Please help Santa Barbara County’s children NOW
With 85% of our members living on or below the poverty line, many of our club families rely on us to feed their kids, from Carpinteria to Lompoc, and everywhere in between. With schools and our Clubhouses having to close, we are making sure that our kids, YOUR COMMUNITY’S KIDS, don’t go hungry during the week OR on weekends. We are providing safe, daily meal pick-ups at our Club sites, in addition to working with school districts to supplement what they are doing. In some cases, where families cannot get to the Club sites to pick up food, we are using our vans to deliver meals directly to their homes.
In addition, in collaboration with the Food Bank, we have provided our Clubs as distribution sites for the broader community. Here are links to two stories on KEYT that feature this collaboration:
Meanwhile, our biggest fundraising event had to be postponed, and the facility rentals – at Camp Whittier and at our Clubhouses – that we have worked so hard to cultivate, and that we rely on for a major portion of our income, are on hold.
For these reasons, we are asking YOU, our supporters, to please consider giving NOW INSTEAD OF AT THE END OF THE YEAR. It is critical that we remain fiscally strong in order to provide IMMEDIATELY for children and families who are profoundly affected by the current crisis, and who will continue to need all of the services that we offer going forward.
To this end, donors including Jeff & Judy Henley and The Gerald W. Fackler Charitable Remainder Trust have stepped up to the plate by kicking off a challenge grant with an initial $250,000, effective immediately, to encourage donations NOW. Every dollar you donate WILL BE DOUBLED up to $250,000, resulting in an emergency fund of $500,000 to help cover anticipated revenue shortfalls thru June 2020.
We wish we didn’t have to ask for this EMERGENCY SUPPORT at a moment when things are so tough on everyone. But these are our kids, the community’s kids… YOUR KIDS.
With your support, we will be able to continue to do whatever it takes to help our community’s kids.
To make a donation by check:
Please make payable to United Boys & Girls Clubs of SB County and mail to P.O. Box 1485 Santa Barbara, CA 93102
To pay over the phone:
Please call 805-681-1315 and ask for Tina Ballue, Director of Special Events