Rev. Channing Smith, rector of All Saints By-the-Sea, and its outreach committee have announced the All Saints 2025 Outreach grants totaling some $100,000 will be made to local Santa Barbara, national and international organizations.
Major grants will be given to Transition House, Dignity Moves, Olive Crest and Immigrant Hope. Other beneficiaries include the Cleveland Public School, CityNet, Pedal the Pacific, San Pablo’s Church in Mexico, the American Friends of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, and the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles.
“These gifts align well with our outreach mission here at All Saints, helping a wide range of communities, particularly the unhoused, immigrants and underserved” said Rev. Smith. “This includes our support of institutions such as Olive Crest and Pedal the Pacific which are fighting for causes with little public visibility.
“They are fighting sex trafficking of girls in Santa Barbara. Yet few in our community understand that this is a very real issue for us.”
“Outreach has long been a part of our parish ethos,” Rev. Smith said of All Saints, a church that was established 125 years ago. “We partnered with Transition House in 1985 and with the Cleveland School over a decade ago, and we continue to support them.
“However, we are always on the lookout for organizations in need of our support. They can be well established, newly formed, and of varying sizes and reach,” she said.
“Olive Crest in Santa Barbara County is part of a national organization addressing child abuse while the Lunch Bunch serves weekly lunches to the unhoused and low-income persons in Carpinteria,” Rev. Smith said.
Beyond simply giving money, “our parishioners also give of their time and talents,” said Jacquie McMahon, co-chair of outreach. “We serve monthly family dinners and lunches at Transition House. We make a yearly mission trip to San Pablo’s in Mexico to assist that congregation with their challenging outreach to the food and housing insecure there.
“With the Cleveland School, parishioners serve as regular classroom helpers, provide reading assistance to classes and aid teachers in setting up their classrooms.”
The funds for All Saints’ Outreach grants came from parishioner donations and two outreach fundraisers. The most significant event was the Jim Bowers Golf Tournament for Community Outreach sponsored by the James S. Bowers Foundation. Over the years this tournament raised more than $1 million for outreach.