Message from Chelsea Lancaster (EOPS CARE/CalWorks Advisor):
"We continue to strive to meet our students where they're at. In years past, this traditional event was marked by upwards of 150 turkeys and bags of all the fixings to make a full Thanksgiving meal. Needless to say, these past few years have looked a little different. Campus shutdowns due to fires, a global pan/endemic, accelerated housing precarity, and a growing public discourse on Native perspectives on Thanksgiving served as an invitation to create a “new normal” for this decades-long tradition. So, instead of turkeys and all the fixings, our parenting students now receive a grocery gift card to buy whatever they please. When surveyed, students report liking this, and I quote, 'MUCH better.' Further, it has enabled me to provide this resource to students who may not be able to come to campus, including a growing number of distance learners and unvaccinated students, by offering a mailing option. This was, and still is, all made possible by donations from our SBCC campus community in partnership with the SBCC Foundation.
"On behalf of our student parents, thank you for your support this (and every) holiday season! I am sharing some of the comments from the RSVP responses and just so you know how much this annual tradition means to our struggling student-parents and their families."
"I have a newborn, a toddler, and a 5-year-old so I am trying to get things going for them as much as possible. Things have not turned out as planned unfortunately so this help means a lot. Thank you!!!"
"This is so sweet. I would greatly appreciate it for my little family of three!"
"I am so grateful. Its been a struggle with all the high prices."
"I would like you all to know that I’m super thankful for all that you do! (:"
"I also want to quickly shout out Alondra Lazaro-Gonzalez and the whole BNC Team for everything they do to address all our students' basic needs on a daily basis, and with so much corazón and dignity."
With gratitude,
Chelsea
"The past few years have been really hard for parents and caregivers everywhere, and this is especially true for low-income families on the margins. That said, your support means a whole lot to our student parents and their little ones (our future students), so please keep it coming!" -Interim EOPS director Christina Lomelli
TO MAKE A DONATION:
Or if you prefer to pay by check, please make it payable to "SBCC Foundation," include "Thanksgiving Giveaway" in the memo line, and mail to the SBCC Foundation at: 721 Cliff Drive, Santa Barbara, CA 93109.
