Hospice of Santa Barbara (HSB) will hold its 8th Annual Heroes of Hospice (HOH) event online, 6 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 16, to honor local community heroes. Pico Iyer will deliver the keynote address.

Due to COVID-19, many events have been cancelled and postponed but HSB’s yearly event will go virtual with an hour-long online event. The event is free, but registration is required. For more information, visit https://paybee.io/vevent.html?action=openrsvp&eventId=5f2ad555365fca38dc239f87.

Each year, HSB recognizes the outstanding organizations and individuals who play a key role in service to those in the Santa Barbara community and/or support the organization’s mission of providing care to anyone experiencing the impact of a serious illness or grieving the death of a loved one.

This year, awardees are honored for their work related to COVID-19. HSB’s Heroes of Hospice will honor five individuals who have helped others in the community through the pandemic.The award recipients are:

» Philanthropy Award – Steve Ortiz, president/CEO – United Way of Santa Barbara County

Under Ortiz’s leadership, United Way of Santa Barbara County (UWSBC) has been at the forefront of COVID-19 community support.

In partnership with other community organizations, including the Santa Barbara Foundation and Hutton Parker Foundation, UWSBC set up the COVID-19 Joint Response Effort to assist individuals and families, as well as other nonprofits, financially impacted by COVID-19

They also collaborated with numerous community partners on an Emergency Child Care Initiative to provide child care to children of frontline and essential workers, as well as a Public Health Critical Needs Initiative to support isolation, quarantining, and contact tracing.

» Partnership Award – Liliana Encinas and Jose Fierros

Critical COVID-19 messages reach many in our Spanish-speaking community because of these two local heroes.

Encinas and Fierros share the most current information and resources regarding the pandemic — health, financial, food insecurity, and mental wellness — once or twice a day on their radio show.

Their efforts have supported the safety, well-being, and health of many and have likely saved lives.

» Volunteer Award – Daniel Goldberg, founder of Zoomers to Boomers

COVID-19 is much more dangerous to older people and those who have underlying health conditions, which forces many to remain isolated in their homes without access to groceries.

In response, Zoomers to Boomers has assembled a team of young volunteers from Generation Z (born 1995-2015) to deliver groceries to their neighbors who are elderly or immunocompromised across Santa Barbara, the U.S., and the world.

» Medical Award – Dr. Lynn Fitzgibbons

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, infectious disease physician Dr. Fitzgibbons has played a critical role as a member of the COVID Incident Command Center, working with physicians and administrative leadership to ensure that systems are as good as they can be.

She is involved in making sure medical staff are protected while providing outstanding care to patients. She has also collaborated with research projects at UCSB, including a focus on forecasting COVID-19 models.

Also this year, the live virtual HOH event will feature world-renowned novelist, travel writer, and four-time TED Talk speaker, Pico Iyer, who will first give the live keynote address The Open Door.

Iyer will talk about what opportunities might lie hidden within this season of sadness. What might we learn from a time of uncertainty, and how can we reorient lives that may have spun out of control? How can loss sometimes lead to liberation and challenge remind us of what truly sustains us?

Drawing on 46 years of talks with the XIVth Dalai Lama, 32 years of living in Japan and more than half a century of visiting Santa Barbara, Iyer will try to offer concrete tips for refreshing our habits in the light of lockdown and advancing joyfully through a world of sorrows. He will also answer questions live during the program.

“We are proud to have such an acclaimed speaker while keeping our tradition of honoring local heroes to express our gratitude, on behalf of our community, for what they have done for all of us — particularly during these difficult past months,” said David Selberg, CEO of Hospice of Santa Barbara.

“Our heroes and speaker deserve recognition for being a huge positive force in many people’s lives during this time.”