Community Partners in Caring lost 90 percent of its volunteers at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Most of the nonprofit’s volunteers are older than 65, so when the stay-at-home orders went into place, those volunteers had to stay home.
But the people who Community Partners serves in Santa Barbara County still need the services the organization provides. Homebound seniors still need help getting groceries and prescriptions, yard work, and just to know that someone is looking out for them. So Community Partners put out the call and was able to replenish about half of its volunteer force, according to Marketing Director/Outreach Coordinator Kaley Wise.
“We were able to gather about 40-something new volunteers,” Wise said. “We had to get pretty much all new volunteers, and it was pretty amazing to see the community come together and be so willing to help us out during this time.”
The organization with offices in Santa Maria and Lompoc is one of several North County nonprofits that are participating in Giving Tuesday Now on May 5. Since 2012, Giving Tuesday has taken place after Thanksgiving as a day encouraging people to do good, according to Caryn Stein, the head of communications for Giving Tuesday. Adding a second day to the calendar this year is an “emergency response to the unprecedented need caused by COVID-19,” she said in response to emailed questions.
“It’s designed to be a day when we an all come together and give back in all ways, no matter who or where we are,” Stein said. “#GivingTuesdayNow is about giving of all types—some may choose to give a financial contribution to their favorite cause or a fundraising drive, others will opt to reach out to neighbors, start an advocacy campaign, donate goods or extra supplies, share gratitude to front-line workers and those keeping us safe. If you can show generosity and share kindness, you have something to give!”
On the last Giving Tuesday—Dec. 3, 2019—$2 billion in donations were generated in the United States, Stein said, and millions of volunteers offered their time, voices, money, and goods. She said some organizations use the day to focus on fundraising, while others organize community events, advocacy campaigns, or just use it as a day to say thanks.
Community Partners in Caring is definitely looking for volunteers, Wise said, adding that the pandemic has changed the way the organization helps the seniors it serves. In the last five years, the nonprofit has helped 819 seniors with their needs. Most of their clients are older folks who are aging at home but might not necessarily have family close by to help them out.
“We’re kind of breaking that barrier and helping them really reintegrate within society,” Wise said. “We really just do anything so that they know there’s someone out there looking out for them.”
Although the goal in the past was to get seniors out of their homes and into the world, obviously Community Partners doesn’t want its clients to leave their homes right now because they are members of a vulnerable population. So operations have changed to maintain social distancing, but Wise said they can still organize rides for medically necessary appointments and pick up and drop off groceries and prescriptions.
“Our main goal right now is getting them food and making sure they’re stocked up. … We do reassurance calls,” Wise said. “We’re just making sure they’re OK, and I think it’s really nice that they know even in this time that there’s still somebody looking after them.”
The crisis has really shed a light on this serious thing that was already an issue, Wise said. Community Partners calls the population they serve “orphaned seniors,” or “people who are aging in place without anyone.”
While an organization like Community Partners in Caring is looking for volunteers on this Giving Tuesday, other organizations, such as the SLO Botanical Garden, are looking to generate funding.
Giving Tuesday Now happens to coincide with the SLO Botanical Garden’s biannual plant sale. Development Director Heather Billing said plant sales in the spring and fall are one of the Botanical Garden’s main sources of revenue.
For the first time in 30 years, she said, they are going to do the spring plant sale online. Organized by a Cal Poly student as her senior project, the virtual plant sale runs from May 6 through 17 and features a variety of Mediterranean plants, from succulents to drought-tolerant species and area natives.
“Our mission is to connect people with nature, and plants are just one of the ways. Even if you live in an apartment, you can have houseplants,” Billing said. “They just bring life.”
In addition to getting ready for the plant sale, Billing said the Botanical Garden is using this time to work on its plans for 150 acres of leased land from the county. They are weed-whacking for a future trail network in El Chorro Regional Park as well as continuing to work on the seven different gardens featuring plants from each of the seven different Mediterranean climates.
For the Botanical Garden, Giving Tuesday is a way to generate a little bit of extra revenue that can be put toward the plans and permits they need to complete the project, Billing said.
“We’re in a week-to-week situation out here,” Billing said, adding that when the time comes to open to the public, they want to be ready. “If anything, pandemics are a good time to plan.”
Reach Editor Camillia Lanham at clanham@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Apr 30 – May 7, 2020.