First Annual Gratitude Luncheon

Santa Barbara Fighting Back Mentor Program will host a special luncheon to honor the mentors in our life at the Hyatt Santa Barbara 111 East Cabrillo Boulevard on June 8 th from 11:30am -1:30pm.

A special award will be presented to Mary Beth Carty, for her outstanding dedication and commitment to local youth as a longtime mentor and the chair of the Fighting Back Advisory Board.

The Fighting Back Mentor Program has invited Walter Green to speak at the First Annual Gratitude Luncheon about the Mentors in his life. Walter, a retired corporate CEO began thinking about expressing gratitude to the people who had made a difference in his life and his musings led him on a yearlong journey around the globe to say thank you to 44 people who had made a difference in his life. At the urging of a publisher he turned his chronicles of each visit into the book “This is the Moment!” “How one Man’s Year long Journey Captured the Power of Extraordinary Gratitude.” Green has since embarked on a mission to get others to reach out to the important people in their lives.

The Fighting Back Mentor Program started in 1994 and currently serves over 20 schools in the Carpinteria, Goleta and Santa Barbara School Districts and has over 100 mentors. The Fighting Back Mentor Program involves volunteers from every walk of life who share in the common interest of making a positive impact on the youth of the community. Mentors are paired with mentees in 4 th-8th grade and meet together one hour a week. The program goals are to increase self-confidence, improve academic achievement, develop social skills, reduce acting out and violent behaviors, develop life skills and educate about the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse. In 2009, the Fighting Back Mentor Program received the National Prevention Award from the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse.

For more information about the Mentor Program or to become a mentor, contact Anne Cowell at 963-1433 ext. 104 or acowell@cadasb.org.