In honor of Mother’s Day, Visiting Nurse & Hospice Care will host its 12th Annual Mother’s Day Luncheon at 11 a.m. Friday in the La Pacifica Ballroom at the Four Seasons Resort The Biltmore Santa Barbara.

Each year at this unique Mother’s Day event, the nonprofit organization honors two mothers — one living, and one in memory — and celebrates their lives and acknowledges their contributions to the community. This year, VNHC will pay tribute to two special mothers of the Santa Barbara community: Barbara Ireland and LaVerne (Bebe) Browning.

Daughters Kathy, Cynthia and Mary will honor Ireland, their mother and local philanthropist. Her most notable charitable contribution is through the Barbara Ireland Walk for Breast Cancer Research, an annual walk in collaboration with the Cancer Center of Santa Barbara benefiting local cancer research. While this year was the 13th annual walk, Ireland has been actively involved with other charitable organizations since her three girls were young children.

VNHC is honored to recognize a mother who has selflessly devoted herself to the Santa Barbara community, and her family, for so many years.


Also being honored in memory is Browning, who passed away in 2011. Bebe was the mother of past VNHC board member and past board chair Charles Browning.

“It’s an honor to have an organization so close to my heart, and so valuable to our community, remember my mother at this special event,” he said. “She would have been so proud to see everyone coming together to support this wonderful agency and the critical work that they do in our community.”

This year’s event co-chairs are Jodi Fishman-Osti and Pamela Dillman Haskell. Both of these women have been involved in the Mother’s Day Luncheon committee over the years, and this is their first year chairing the event together.

Guests will enjoy a lovely lunch and have the chance to bid on a number of incredible silent auction items and five fantastic live auction items, including American Idol finale tickets with a two-night stay at the Lowe’s Hotel in Santa Monica; a private cooking class for 12 people with Leonardo of Trattoria Grappolo, along with a private tour and tasting with Ron Melville at Melville winery and a one night stay at the Santa Ynez Inn; a trip to Vancouver, including airfare and a three-night hotel stay; a private tour of The Reagan Ranch; a private dinner for 10 people at the Levine home, including a special case of red wine from Demetria Winery.

Perhaps one of the most unique aspects of the Mother’s Day event is that it is underwritten through the Peter Murphy Men’s Night, an evening where men — husbands, fathers, sons and friends of the luncheon attendees — gather for an evening of socializing and fundraising to help cover the costs of the luncheon. This year’s Men’s Night, hosted by John Murphy and Neil Levinson, is in honor of the late Peter Murphy, a longtime supporter of VNHC, who was the one to begin the tradition of Men’s Night many years ago. Judy Murphy is the honorary chair of this very special event.

As another way to honor and remember mothers on Mother’s Day, Visiting Nurse & Hospice Care invites the community to visit its online Mother’s Appreciation Garden. Throughout May, the public will have the opportunity to recognize mothers, grandmothers, sisters and all the wonderful women in their lives through this online Mother’s Appreciation Garden. For a donation of any amount, VNHC will include the name of the honored mother in its online garden, and also recognize these women with weekly updates on the VNHC Facebook page. Click here to recognize an important woman.

VNHC would like to recognize the many sponsors that have so generously supported the 12th Annual Mother’s Day Luncheon. To date, these sponsors include Impulse Advanced Communications, American Riviera Bank, Bartlett, Pringle & Wolf LLP, Boone Graphics, Brown & Brown Insurance Services of California Inc., Carl’s Jr., Cottage Health System, Roberta and Stan Fishman, Gail and Roger Haupt, HUB International Insurance Services Inc., the Barbara Ireland family, Irma and Morrie Jurkowitz, LEGACY, Chris and Mark Levine, MarBorg Industries, Montecito Bank & Trust, Northern Trust, Alan Porter, Bobbie and Ed Rosenblatt, the Santa Barbara Foundation, Maryan and Dick Schall, Elna Scheinfeld, Schipper Construction Co., the Schulte Family Foundation, Christopher Toomey, Melanie Trent and Richard deSchutter, Union Bank, Venoco Inc., the Volentine Family Foundation and the Wood-Claeyssens Foundation.

For those who are interested in learning about sponsorship opportunities, please contact Rebecca Benard at rebecca.benard@vnhcsb.org or 805.690.6215.

Tickets for the luncheon are $150. For additional information about this event and to purchase tickets, please click here or call Susan Campbell at 805.690.6290.

Visiting Nurse & Hospice Care is the leading nonprofit provider of comprehensive in-home health care. Its mission is to provide high quality, comprehensive home health, hospice and related services necessary to promote the health and well-being of all community residents, including those unable to pay. It serves the greater Santa Barbara area, and Santa Ynez and Lompoc valleys. Established in 1908, Visiting Nurse & Hospice Care is one of Santa Barbara’s oldest nonprofit organizations.

For more information on Visiting Nurse & Hospice Care, click here or call 805.965.5555.

— Jennifer Guess is a publicist representing Visiting Nurse & Hospice Care.