The power of collective giving was on display on May 20^th when the Women’s Fund of Santa Barbara awarded an unprecedented $1.25 million in grants to 11 local nonprofits —showcasing the power of collective giving in the Santa Barbara community. This accomplishment was made possible through the generosity of 1,426 local women members who have combined their charitable contributions into a substantial grants pool.

$100,000 surprise gift to Women’s Fund Endowment – and more!

Great news!   Women’s Fund member Jackie Inskeep made July seem like Christmas when she surprised us with a $100,000 gift to the Women’s Fund Endowment. 

In making her generous donation, Jackie applauded the work of Women’s Fund volunteers, saying “I am so pleased and proud of the women who make the Women’s Fund possible.”  She added, “I made the gift because I am confident that intelligent women are making informed choices for the good of the community.”

A tradition began years ago establishing that, on April 5, California’s First 5 chapters would join together and visit their legislators in Sacramento. Tuesday is First 5 Advocacy Day, when the nonprofit focused on preparing children for kindergarten addresses its concerns to elected officials.

The message this year will be the same as the last: Santa Barbara County needs more quality child-care slots.

Since the majority of a child’s brain development occurs before they reach kindergarten, First 5 has been working to ensure more quality child-care options exist for the 70 percent of parents who need to get back to work.

Addressing Women’s Fund Individual Members at a virtual coffee last month, Erik shared information about the dramatic increase in the need for food services, along with the need to reevaluate all of the Foodbank’s systems to ensure pandemic safety precautions. 

Group Captain Marianne Wetzel filled us in on her motivation to begin a new Women’s Fund Group. Marianne recently joined the Women’s Fund Membership Committee as the New Member Liaison. In that role, she will be contacting each new member to welcome her and answer any questions about the Women’s Fund.

Why did you join the Women’s Fund? I like the concept of giving to the community in which I live, and I thought the idea of pooling our money was ingenious.  t really allows us to make a significant impact to help so many organizations within our community.

We wanted to get to know D'Penguineer Friends, so we intreviewed Group Captain, Parm Williams.

What inspired you to join the Women’s Fund and when did you join?
Jo Gifford, a Women’s Fund founding member, asked me to join the Women’s Fund in 2004. I joined in 2005 as part of a two-member group with Sarah de Tagyos. Our group name was “PS”—for Parm and Sarah—not very creative, but it worked for us! We both were so impressed with the Women’s Fund that we volunteered for committees right away. I chaired the Membership Committee from 2005 to 2010 and then served as the Assistant Finance Chair in 2011and Finance Chair in 2012. 

Pictured (left to right): Cynthia Owen, Cecia Hess, Joyce Tamborello, Bonnie Tanase Cairns, Kathryn Padgett,Robin Martinelli and Julie Franke.

Other members of the group include: Jorgia Bordovsky, Gray Felstiner, Dale Hromadka, Nina Hunt, Mary Maxwell, Fran Piacente, Carol Poundstone Olson and Carol Simon.

To get to know this group better, we asked Co-Captains Dale Hromadka and Julie Franke some questions:

Why did you join the Women’s Fund? The emphasis is on women and children and in addition, it is a wonderful way to learn more about Santa Barbara. 

To get to know East Beach Walkers, we interviewed Co-Captains, Lalla Brutoco and Pat Fulmer.

Why and when did you join the Women’s Fund?

To get to know this new membership group, Health Cares, we interviewed Sabina White and Leslie Mathers-Winn.

Some years ago, Sabina started a group, Compassion in Action, and this year she reached out to her UCSB friends and Health Cares was launched. Her good friend, Leslie, agreed to be captain. Sabina, a member of three groups now, gave us some information about her experience with the Women’s Fund.