March/April 2023 Friendly Finch Friendship Center’s Bi-Monthly Newsletter

March/April 2023 Issue

Administration

Letter from Heidi

Festival of Hearts 2023 Gratitude

Program

Holidays and Good Times

Gratitude Corner

 Dear Friends & Supporters,

You made my heart go pitter patter!! The 24th Festival of Hearts held at the Rosewood Miramar Beach Resort in February was by far the most successful… in part due to your participation!!! Thank you for putting your “heart and soul” into making this event fly by sponsoring, making donations, bidding on live auction items and heart art, purchasing tickets… and just showing up! A shout out to the amazing events committee, board of directors, staff, “heart wrangler” Sharon Morrow, and many volunteers. Fundraising events support our operations and our seniors and families who matter most to us. Below is a brief video produced by David Harlow, our videographer extraordinaire, and some testimonials that come from the heart!

“Saturday’s Festival of Hearts is the best I have ever attended, and I’ve been to many. The preparation, setup, detail all paid off. It was a wonderful event with a great turnout and lots of positive energy. It appeared to me that it was also a great fundraiser. Geoff Green was an amazing auctioneer! Thank you all for a wonderful day and excellent fun filled event.”

Joe Wheatley (Former bod. president)

“It was a delightful day—beautiful setting, delicious lunch, fun companions! Our community is so lucky to have a resource like the Friendship Center for caregivers and their loved ones. I know firsthand how emotionally and physically hard it is to do this work but also what a labor of love it is. Thank you for serving on the board of this important organization.”

“Thanks so much for sharing this wonderful event with us. Besides great company, fabulous location and great food, people watching was great fun. And for such a good cause.”

“Like a lot of you I have been to many similar events but this one was really special. Was it the meaningful cause? The great food and drink? The clear commitment of the staff and guests? My delightful table mates? The beautiful location? The gorgeous weather? The well timed and impactful program? I don’t know but it seemed that all of those factors played a role in making it the special event that it was!”

With all my heart,

Event Video by David Harlow

This year we raised over $63,000 for HEART, and we are so thankful to our supporters for benefiting our members in this meaningful way!

? ? ? Thank you to all of our wonderful artists for making beautiful one-of-a-kind heart art creations to benefit our members here at Friendship Center. You are the very HEART of this event!

? ? ? Thank you to all of our supporters for purchasing Heart Art, Live Auction packages and making direct Sponsor-a-Member donations!

? ? ? Thank you to all of our volunteers and those who donated items and services for our auction and the event!

? ? ? Thank You to our amazing Sponsors and Board Member Table Captain Sponsors – your sponsorship gives us the means to host this grand event and raise funds to support elders in need of our services.

? SPONSORS ?

GOLD HEART

David & Louise Borgatello

Karolyn Hanna

Rosewood Miramar Beach Resort

SILVER HEART

Al Anglin & Vangie Herrera

Channel Islands Post Acute

Complete Care at Home

Epic Life Wealth Management

BIG HEART

Cal-Western Landscape, Inc.

Castle Wealth Planning

CenCal Health

Easy Lift Transportation, Inc.

Kristin Frascella & Giovanni Vigna

Inge Gatz

Andriana and Sophia Hohlbauch

Kenneth & Frances Jewesson

Matt Lum

John & Gloria McManus

Linda Yawitz

GOOD HEART

Valerie Anewalt

Channel Islands Fiduciary Group

Community West Bank

The Consciousness Network

Terri Dimond – All About Seniors Real Estate

First American Title Insurance Co.

Heffernan Foundation

Hospice of Santa Barbara

HUB International Insurance Services, Inc.

Quinn Fiduciary Services

San Ysidro Pharmacy

Santa Barbara Home Improvement Center

Mary H. Walsh

Isabel Wendt

KIND HEART

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck

Care West Insurance

Garcia Architects Inc.

Monica Vidger-Trent

?? BOARD MEMBER TABLE CAPTAIN SPONSORS ??

Cynder Sinclair

David Selberg

Kathy Marden & Maggie Mixsell

Sue Adams & Jeffrey Krutzsch

Jacqueline Duran

Program Holidays and Happenings

Above: Our members celebrated Valentine’s Day by singing and dancing to love songs with musician Rod Robles, posing at our Valentine’s Day photo booth, and enjoying so many sweets including Amy Rosas cupcakes, cookies from the Rosewood Miramar, and treats from our families! Everyone went home with special Valentine’s Day goodies.

Below: Members enjoyed St. Paddy’s Day with our spirited Program Staff! Playing Celtic music, members enjoyed Shamrock milkshakes, cookies from Amy Rosas, cupcakes from Susette Vasta-Durso, and sandwiches from the Rosewood Miramar!

Gratitude Corner

Thank you to Decker’s Brand for donating UGG blankets to keep our members warm during these chilly, rainy days! One symptom of Alzheimer’s and other dementias is difficulty regulating temperature, so these are certainly a generous and helpful gift!

Thank you to Board Member Jeffrey Krutzsch, maintenance and volunteer extraordinaire! Rachel gives his projects a thumbs up!

Link Friendship Center to Your Ralphs Community Rewards Program, and they will donate a percentage of your purchases to Friendship Center. The more supporters that shop, the higher the amount that is donated each year!

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