The Santa Ynez Valley Foundation honored seven people, who spent thousands of hours volunteering, as community champions during a gathering on Sunday.
Nearly 200 people attended the Santa Ynez Valley Foundation’s Champions of the Valley event at Camp Carmina near Los Olivos. The gathering was the 31st anniversary of honoring volunteers in the community.
“Today, we’re celebrating people who give generously of their time, their talents and their energies, all of which make our valley a better place,” foundation Executive Director Esther Jacobsen Bates said.
The seven honorees were nominated by community members. A selection committee of past honorees and the foundation board then chose the recipients. Each champion selected a nonprofit organization to receive a $1,000 grant.
The 2026 champions were Kros Andrade, Dennis Beebe, Veronica Sandoval, and Susan and Rod Caughell, with Lupita Alvarado and Bella Sim recognized as youth champions.
Andrade, who has been a part of the valley since his youth, volunteered more than 10,000 hours to the community. He was particularly involved with Santa Ynez Valley People Helping People, where he served on board leadership and created fundraising events. Additionally, Andrade has been a youth sports coach, and partnered with other nonprofit organizations and small businesses.
“I believe our community becomes stronger when we recognize not just what people can give, but what they can become,” Andrade said while receiving the award. “My hope is that we keep seeing the potential in others, and we invite people forward, and we give them an opportunity that comes our way.”
Andrade gave his grant to People Helping People.
Beebe has volunteered in the valley for thousands of hours and has been a resident for more than 30 years. He specialized in environmental education, youth programs, civic involvement and historic preservation, with longtime roles for NatureTrack, the Sedgwick Reserve, the Santa Ynez Valley Natural History Society and Arts Outreach.
“Volunteering for like-minded people makes friendships, enduring friendships,” Beebe said.
Beebe awarded his grant to the Sedgwick Reserve to support its chronology project, which studies tree branches to better understand environmental history.
Alvarado and Sim, two Santa Ynez Valley Union High School seniors, were honored as the 2026 youth champions for their commitment to People Helping People’s Youth Coalition throughout their time at the high school. As co-presidents, they led service projects and mentored youths on substance misuse prevention.
“I guess I don’t have any other words except for I’m very honored,” Alvarado said.
“I’m very honored and very thankful to be here, and thank you all for coming,” Sim added.
Both students received $1,000 scholarships.
The Caughells were awarded for their weekly volunteering at the Santa Ynez Valley Therapeutic Riding Program, where they cared for therapy horses and supported programs for people with disabilities.
Susan Caughell said that she and her daughter began volunteering with the program after joining the National Charity League in 2005, but that they stayed volunteering long after the program.
“There wasn’t the need necessarily to continue earning hours towards the National Charity League, but our heart just wasn’t ready to walk away,” Susan Caughell said. “So my husband, Rod, who had been helping all over the years, agreed to step in and be my regular partner on Sundays, and lo and behold, here we are, 21 years later.”
The Caughells allotted their $1,000 grant to the Santa Ynez Valley Therapeutic Riding Program.
The last champion honored, Sandoval, volunteered with People Helping People and Court Appointed Special Advocates of Santa Barbara County. She also served for multiple terms as a school district trustee and participated on numerous local committees and advisory groups.
Sandoval has helped share her Chumash history knowledge and living traditions through educational programs and services throughout the community.
“We are all working toward the same goal: creating a stronger, more connected and more vibrant community — not just for today, but for future generations,” Sandoval said. “Strong communities are built when people show up, put in the work, trust and support one another, and commit to something greater than themselves.”
She awarded her grant to People Helping People.
The foundation board’s president, Jon Hooten, closed out the ceremony by encouraging people to nominate a volunteer for next year’s event and emphasizing the importance of community volunteering.
“The value of the valley foundation is we keep our eye on what’s happening,” Hooten said. “Our board members, our partners, as they pull together our nonprofit leaders to understand what the current issues are, where the current needs are, and then we focus our resources the best that we can on where those actual needs are right now.”
