179 Nonprofits Receive Share of $1.2 Million at Montecito Bank & Trust’s 19th Annual Luncheon

Santa Barbara, CA – Montecito Bank & Trust kicked off the holiday season on Monday November 22, 2021, as it has for the last 19 years, with the special annual tradition of the Community Dividends awards luncheon. Through this unique giving program, the Bank has granted more than $19 million to local Santa Barbara and Ventura County nonprofit organizations. The Community Dividends $1.2 million investment in the nonprofit community accounts for the majority of the Bank’s annual total investment nonprofit giving of $1.5 million. 

Chairman & CEO, Janet Garufis, welcomed 179 nonprofit leaders from Ventura and Santa Barbara counties to the Community Dividends luncheon at the Hilton Santa Barbara Beachside Resort. She expressed gratitude for the work nonprofit organizations do to lift up communities even when it seemed nearly impossible. “Every year we give thanks for you, but this year we are especially grateful for you, for your staff and your boards and for your commitment to your missions. You did make a difference. You are making a difference” 

The nonprofit leaders were joined by the Bank’s board and leadership team, in addition to the specially-trained MB&T Associates who dedicated the last 20 months to the MB&T Relief Center and were responsible for issuing Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans to a vast majority of the nonprofits in the room. It was a celebration of gratitude, perseverance and partnership. 

“The lessons of the last 20 months inspire us to keep looking forward to what’s possible. We have learned a lot – about ourselves, our communities and how a business or an organization can adapt at critical moments, reinvent themselves and persevere through change,” said Garufis.

Forty-six years ago Michael Towbes and a small group of local investors started Montecito Bank & Trust because they believed they could deliver exceptional and personalized customer service and fulfill the needs of the local community. When Mr. Towbes became the single shareholder and owner, the vision of investing a meaningful portion of the Bank’s profits back into the community took shape. Three years ago, Montecito Bank & Trust expanded the Community Dividends program to honor the late founder. The Michael Towbes Impact Dividend provides an organization or a couple of organizations with funding for a special program or activity or extend something they had been working on or dreaming about that would create change that is lasting and impactful. The Impact Dividend honors Mr. Towbes and his desire to do more, give more and make an impact. The total amount of the annual Impact Dividend depends on the success of the Bank. Because of the Bank’s significant growth this year, the Michael Towbes Impact Dividend went to two organizations:

• The Housing Trust Fund of Santa Barbara County, Inc. received $100,000 to support its new 3D Printed Affordable Home Project. The project is part of a new Housing Innovations Program to research and demonstrate innovative technologies that reduce the cost of constructing affordable housing and to encourage sustainability through the use of natural, climate resilient and fire-resistant building materials.
• Santa Barbara Neighborhood Clinics Bridge Clinic received $50,000 to support its collaboration with Cottage Health Systems to provide medical and behavioral health services to patients who have been diagnosed with a substance use disorder. The SBNC Bridge Clinic will increase access to treatment at a location close to Cottage Hospital’s Emergency Department.

Community Dividends and the Michael Towbes Community Impact Dividend primarily focus on supporting organizations or programs that serve low- and moderate-income individuals and families in Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties. Dividends are awarded to organizations that serve youth and education, social services, medical and health services, and the arts. A list of all 179 nonprofit organizations that received Montecito Bank & Trust Community Dividends is below.

After last year’s virtual Community Dividends event, nonprofit leaders and MB&T leadership and associates enjoyed the in-person luncheon and networking, sharing of ideas and building stronger bonds within the community all the more!

2021 Community Dividends^® – Recipient Organizations

2nd Story Associates

911 At Ease International

Adelante Charter School

AHA! (Attitude. Harmony. Achievement.)

Alano Club of Santa Barbara, Inc.

Alpha Resource Center of Santa Barbara

Alzheimer’s Association, California Central Coast Chapter

Angels Foster Care of Santa Barbara

Atterdag at Home, Inc.

Atterdag Village of Solvang

Boys & Girls Club of Camarillo

Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Conejo Valley

Breast Cancer Resource Center of Santa Barbara

C.A.R.E.4Paws

California Lutheran University

California Missions Foundation

California State University Channel Islands Foundation

Cancer Support Community Valley/Ventura/Santa Barbara

Carpinteria Children’s Project

Carpinteria Education Foundation, Inc.

Carpinteria Valley Arts Council

Casa Del Herrero

Casa Pacifica Centers for Children and Families

Casa Serena, Inc.

Channel Islands YMCA

Child Abuse Listening Mediation, Inc. (CALM)

Children’s Resource & Referral

City Impact, Inc.

CommUnify

Community Arts Music Association of Santa Barbara Inc.

