Santa Barbara County is blessed with a diversity of vital nonprofit organizations dedicated to improving the health, well-being, growth, civic leadership and compassion of our community.
Charitable giving and philanthropy are part of our identity, which is why Noozhawk is proud to support the nonprofit community through sponsoring local community organizations and events.
To showcase our support of the event, Senior Expo of Santa Barbara, Noozhawk spoke with Hannah Sidaris, Marketing & Communications Manager at Family Service Agency of Santa Barbara County to learn more about their event.
Family Service Agency of Santa Barbara County
Question: What is the name and date of your event?
Answer: Senior Expo of Santa Barbara October 15, 2025 9am-12pm.
Q: What is the mission, goal, and/or theme of this occasion?
A: The long-standing goal of this year’s 34th Annual Santa Barbara Expo is to provide an overview of many resources (services, products, and businesses serving seniors) as well as providing various aspects of health testing, flu shots and covid vaccinations.
In addition to all this, the Expo has added features to help make this a fun event by providing free haircuts, exercise demonstrations, virtual travel experiences, a variety of live music (Dixie Daddies and Mamas, guitar serenades, and live dance band music by the Goleta Swing Band and the Ukulele Lulus.)
The newly revised Caregiver Café provides accessible referral and counseling support to Caregivers seeking connections and resources to assist them in their role of caring for a loved one.
In short – this is an educational opportunity for seniors and caregivers filled with tons of resources that can be found in one morning, all at the same place, with a lot of excitement along the way.
Additionally, the Santa Barbara Senior Expo not only provides exposure to the seniors and caregivers, but it is also a great opportunity for networking among the various 115+ organizations that participate as exhibitors at the event.
It is also a win/win for the Expo Committee and Santa Barbara City College and Westmont College Nursing Programs to have their students volunteer at the event – this is a wonderful learning experience for the nursing students and a benefit to the Expo team to have them serve as volunteers at the event.
A special word of thanks goes out to these businesses who also provide volunteers to assist with everything, from parking to check-in, wheelchair mobility assistance to directions, and everything in between!
Thank you to Yardi Systems, Family Service Agency Board members, Cox Communications, Montecito Bank & Trust, T-Mobile, and the SB Promotores Network for supporting this event through the invaluable contributions of your volunteers!
Q: Have you held this event before?
A: Yes, this event started back in the 90’s and was held at various locations in Santa Barbara, including Santa Barbara Recreation Center and the former Fess Parker’s Red Lion Inn. For the past 25 years, the event has grown to need the size of Earl Warren Showgrounds. We have made this a one-stop shop for everything seniors & caregivers!
Initially, the Senior Expo was created by The City of Santa Barbara Recreation Department. In the late 90’s, the event was taken over by a team of senior care providers comprised of representatives from Cottage Health, Sansum, Area Agency on Aging, County Public Health, VNA, Family Service Agency and a number of
other health and senior care providers. In 2018, leadership of the event was taken over by Family Service Agency, which now produces the Expo. They have continued their collaboration with some of those same organizations that got this off the ground—albeit in a much smaller fashion—back in the 90’s.
Q: Tell us some more details about your celebration?
A: In addition to having access to many senior care providers and other senior services showcased at the event, over the years we added more testing opportunities, including blood pressure and glaucoma screenings, eye tests, and diabetes testing; flu shots and covid vaccinations; and lively entertainment.
We have diversified the types of senior-friendly resources that are available in our community and have a few products and specialty services participating in the event from other parts of Southern California.
Q: How do people get involved with your event? (volunteer, attend, etc.) – If your event includes ticket sales, please note the price and include a link to purchase tickets.
A: Because this event has grown in size, scope and popularity, it has developed a following over the years. Back in 2000, when we decided to add the flu shot component, the community began to expect the event to take place in the fall when the flu vaccine is available. That year, Expo attendance jumped from a previous attendance of 400-500 to nearly 1,000 participants.
