SANTA BARBARA — Foodbank of Santa Barbara County is holding its “Share Your Lunch” campaign from May 1 through 31. The program enables the community to help close the summer food gap by donating the amount one might typically spend on lunch (for a day, week, month or more). The goal of the campaign is to raise $50,000 to stop summer hunger for working families, kids and seniors in need.
“We are excited to offer such an easy way to ensure the health of our communities during summer, when other resources are much scarcer,” said Erik Talkin, Foodbank CEO. “Together we can make sure local children, seniors and working families will not go hungry this summer,”
One in five Santa Barbara County children are at risk of hunger. And this summer, 84 percent of those children who receive nutrition assistance during the school year won’t have access to the nutritious meals they need.
The Foodbank is making it easy to participate and for the community to invite friends and colleagues to join in the campaign:
1. MAKE A DONATION: “Share Your Lunch” through a secure online donation at: http://www.foodbanksbc.org/ShareYourLunch/
2. SHARE PHOTOS: Take a photo of your own lunch at home, work or a local restaurant and share your photo with Foodbank via Facebook (Foodbank SB), Instagram (@FoodbankSBC) and Twitter (@FoodbankSBC).
3. TAG LOCAL BUSINESSES: Inspire others by tagging your local grocery store, business or restaurant where you are having lunch. Include #ShareYourLunch.
4. SPREAD THE WORD using the Online Toolkit at www.foodbanksbc.org/ShareYourLunch/ where participants can share the campaign with friends and contacts using social media posts, memes and email messages.
Other ways to get involved:
• Challenge your colleagues to donate. Take a group photo and share on social media.
• Collect donations at your church, civic group or club and mail/deliver the funds to Foodbank of Santa Barbara County.
• Have your donation matched by your employer.
• Encourage your employer to sponsor.
Visit www.foodbanksbc.org or call 805-967-5741, ext. 119 for more information.
VENTURA COUNTY — Ventura County letter carriers will take part in the annual “Stamp Out Hunger” food drive benefiting FOOD Share — Ventura County’s Food Bank on Saturday, May 10.
This will be the 22nd annual National Letter Carriers’ “Stamp Out Hunger” food drive — the largest single-day food drive —when thousands of letter carriers across the country will collect residences’ food donations for their local food banks.
Ventura County residents are asked to leave non-perishable, protein-rich foods in a bag next to their mailboxes for postal carriers to pick up while on their daily route. The donations will then be collected from participating post offices and taken to FOOD Share’s distribution site in Oxnard.
Corporate sponsors of the local event, Farmers Insurance and Montecito Bank &Trust, will team up with the National Association of Letter Carriers to provide funds, resources and company volunteers to support FOOD Share’s missions of feeding, nourishing and educating the hungry of Ventura County.
“It’s amazing how much a single-day food drive can have a profound impact replenishing our distribution site’s shelves,” said Bonnie Weigel, president and CEO of FOOD Share. “Today, one in six people in Ventura County struggle with hunger and this issue doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon. Every donation makes a difference and is truly appreciated. I encourage everyone to join us in making Stamp Out Hunger a success.”
Donations can also be dropped off at the East Ventura Post Office, 41 S. Wake Forest Drive, Ventura; the Ventura Main Post Office, 675 E. Santa Clara St., Ventura; the Oxnard Main Post Office, 1961 N. “C” St., Oxnard; and the Thousand Oaks Main Post Office, 3435 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks.
Visit www.foodshare.com for more information.
OXNARD — From an all-time record of 1,800 entries, the design of 11-year-old Itzel Gonzalez from César Chávez Elementary in Oxnard was selected as the winner of the 31st Annual California Strawberry Festival Youth Art Design Contest, the festival’s organizers reported in a media release. Festival representatives held a pizza party and award presentation with her entire sixth grade class on April 23 to celebrate the announcement.
Gonzalez received a $100 gift certificate (her teacher, Maricruz Perez, was awarded a $50 gift certificate), and Gonzalez was given the honor of having her design showcased before a crowd of thousands in the Community Connections exhibit at the California Strawberry Festival May 17 and 18. Every one of the thousands of students from school districts throughout Ventura County — kindergarten to sixth grade — who participated in the contest will receive a festival ticket as an appreciation for their efforts, organizers reported. Gonzalez’s winning masterpiece features a ruby-red strawberry wearing a smiling face.
VENTURA — The Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy (CAUSE) is seeking matching donations for its annual Summer Youth Program. “You may know of our Summer Youth Fellowship, a paid leadership development program for local high school and community college students committed to changing their communities. Youth fellows learn community organizing and advocacy skills while planning community forums and rallies, registering and engaging voters, and speaking to elected officials and news media,” said Marcos Vargas, executive director. Kris and Meenal Kelkar, generous CAUSE supporters, are offering a challenge match of $7,500 for this summer’s youth program, he said. That means the donation will be matched dollar per dollar. To make a contribution, visit https://causenow.org/civicrm/contribute/transact?reset=1&id=6 or visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OILsz8ks1hs to see video testimonials on the program.
