Staggered by catastrophic twin disasters, 2018 has not been the easiest year for Santa Barbara County — or the nonprofit community that depends on local philanthropy to serve it.
Last December’s Thomas Fire, which spent several months as the largest wildfire in California history, sent residents scattering to escape weeks of choking smoke and mandatory evacuations.
In addition to the bewildering emotional impact, the fire’s intrusion and timing all but wiped out the crucial 2017 end-of-year giving cycle for many nonprofit organizations while delivering a financial blow to the businesses that support them.
Then, on Jan. 9, the unimaginable happened when torrential rain triggered massive flash flooding and thunderous debris flows from the fire-denuded mountains above Montecito. Hundreds of people lost their homes and 23 people lost their lives as entire neighborhoods — and families — were swept away or buried.
An unprecedented community response was required in the aftermath of the tragedy, not only to meet the basic needs of the survivors but to assist neighbors from throughout the South Coast whose jobs and livelihoods were affected.
Against that backdrop, the annual Giving Tuesday campaign could not come at a more opportune time.
“2018 has been bookended by some of the most costly and destructive natural disasters in our region’s history,” said Geoff Green, CEO of the SBCC Foundation, referring not just to Santa Barbara County’s misfortune but to this month’s extensive damage from the Woolsey Fire in Ventura and Los Angeles counties and the monstrous Camp Fire, whose death toll is nearing 100 in Northern California.
“Our nonprofit organizations have been on the front lines of response and recovery, stretching their resources and responding to tremendous need. If there ever was a time to offer your financial support, it’s now.”
Giving Tuesday, perhaps better known by its #GivingTuesday hashtag on social media, is celebrated on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. The day, which is Nov. 27 this year, is devoted to charitable causes and has become one of the nation’s largest fundraising days.
As part of Noozhawk’s third annual Good for Santa Barbara project, we are pleased to highlight dozens of local nonprofit foundations and organizations in our 2018 Giving Tuesday Nonprofit Guide.
The directory and its video and Q&A features were compiled by Noozhawk marketing assistants Collin Nathanson and Sheridan Taphorn. The guide is sponsored by Montecito Bank & Trust, the Hutton Parker Foundation, SEE International, CSU Channel Islands, the Mosher Foundation, Girls Inc. of Greater Santa Barbara, the Santa Barbara Foundation, the Foundation for Santa Barbara City College, Channel Islands YMCA, Family Service Agency and the Santa Barbara Historical Museum.
The Giving Tuesday Guide’s featured charities and philanthropies are performing essential work on our behalf, not just for our neediest citizens but for many of the civic, cultural and educational institutions that make our community a magnet for the world.
It will be years before Santa Barbara County truly recovers from what befell us these past 12 months, and we must endeavor to remember never to forget. But our community’s capacity for generosity and compassion is as boundless as our resilience in the face of adversity.
That’s something we can all be proud of. That’s Good for Santa Barbara.
Click here for Noozhawk’s complete 2018 Giving Tuesday Nonprofit Guide.
— Bill Macfadyen is Noozhawk’s founder and publisher. Contact him at wmacfadyen@noozhawk.com, follow him on Twitter: @noozhawk and Instagram: @bill.macfadyen, or click here to read previous columns. The opinions expressed are his own.