The Friends of the Santa Barbara Public Library received $65,000 from the Women’s Fund of Santa Barbara to expand the number of Early Literacy touch-screen computer stations available in the library system 19 to two. The new educational computers for young children will be installed in the Goleta, Eastside, Montecito, Carpinteria and Central libraries this year. 

The Early Literacy computers from AWE (Advanced Workstations in Education) have child-friendly menus, about 30 English and 30 Spanish learning games, touch-screens and colorful keyboards. Eleven Early Literacy stations will…

Philanthropist Betty Elings Wells surprises the group with a $250,000 matching grant pledge for the next giving cycle.

The power of collective giving was out in full force Monday when more than 300 members of the Women’s Fund of Santa Barbara gathered for the Eighth Annual Presentation of Funds Luncheon, doling out $520,000 to support the work of eight local nonprofits. The new grants bring the total contributions by the Women’s Fund to the community to $3.6 million.

Seeing the impact of their gifts in action was a gift in itself for more than 100 Women’s Fund of Santa Barbara members who toured local nonprofit agencies last week. The visits were a way for Women’s Fund supporters to see how their most recent $565,000 in grants—for the 2010-2011 giving cycle—were addressing critical needs in the community.

The Legal Aid Foundation of Santa Barbara County presented its fourth annual "Heroes for Justice" awards on May 14, 2011 to a full house at the DoubleTree Hotel.

The Women's Fund of Santa Barbara was the non-profit selected to receive this prestigious award.

The Legal Aid Foundation of Santa Barbara County presented its fourth annual "Heroes for Justice" awards on May 14, 2011 to a full house at the DoubleTree Hotel. The Women's Fund of Santa Barbara was the nonprofit selected to receive this prestigious award. Pictured with Parm Williams are: Superior Court Judge Frank Ochoa (honoree), Ellen Goodman (Executive Director of the Legal Aid Foundation), Allan Ghitterman (honoree) and Sylvia Barnard (Executive Director, Good Samaritan Shelter of Santa Maria - honoree).

Six organizations are selected to receive awards funded in part by a matching grant from philanthropist Betty Elings Wells.
 

“If there is a theme to this day — and to this past year — it is growth,” Steering Committee chairwoman Sarah de Tagyos said in welcoming more than 300 members of the Women’s Fund of Santa Barbara to the Seventh Annual Presentation of Funds Luncheon on Monday. This year, the fund awarded $565,000 to support the work of six local nonprofit organizations: the Carpinteria Children’s Project at Main, the Channel Islands YMCA, the Children’s Project Academy…

At the 2010 annual Mistletoe Ball, the Women's Fund of Santa Barbara was honored for its $85,000 grant to Catholic Charities of Santa Barbara for installation of solar panels on the agency's food pantry, lowering energy costs and thus increasing their Foodbank budget to feed low-income families.

During a time of economic uncertainty and lower trends in charitable giving, one longtime Santa Barbara philanthropist is leading the way and demonstrating her belief in the power of collective giving, through the Women’s Fund of Santa Barbara.

Betty Elings Wells, a member of the Women’s Fund since 2005, has committed $250,000 in a 2-for-1 match for every dollar the Women’s Fund raises above $350,000 by December 1. As of May 1, Women’s Fund members and…

Philanthropy pool unites 400 women and makes a $2.5 million difference in the nonprofit community.

“Low-key, yet high-impact” is an apt description for both the Women’s Fund of Santa Barbara and its founder, Carol Palladini. Formed in 2004 around the idea that rather than spending their energy planning elaborate fundraisers, women could work together and pool their donations to help meet the community’s most critical needs, the group has already given more than $2.5 million to 33 nonprofit agencies in the Santa Barbara area.

The six-year-old Women’s Fund of Santa Barbara awarded a hefty total of $365,000 in grants to five local nonprofit agencies, focusing this year on organizations that provide shelter. In a ceremony at the El Paseo Restaurant on Monday, February 8, Casa Esperanza Homeless Shelter was awarded the largest grant, at $90,000; followed by Catholic Charities ($85,000); Domestic Violence Solutions ($75,000), St. Vincent’s of Santa Barbara ($75,000) and Sarah House, a hospice residence for low-income individuals ($40,000). Founding board chair Carol Palladini expressed gratitude to the Women’s Fund’…