Even during these unique times, Assistance League of Santa Barbara (ALSB) is finding ways to continue serving community members in need.
The Fun in the Sun (FITS) six-week summer learning program begins June 29, but it will look different this year as it adapts to the changes brought about by Covid-19.
As in the past, children are nominated to participate based on academic and financial criteria. Assistance League of Santa Barbara has been a partner with United Way of Santa Barbara County since 1999 in FITS, supplying new summer shirts, shorts, bathing suits, hats, water bottles and school items, as well as providing the means for the children to receive swim lessons.
This year, new summer clothes will be donated by ALSB directly to United Way, which will distribute them to the attendees. ALSB will help finance the literacy program, which will be online (40 minutes a day), as well as provide incentives for the FITS scholars, such as gift certificates for ice cream and smoothies.
Scholars will engage with one another and their program leaders in a unique way, working as part of a virtual team and connecting with their peers daily. They will engage in hands-on STEAM activities, have access to literacy programs Lexia Core 5 and Reading Plus, participate in virtual field trips, and receive all the materials they need for virtual learning on a weekly basis.
The Santa Barbara School District will also help fund the program. It is estimated that 384 students will take part in the 2020 Fun in the Sun Program from Carpinteria Unified School District, Santa Barbara Unified School District (two sites), Goleta Unified School District, and Solvang School District.
Assistance League of Santa Barbara was chartered to National Assistance League in 1948 and is one of 120 chapters. Along with its auxiliaries, Las Aletas and Assisteens, the organization’s 400 members volunteer 50,000 hours a year to improve the lives of local residents.