This year, we produced 6,000 flyers which we distributed everywhere that one might have a senior clientele, provide senior services or have had prior affiliation with this annual event. You will also see television and newspaper ads and/or see a flyer posted in a senior community or a place of business throughout Santa Barbara County.
The very modest price of participant entry to the event is $5.00 which is taken at the door. There are no advance ticket sales. Thanks to our generous sponsors, a few of whom have specifically earmarked their donation for free Expo vouchers, we are able to provide a limited number of free entry opportunities (with a voucher provided in advance) for seniors with a very limited, fixed income.
Q: Is this a fundraising affair? If so, how will the funds raised help your organization?
A: No, this is not a fundraising event. The purpose is to increase awareness of community resources, provide various types of free testing, and make it a day to look forward to each year!
Q: Who is sponsoring your event, and why is their support important?
A: This year, we have 29 major sponsors and 3 who have provided the voucher sponsorship. All of our costs have increased this year and without the great generosity of our sponsors, we simply could not put on this event with a $5.00 entry ticket. I would like to give a shout out to our four Platinum Sponsors: Family Service Agency, VNA Health, Mission Park and Cox Communications.
We have nine Gold Sponosors: CenCal Health, Central Coast Home Health and Hospice, Cottage Health, Love and Care, Sansum Clinic/Sutter Health, Stevens & Associates Insurance, U.S. Bank, Vista del Monte and Wood Glen Senior Living.
We also have 16 SILVER level sponsors, including: Arosa Central Coast, Santa Barbara Adult and Aging Network, Assisted Home Health and Hospice, Easy Lift Transportation, Farmers & Merchants Trust, Montecito Bank & Trust, Oak Cottage of Santa Barbara Memory Care, Santa Barbara Estate Planning & Elder Law, Santa Barbara Memory Care, Southern California Gas, the Californian of Santa Barbara, TheKEY, the Samarkand, UCLA Health, Westmont of Santa Barbara and Your SB Team: Newquist-Nolan and Quittner.
And of course, Noozhawk is one of our fantastic media sponsors!
A big thanks to Sol Wave for providing water and others for donating fruit & snacks.
Q: Do you work with an Event Planner? If not, who are the key people who make it all happen?
A: The Expo is put on by Family Service Agency and has two co-chairs: Lyn Shirvanian of Family Service Agency and Jeanne M. West, a Senior Care Consultant who has been on the Expo Committee for 30+ years. All supportive efforts behind the event are handled by Family Service Agency staff.
Q: Does your organization have any other upcoming events this year?
A: Yes, FSA will be putting on an anti-fraud education seminar in partnership with Community Bank of Santa Maria on November 13th. More information will be coming out about that soon. And in May, we are looking forward to a reimagined Gala fundraiser that has us all very excited!
Q: What are you planning as a post-event follow up?
A: Following the event, we will hold a meeting of the Senior Expo Advisory team to talk about what went well and what we might want to change or do differently next year. We review attendance, suggestions given to us, final tabulation of revenue and expenses, how many vouchers were turned in and review feedback given to us by volunteers, exhibitors and participants. Every year we work to make it the best one yet!
We always want to know how many people took advantage of the flu shot and covid booster vaccinations, again to better plan for the next event. Generally, we try to book next year’s event now for October 2026, so that we will have a better chance of securing this location for the desired date.
Again, it is important to give a shout out to all the incredible Sponsors and volunteers. It takes a village to execute this event every year, from the Co-Chairs to key members of Family Service Agency staff to the Senior Expo Advisory Committee to the list of fabulous sponsors whose sponsorship funding continues to allow us to make this happen for an affordable $5.00 entry price for participants.
To learn more about Senior Expo of Santa Barbara click here!
If you would like to apply for Noozhawk’s 50/50 Match Sponsorship Program for your upcoming nonprofit event please click HERE to view our sponsorship application. The deadline for consideration is 30-45 days prior to the event. You can also contact our sales team at sales@noozhawk.com.