NO PROFIT in THAT
The Santa Barbara-based nonprofit Vitamin Angels Alliance
(founder Howard Schiffer pictured) launched a plan that will
provide vitamins and health education to 55,000 children in
Honduras, where malnutrition during formative years sometimes
causes blindness and stunted growth. The program aims to give
students daily multivitamins at school for the next three years.
Similar programs the organization already operates in Honduras have
proven successful. Local surfer Charley Cover took to the ocean
with his paddleboard last weekend to help raise awareness and money
in the fight against breast cancer. Paddling more than 60 miles on
the open sea, Cover departed from Jalama Beach County Park near
Lompoc on Friday and arrived at Rincon Point in Carpinteria to the
warm welcome of family and friends on Sunday afternoon. Cover’s
journey was a personal one, as his sister Carolyn was diagnosed
with cancer earlier this spring.
United Blood Services, formerly known as Tri-Counties Blood
Bank, is “critically low” in supplies this month. Fairs and
festivals in early August apparently interrupted the average flow
of daily blood donors needed to ensure fresh supplies for local
hospitals. To donate blood, call 965-7037.
The Pacific Pride Foundation hosted a meeting last week to
discuss the hiring by the Santa Barbara News-Press of Dr.
Laura Schlessinger – an avowed critic of homosexuality – to replace
Barney Brantingham as the daily “Voice of Santa Barbara” columnist.
Organizers emphasized that they had no wish to interfere with free
speech rights, but did want to express their displeasure with the
NP’s decision.
Staff from the county’s Department of Social Services (DSS) shut
down a new foster home run by the Devereux Foundation, citing
insufficient staff to supervise the nine youths, ages 13-17, who
were there for psychosocial assessment to help the county place
them in appropriate care. Ken Jensen, deputy director of the
department’s child and adult programs, described the facility as
“chaotic.” During the shutdown, two of the teens ran away but later
turned themselves in. One child was returned home, while the rest
of the teens were sent to other foster homes in Ventura and Santa
Barbara Counties.
In honor of their first-ever World Baseball Congress
championship, the Santa Barbara Foresters are celebrating the big
win with hometown fans this Friday evening. The Carriage Museum
adjacent to Pershing Park on Castillo Street will be the backdrop
for the community barbecue, complete with beer, margaritas, and
music by Spencer the Gardener.