SANTA BARBARA — The Community Environmental Council (CEC) has selected Santa Barbara County Supervisor Salud Carbajal as its 2014 Environmental Hero Award recipient for Earth Day. He was scheduled to accept the award at the Santa Barbara Earth Day Festival on April 27 from Dave Davis, president and CEO of CEC.
“We’re really happy to be honoring Supervisor Salud Carbajal with this year’s Environmental Hero Award,” said Sigrid Wright, associate director of CEC and the festival’s director. “He has done an incredible job of using his role in local government to affect global issues like climate change.”
In addition to an extensive list of accomplishments that work to promote sustainable and resilient communities in this region, Supervisor Carbajal is a member of President Obama’s State, Local and Tribal Leaders Climate Task Force.
“He is an outstanding example of how environmentalism starts at home, and I’m personally very proud of CEC’s partnership with him,” Wright said.
VENTURA COUNTY — Aspiranet, a nonprofit charity that supports foster children, siblings, families and the community, is actively recruiting foster and mentor parents for foster youth during National Foster Care Month in May. The organization is also seeking business support in the form of job opportunities for youth and collecting donations. Through Aspiranet’s THP + FC (Transitional Housing Placement plus Foster Care) program, transitional-age youth, ages 18-21, are provided a safe living environment with a host family, apartment or with roommates, while teaching them life skills to help them become self-sufficient. Research shows that without transitional foster care programs, foster youths who age out of foster care have lower educational achievement and are more likely to experience homelessness, unemployment, unplanned pregnancies, drug use and involvement in the legal system. To find out more about fostering a teen and transitional foster care, call 1-877-350-HERO, go to www.aspiranetheroes.org or click to watch the three-minute THP-Plus video: http://www.vimeo.com/15160149. Visit www.aspiranet.org for more information.
OXNARD — Nominations are now being accepted for the 2014 City of Oxnard Community Relations Commission (CRC) Community Recognition Awards. The public is invited to nominate youth, seniors, individuals, businesses and organizations that have demonstrated outstanding accomplishments in the Oxnard community. The submission deadline is 5 p.m. Thursday, June 26. Applications may be obtained online at: www.ci.oxnard.ca.us, or in person at the Public Information Office/City Manager’s Office, 300 W. Third St., fourth floor. Applications may be submitted by mail, in person, via email at luis.guereca@ci.oxnard.ca.us, or by fax at 805-385-8335.
The nomination criteria include any youth, senior, individual, business or organization working or performing community service in Oxnard. The selection committee will review all applications and choose a winner in each category based on its selection criteria (see application form online for more details).
Winners will be honored at a special ceremony at the Oxnard City Council meeting in July.
The CRC is a citizen advisory group for the City of Oxnard that promotes mutual understanding and respect among all minority and non-minority groups, as well as facilitates inter-group harmony through educational and cultural activities.
For more information, contact Luis Güereca, City of Oxnard community outreach specialist, at 805-385-8326.
CAMARILLO — CSU Channel Islands will hold its 2014 Commencement for those receiving bachelor’s or master’s degrees at 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. Saturday, May 17 in the South Quad. The morning ceremony will include applied physics, biology, business, biotechnology and bioinformatics, biotechnology/MBA (dual degree), chemistry, communications, computer science, economics, environmental science and resource management, information technology, mathematics, nursing and Spanish.
The afternoon ceremony will include anthropology, art, Chicana/o studies, early childhood studies, education, English, history, liberal studies, performing arts, political science, psychology and sociology.
Visit http://www.csuci.edu/commencement/index.htm for more information.
OXNARD — Armida Galvan Monares has been selected as Employee of the First Quarter for the Year 2014 by the City of Oxnard.
Monares started her career with the city in the Treasurer Department, utilities and customer service, on Aug. 21, 2000. She now holds the position of customer service account technician.
“(Her) work quality is outstanding,” city officials reported in a media release. “She takes on other responsibilities on top of her regular assigned duties, when there is a need due to shortage in staff. She is always asked by other departments to run reports for them and she puts her work aside to accommodate those departments’ requests.
“(Monares) is well-respected and liked by all the members of her department as well as other departments, and the public. Customers ask for her specifically because they know that she is willing to accommodate them and help them.
“(She) is very considerate about her fellow employees. She always manages to see about their well-being even in the most stressful times when the workload is high and there is shortage in staff members. She always does that with a smile on her face.”
Monares received an employee of the quarter plaque, a $250 cash award and is now eligible to receive a $500 cash award if she is selected Employee of the Year.