storybooks. Children enthusiastically classified colors, objects and shapes, while parents learned the various techniques that could be used at home to improve their child's chance at having a successful educational career.
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Day of Caring 2009 Focuses on Youth Involvement!
Individuals, families, students and corporate groups are encouraged to take part in United Way's 18th Annual Day of Caring, to be held September 19, 2009. Last year we had over 1,000 volunteers and most of the kids that participated came with their families. This year, one of our goals is to encourage youth to get involved in their community by either creating a worksite with their school, church or teen center, or recruiting excited, proactive volunteer teams!
Students volunteer at last year's Day of Caring!
As the largest single-day volunteering event in the Tri-Counties, Day of Caring is a great way to get involved with the community and local non-profits to make a difference for those in need. In just four hours, over 1,000 volunteers will work at over 50 charity sites throughout Santa Barbara to achieve $200,000 worth of results.
Though the event is not until September, there are ways to get involved now. To sign-up for Day of Caring, become a sponsor, form a team, or create an agency worksite, contact Juli Askew at jaskew@unitedwaysb.org or find us on Facebook!
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