Tag: United Way of Santa Barbara County’s (UWSBC)

United Way Young Leaders Society Raises over $3,000 to Provide New Books to Four Local Schools

by Community Contributor • May 16, 2022 • Comments Off

United Way of Santa Barbara County’s (UWSBC) Young Leaders Society (YSL) partnered with four local schools to raise over $3,000 to provide over 90 books to their libraries for the month of March.

The event raised funds to fulfil a curated wish list of books from schools. Participating schools included: Franklin Elementary School, McKinley Elementary School, Canalino Elementary School and La Colina Junior High School. The purchased books replaced books that were never returned to the libraries due to school closures during the COVID pandemic and helped to build the schools’ growing collections of Spanish books.

United Way VITA program offers free tax help to local residents through April 18

by Community Contributor • February 14, 2022 • Comments Off

Tax season is upon us and low to moderate income Santa Barbara County residents are invited to take advantage of putting more money back in their pocket with the help of United Way of Santa Barbara County’s (UWSBC) Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program (VITA).

From February 2nd to April 18th, volunteers at VITA sites throughout the community will provide free tax filing services to local residents making $67,000 or less annually. IRS-certified volunteers will provide free basic income tax return preparation with electronic filing to qualified individuals. Last year, UWSBC filed 1,362 tax returns and gave back over $2,065,586 in federal refunds to local community members.

United Way of Santa Barbara County’s 2021 Holiday Gift Drive Supports Over 200 Children this Holiday Season

by Community Contributor • December 22, 2021 • Comments Off

United Way of Santa Barbara County’s (UWSBC) 2021 Holiday Gift Drive supported?over 200 children?throughout the county this year. Workplaces and individual donors adopted students and fulfilled each child’s unique wish list. In addition to receiving gifts from workplaces and individual donors, gifts were also received from various events (such as UCSB Arts & Lectures concerts at the Arlington and Women United Holiday event). All?presents were provided to families in need that were identified by participating schools and organizations.

Earlier this week, at Franklin school, UWSBC met a young student named Alexa who is one of 7 children. Her family currently rents part of a living room in an apartment. Her dream is to attend Harvard Law School and become a lawyer. One of her wish list items was a Harvard sweatshirt which she received thanks to one of the donors.

United Way of Santa Barbara County’s Fun in the Sun serves more than 350 children in Santa Barbara this Summer

by Community Contributor • September 3, 2021 • Comments Off

United Way of Santa Barbara County’s (UWSBC) annual Fun in the Sun (FITS) summer learning program served over 350 children and 250 parents at six locations this summer throughout the Santa Barbara area from June 21st through July 30th. Locations included Carpinteria, Santa Barbara-Eastside, Santa Barbara-Westside, Goleta, Santa Ynez, and a brand new Guadalupe site which launched in 2021 to serve North County students. The free six week program addressed summer learning loss, COVID-19 learning and social skill loss through academic and social emotional programming.

United Way of Santa Barbara County’s Fun in the Sun Program Returns June 21 through July 30

by Community Contributor • March 16, 2021 • Comments Off

United Way of Santa Barbara County’s (UWSBC) annual Fun in the Sun (FITS) summer learning program returns June 21st through July 30th and is now accepting applications for staff and local students to participate. The free six week program will address summer learning loss and COVID-19 learning loss through academic and social emotional programming.

UWSBC is anticipating an in-person program at all six sites depending on COVID-19 mandates. Students will engage in academic rotations focused on literacy and STEAM (Science, technology, engineering, arts and math) as well as participate in social, emotional and mental wellness activities. Should COVID-19 conditions worsen, UWSBC will provide a virtual program.