This summer, the American Cancer Society-West Region was named a beneficiary of the 14th annual Chumash Charity Golf Classic.
Last weekend the nonprofit received its portion of the proceeds — a $20,000 donation — from the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians during its Riviera Ball at The Biltmore, a Four Seasons Resort.
The two-day golf tournament fundraiser generated donations for three nonprofits: American Cancer Society-West Region, Domestic Violence Solutions and Search Dog Foundation; and helped fund the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians’ Technology in Schools Program, aimed at fulfilling high-tech needs in Santa Barbara County classrooms.
“Our tribe was proud to partner with the American Cancer Society-West Region for this year’s Chumash Charity Golf Classic,” said Kenneth Kahn, tribal chairman for the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash.
“This is an organization that is consistently there to provide services for people in the community when they need it the most,” he said.
The nonprofit’s West Region branch, which serves Santa Barbara County, has sought to bolster its Road to Recovery program. The service gives patients free transportation to and from their life-saving treatments throughout Santa Barbara County.
“We have learned that often when people are diagnosed with cancer, they have no way to get to and from their life-saving treatment,” said Pam Brady, senior manager of community development for the American Cancer Society’s West Region.
“These funds will assist us in providing additional opportunities for free transportation to and from treatment for patients throughout Santa Barbara County,” Brady said.
“We are grateful on behalf of cancer patients that the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians has chosen to partner, and be part of the solution, by joining us in the fight against cancer,” she said.
Since its inaugural event in 2005, the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians’ annual golf tournament has raised more than $1.3 million for local charities and nonprofits.
Past beneficiaries include the Teddy Bear Cancer Foundation, Dream Foundation, Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Santa Barbara County, Lompoc Family YMCA, Unity Shoppe, and local schools and museums.
The Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians has donated more than $20 million to hundreds of groups, organizations, and schools in the community and across the nation as part of the tribe’s tradition of giving.
For more about the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians Foundation and its giving programs, visit www.santaynezchumash.org.
— Veronica V. Sandoval for the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians.