The world we live in is far from perfect: Economies continue to falter, people continue to go hungry, and crime continues to rear its ugly head. It’s enough to make you wish iconic comic book figures like Superman and Batman could jump out of their storybook pages and make everything better?
While that might be nice, it’s just not possible. Luckily, you don’t need big muscles and superhuman powers to be a superhero—all you need is a big heart and a little perseverance.
In Northern Santa Barbara County, there are dozens, if not hundreds, of nonprofit organizations doing heroic work every day: comforting the afflicted, feeding the hungry, and bringing joy to children and families who have gone without for far too long.
But nonprofits can’t do those things without people like you to volunteer or donate much-needed supplies and revenue. So, in the spirit of the season, why not read up on some local causes and see what you can do to help.
Big Brothers Big Sisters
Most people are familiar with the proverb, “It takes a village to raise a child.” At Big Brothers Big Sisters of Santa Barbara County, heroic volunteers take those words to heart.
A program of the Family Service Agency, Big Brothers Big Sisters matches adult mentors with youth ages 7 to 17, many of whom come from single-parent homes or other challenging backgrounds and are in need of additional adult encouragement.
“Mentoring helps kids fulfill their potential,” program coordinator Bonnie Pack said. “They’re less likely to get involved in risky or criminal behavior. They see improved academic performance, increased self-confidence, and a more positive view of the future.”
Last year, Big Brothers Big Sisters made more than 261 matches countywide, 65 of which were in Santa Maria. Mentors, or the “bigs,” run the gamut from college students and professionals to military personnel and married couples.
“Bigs often say they get as much out of it as the littles do,” Pack said. “They tell us they find it to be fun and rewarding.”
According to Pack, “bigs” must be caring, responsible, and consistent in meeting with their “littles” on a regular basis: six to eight hours per month for at least one year, though many matches last longer. In their time spent together, matches spend time doing things they both enjoy, such as trips to the beach, reading books, visiting museums, seeing plays, and going out for pizza.
For mentors who have work or family obligations, Big Brothers Big Sisters also has a site-based program held at the Boys & Girls Club in Santa Maria, where they can meet and join in activities with their “littles” for a couple of hours after school each week in a supervised environment.
With more than 50 children on the waiting list in Santa Maria, and about 100 more in the county, Pack said it would be a great New Years’ resolution to become a Big Brother or Big Sister.
“What our wish would be is to add to the volunteers that we have,” Pack said. “Volunteering is a real gift. In giving your time, I don’t know what could be better.”
More volunteers also means a need for funding to make more matches; each mentor must be screened by staff and undergo background checks and in-depth interviews.
To be a Big Brother or Big Sister, call the Family Service Agency office at 925-1100 in Santa Maria or 735-4376 in Lompoc. To make a donation to the group, call development director Kelly Adams in Santa Barbara at 965-1001.
For more information on the Big Brothers Big Sisters program, visit fsacare.org or the national website bigbrothersbigsisters.org.
—Jeremy Thomas
North County Rape Crisis and Child Protection Center
When dealing with the physical and emotional effects of abuse, it’s easy to feel like you’re all alone in the world and incapable of overcoming your personal pain.
Fortunately, at North County Rape Crisis and Child Protection Center, there are plenty of trained professionals and volunteers who are dedicated to helping people in need.
With centers in Lompoc and Santa Maria, the nonprofit’s goal is to reduce the incidence of—and people’s vulnerability to—sexual assault and child abuse by providing treatment to survivors of abuse and education and prevention services to the community.
Some of these services include counseling with a licensed professional, two 24-hour crisis hotlines, access to support groups, self-defense classes, and educational programs.
“Sometimes we’re called out to support the victims while law enforcement is handling the case, investigating and collecting evidence,” director Shannon Chavez said. “[Through the hotline] we might get a call from someone who’s just been raped and doesn’t know what to do. We could get a call from a child or a teenager who’s being abused, or maybe from a neighbor or relative who suspects abuse.”
Chavez said all of the services are confidential, though there are some stipulations for potential child endangerment.
The organization offers ChildSAFE programs to local schools. ChildSAFE is a three-day event during which staffers teach students about personal safety.
“We teach the younger children about the ‘uh-oh feeling’ and different kinds of touches—good and bad touches—and how to say no, get away, and tell someone if someone is touching them inappropriately,” Chavez said.
“Students will typically [participate] in our program about three to five times during their schooling,” she continued. “We reach about 10,000 to 11,000 students each year.”
The center recently started the Green Dot program, which teaches students how to intervene and neutralize potentially violent situations, at Lompoc High School.
When asked what the organization staffers would like for Christmas, Chavez said, “If we could have anything it would be a world where children are loved and cared for and all people are safe. If that was the case, we wouldn’t be here.”
In the meantime, they’d love to have more volunteers to staff the hotline and help with programs. Office supplies, like paper and stamps, are always welcome, and the office could use some new computers. And then there are always monetary donations.
“This year is not looking good right now,” Chavez said, explaining that the organization didn’t receive some of the grants and other funding it usually receives. That’s why this year, more than most years, donations from the community are so important.
“It’s the kind of cause a lot of the time people don’t want to think about because of what it is: sexual assault and child abuse. And sometimes people forget or think it doesn’t happen here, but it does happen here,” she said. “But the more we talk about it the better it is for everyone in the community.”
For more information about the North County
Rape Crisis and Child Protection Center, visit
sbcountyrapecrisis.org or call 736-8535 (Lompoc) or 922-2994 (Santa Maria). Donations can be made online or mailed to P.O. Box 148, Lompoc, CA, 93438 or P.O. Box 6202 Santa Maria, CA, 93456.
—Amy Asman
Orcutt Children’s Art Foundation
Orcutt Children’s Arts Foundation began 10 years ago when the Orcutt Union School District’s five-year state grants to fund arts programs were almost up and the district needed a plan to go forward. Part of the agreement with the grants was that the district would sustain whatever they started, so they started OCAF.
“That was at a time when there was state grants to be had. Now there’s no state money. Zero. Not even a dollar,” OCAF board president Ken Parker said.
Parker said the lack of state money available for the arts makes what OCAF does even more important.
“While other districts are eviscerating arts programs, just ripping them out of the schools, our board makes it possible to continue with band and chorus and the restarting of a string program that’s been gone for 35 years,” he said. “They see the importance of art in making a child whole.”
Through OCAF, schools have been able to continue with band enrichment and take trips to art venues like the Getty Museum and the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. The foundation provides an artist-in-residence program that services 116 K-6 classrooms with art lessons and puts mini-grants in the hands of school staff to incorporate art into any part of the curriculum.
Most recently, OCAF started the Orcutt Arts Academy as a way to let professionals train students in the arts and go beyond a day camp-type program, said OCAF executive director Hannah Rubalcava.
The academy was successful with its initial run this summer and saw similar success during its fall after-school program. The academy will offer another program in January, with more installments throughout they year.
But delivering these programs doesn’t come free. The OCAF board and volunteers spend a lot of time researching and writing grants, with the most recent victory being a $5,000 grant from the Santa Barbara Foundation.
This year OCAF was in a “do or die” mode, Rubalcava said. With a mere $1,600 in memberships, no one was sure the foundation could go on. Rubalcava acknowledged that this is where donors were also heroes. OCAF began a focus on its membership program, and memberships skyrocketed from $1,600 to $11,00 in one year.
Parker said OCAF is also in the middle of its ASK campaign in which they’re simply asking for donations with giving levels from $100 to $5,000.
“Like any nonprofit, if we aren’t constantly changing up, improving, and reinventing ourselves, we won’t be here in an year or two,” he said.
Rubalcava said OCAF also has a great need for volunteers, art supplies, and a location for holding art classes, but a most pressing need is for someone to donate time to help OCAF develop a website.
For more information, call 938-8966.
—Shelly Cone
Make-A-Wish Foundation of the Tri-Counties
Even wish granters have wishes.
In the days leading up to Christmas, Shanna Wasson Taylor, CEO of Make-A-Wish Foundation of the Tri-Counties, sent out a request for more wish granters to step up in the area. Making dreams come true for children with life-threatening medical conditions is not something that can just happen without some serious help, and the organization is looking to add 20 more volunteers: about a dozen in Santa Barbara County and eight in San Luis Obispo County.
Prospective wish granters should visit the group’s website (tri-counties.wish.org) where they can learn about what it takes to volunteer and fill out an application. It costs $30—“the only expense,” Taylor pointed out—for a background check.
Once that’s done, there’s an online training course, followed by a real-world training session.
“It’s listed as a six-hour class, but if people really pay attention during the online part, it’s really closer to four hours,” Taylor said.
After a final approval, wish granters will get a monthly e-mail listing children and some basic information. The volunteers can step up as their own schedules and life situations allow. A program director will pair up two wish granters—one new and one experienced, one to interact with the child and one to handle the paperwork side of things—to make a wish come true.
Taylor explained that wish granters will meet with a child’s entire family and aim to get to the heart of a wish.
“Clearly, it’s a position where there’s a very, very joyous time, but you’re going into families where there’s a lot of pain,” she said.
Training provides methods and questions for digging deep and learning what a kid really wants. A volunteer will make a list of three wishes, because sometimes a first wish—to get a new baby brother, for instance—isn’t feasible.
“There are some things we can’t do,” Taylor said.
She went on to say that getting three leads can reveal similarities or a pattern.
“We can schedule trips to Disneyworld forever,” Taylor said, “but it’s the wish granter who’s listening.”
A girl may meekly toss out the ubiquitous Disney vacation as her biggest wish, for example, but a little prodding and gentle detective work will yield that what she really wants to do is dance with Tinkerbell. It’s what Taylor calls “the magical thing behind it.”
Once the wish has been revealed, it’s time for more paperwork. There are often travel arrangements to make, as well as medical details to discuss: Will she need dialysis? What size wheelchair should he use? With a budget in hand, the wish granters then scour the community for donations and help, culminating in a presentation party that combines favorite foods, friends, and family into one amazing event.
“You’re given a small budget so you can add the pixie dust, as we call it,” Taylor said.
Most of the group’s wish granters handle a couple of wishes a year, while some do more, and they tend to stick around for a long time. Still, the 20 new volunteers Taylor is hoping for are particularly precious. She said it would be easier to find $1,000.
While there’s a special need for Spanish speakers, any locals who think they could help grant some wishes are encouraged to sign up.
“They’re like Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy all wrapped up,” Taylor said.
A Santa Barbara-based training session for new wish granters is Jan. 28 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. A San Luis Obispo session—great for SLO County and Northern Santa Barbara County volunteers—is set for Feb. 25 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The exact locations are yet to be determined.
Taylor pointed out that there’s a lot of paperwork that must be completed in advance of a training session, so it’s important to start the process early—at least two weeks ahead.
Make-A-Wish is also looking for airline miles to ease the cost of trips for children and their families. Taylor said she needs 12 million miles annually and only gets one or two million locally, so “if people have airline miles and they don’t want to buy magazines, they can call our office.”
Call 676-9474.
—Ryan Miller
Send comments to Managing Editor Amy Asman at aasman@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Dec 22-29, 2011.