Community Conscience / Under One Roof

Community Environmental Council

Community Memorial Healthcare Foundation

Congregation B’nai B’rith

Cornerstone House of Santa Barbara

Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse

Court Appointed Special Advocates of Santa Barbara County

Court Appointed Special Advocates of Ventura County

Crane Country Day School

Direct Relief

Domestic Violence Solutions for Santa Barbara County

Dream Foundation

Easy Lift Transportation

El Concilio Family Services

Elings Park Foundation

Elverhoj Museum of History & Art

Ensemble Theatre Company

Environmental Defense Center

Explore Ecology

Family Service Agency of Santa Barbara County

Fielding Graduate University

Food From The Heart

Foodbank of Santa Barbara County

Fr. Virgil Cordano Center

Friends of the Carpinteria Library

Friends of the Library of the Santa Ynez Valley, Inc.

Friendship Manor Inc.

Ganna Walska Lotusland

Girls Inc. of Carpinteria

Girls Inc. of Greater Santa Barbara

Global Parents for Eczema Research

Gold Coast Veterans Foundation

Goleta Education Foundation

Goleta Valley Cottage Hospital Foundation

Goleta Valley Historical Society

Habitat for Humanity of Southern Santa Barbara County

Habitat for Humanity of Ventura County

Hearts Therapeutic Equestrian Center

HELP of Carpinteria

Hillside

Hinchee Homes

Hospice of Santa Barbara, Inc.

Hospice of the Conejo

Housing Authority of the City of San Buenaventura

Housing Opportunities Made Easier

Housing Trust Fund of Santa Barbara County, Inc.

Housing Trust Fund Ventura County

Independent Living Resource Center, Inc.

Isla Vista Youth Projects, Inc.

Jewish Federation of Greater Santa Barbara

Kids & Families Together

Laguna Blanca School

Leading From Within

Lobero Theatre Foundation

Los Padres Council, Boy Scouts of America

Make-A-Wish Tri-Counties

Mental Wellness Center

Midland School

Mixteco/Indigena Community Organizing Project

Momentum WORK, Inc.

Montecito Family YMCA

Mothers’ Helpers

MOXI, The Wolf Museum of Exploration + Innovation

Music Academy of the West

National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) Santa Barbara Chapter

National Disaster Search Dog Foundation

New House Santa Barbara

Old Mission Santa Barbara

Organic Soup Kitchen

Oxnard Performing Arts Center Corporation

Pacific Pride Foundation

Partners In Housing Solutions, Inc.

PathPoint

Peoples’ Self-Help Housing Corporation

Planned Parenthood California Central Coast

Ride On LA

Safety Town of Santa Barbara County

Sansum Clinic

Sansum Diabetes Research Institute

Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, Inc.

Santa Barbara Bowl Foundation

Santa Barbara Center for the Performing Arts, Inc.

Santa Barbara Community Housing Corporation

Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital Foundation

Santa Barbara County Education Office

Santa Barbara Education Foundation

Santa Barbara Foundation

Santa Barbara Hillel

Santa Barbara Historical Museum

Santa Barbara Humane Society

Santa Barbara International Film Festival

Santa Barbara Maritime Museum

Santa Barbara Meals on Wheels, Inc.

Santa Barbara Museum of Art

Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History

Santa Barbara Neighborhood Clinics

Santa Barbara Partners in Education

Santa Barbara Police Activities League

Santa Barbara Public Library Foundation

Santa Barbara Rescue Mission

Santa Barbara Symphony

Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation

Santa Barbara Zoological Foundation

Santa Ynez Valley Cottage Hospital Foundation

Santa Ynez Valley Jewish Community

Santa Ynez Valley People Helping People, Inc.

Sarah House

Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara

SCORE Santa Barbara

Solvang Friendship House

Solvang Senior Center

St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church of Ventura County

St. Vincent’s Institution

Standing Together to End Sexual Assault

State Street Ballet

Storyteller Children’s Center

Students for Eco-Education & Agriculture, Inc.

Studio Channel Islands Art Center

Surgical Eye Expeditions (SEE) International

Teacher’s Fund

Teddy Bear Cancer Foundation

The Arc Foundation of Ventura County

The Center for Urban Agriculture at Fairview Gardens

The Foundation for Girsh Park

The Foundation for Santa Barbara City College

The Howard School

The Marjorie Luke Theatre

The Oxnard College Foundation

The Rona Barrett Foundation

The Salvation Army of Santa Barbara

Tina Hansen McEnroe & Paul V. McEnroe Reading and Language Arts Clinic at UCSB

Transition House

UCSB Arts & Lectures

UCSB Technology Management Program

United Boys & Girls Clubs of Santa Barbara County

United Way of Santa Barbara County, Inc.

United Way of Ventura County, Inc.

Unity Shoppe, Inc.

Ventura County Civic Alliance

Ventura County Community Development Corporation

Ventura County Medical Resource Foundation

Ventura Land Trust

VNA Health Foundation

Westmont College

Wilderness Youth Project

Wildling Museum of Art and Nature

Women’s Economic Ventures

Women’s Fund of Santa Barbara

Youth and Family Services YMCA: Noah’s Anchorage Youth Crisis Center