| 
The Fund for Santa Barbara will host its 19th annual “Bread & Roses” community dinner and auction fundraiser event from 4 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 15, at the headquarters of QAD in Summerland.
The benefit will include a buffet-style dinner catered by a dozen local restaurants, brewers and vintners, and live and silent auctions offering items such as vacation packages, all-inclusive dinners, art pieces and Platinum Passes to the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.
The Fund for Santa Barbara uses the money raised at the event to support its grant-making and technical assistance programs, which provide funds and free consulting to social, environmental and political community groups.
Executive director Geoff Green said one of the community foundation’s points of pride with Bread & Roses is that virtually everything used in the event, including the food and auction items, is donated, making the cost to host it less than $25,000.
“It makes the most money of any event of its kind,” Green said of Bread & Roses. “The reason we are able to do that is that the whole community plays a part in it.”
Founded in 1980, The Fund for Santa Barbara strives to support grassroots efforts for progressive change in the community. Over the years the foundation has awarded $5 million to 800 various organizations.
The theme of “Bread & Roses” traces back to a 1912 labor strike in Massachusetts in which bread was meant to represent wages and roses dignity and respect. The Fund for Santa Barbara adopted the slogan to signify its commitment to progressive ideals.
The Fund has once again collaborated with GreenProject Consultants to make the dinner a “zero-waste” event for the fifth year, meaning that everything provided will be either recyclable or compostable in an effort to generate as little trash as possible.
This year’s Bread & Roses gala is expected to raise about $175,000, and so far, more than 700 tickets have been sold. Tickets are $75 per person, although a “sliding scale” option is also offered, and will be sold only through Friday. The dinner is expected to sell out.
Green said The Fund for Santa Barbara has tried to make tickets as reasonably priced as possible and that it will not turn anyone away for lack of funds.
This year, Noozhawk is among local companies sponsoring the event. Sponsorships are available at four price levels — $250, $500, $1,000 and $2,500.
The Fund for Santa Barbara will provide a shuttle between its offices at 26 W. Anapamu St. in downtown Santa Barbara (next to city parking lot No. 5) and the QAD campus at 100 Innovation Place at Ortega Hill Road in Summerland, where parking is limited. Tickets can be purchased by calling 805.962.9164.
Click here for more information on The Fund for Santa Barbara. Click here to make an online donation. Connect with The Fund for Santa Barbara on Facebook.
— Noozhawk intern Patrick Kulp can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
