Courtesy photo.
SANTA BARBARA COUNTY — Volunteers fanned out throughout Goleta, Santa Barbara and Carpinteria for United Way of Santa Barbara County’s 26th Annual Day of Caring Sept. 16, taking on a wide range of community projects.
Volunteers of all ages came together to complete much-needed improvement projects, such as gardening at the Pilgrim Terrace and Yanonali Community Gardens, sorting products at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore and painting a mural at Harding Elementary School in Santa Barbara. More than 1,200 volunteers were requested by 45 local nonprofit agencies. In total, the value of the completed labor for these projects is nearly $300,000.
“Seeing teams of coworkers, families and even individuals joining up to tackle these important projects was really an inspiring and hopeful sight,” said Steve Ortiz, President and CEO of United Way of Santa Barbara County. “I think everyone learned a lot about their community and neighbors, as well as the wide range of nonprofit organizations that make Santa Barbara such a unique and special place to live. Without our volunteers’ help, these projects may not have been completed because of a lack of staff or resources. Thank you to everyone who participated and made this so successful.”
The day began with a kickoff breakfast at 8 a.m. at the Ben Page Youth Center, 4540 Hollister Ave. in Santa Barbara. Each volunteer received complimentary breakfast (sponsored by Albertsons/Vons) and a Day of Caring T-shirt. From there, the volunteer teams headed out to 45 sites to work on a variety of projects through the early afternoon.
The 2017 Day of Caring was sponsored by Albertsons/Vons, AMS Entertainment, Bartlett, Pringle & Wolf, Cottage Health, EasyLift Transportation, ExxonMobil, Free Methodist Church of Santa Barbara, Karl Storz Imaging, Lockheed Martin, Metropolitan Theaters, Montecito Bank & Trust, Pacific Coast Business Times, Page Youth Center, ParentClick, Santa Barbara Independent, Santa Barbara News-Press, Select Staffing, Stantec, and Union Bank.
For more on Day of Caring and United Way, visit https://unitedwaysb.com.
About United Way of Santa Barbara County: United Way of Santa Barbara County (UWSBC) has the unique and positive vision that “in our community, everyone has a hopeful future.” Since 1923, UWSBC has served Santa Barbara County community through funding, volunteer development, and by utilizing its own unique initiatives that involve dozens of local non-profit and public sector agencies. UWSBC’s local community driven Power of Partnership™ priorities help children, families & seniors with a focus on Education, Income and Health.