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