Foundations generally start with something very specific every initiative starts. That specific reason is the unstoppable need to make things better for those who need it the most. Whether it is a cause for children, for women, for people who need special health care or treatments, for elderly people, for families affected by a certain tragedy or any other cause that is affecting a significant group of people and communities, the work of a initiative never has an ending. Many foundations have represented more than a blessing to its benefactors and that is the case of a certain number of Foundations in Santa Barbara that have been created in order to support education in this community. The work of these foundations is in some way similar to what a business or any other project would focus on. Not in terms of their products or services but in their essence. In some way, foundations and businesses deliver value to their public. A kind of value that helps people improve their life or a specific situation in life. We live in a world where the help of others will always and inevitably be useful, even if we don’t accept and recognize it. Both giving and receiving takes a lot of courage and a lot of heart, and that is why the work and the causes of all foundations involve such a high level of commitment and responsibility from those who are part of them.
The job never ends, and what we can be absolutely certain about is that the effort and the commitment will eventually make a difference in many people’s lives and that is where the satisfaction takes place.
Kenny Slaught believes one of the most important and impacting causes in is education. The effects of investing in this type of cause may not be immediate but it certainly is something that will have a very meaningful result. This result will be multiplied throughout families and communities and it will be replicated from one generations to another.
Read our recent post “Getting the Money for College Can Be As Easy As ABC”
Here are 3 of the most important foundations in Santa Barbara that support education:
The Orfalea Foundation
This foundation has mainly two programs, among others, that support education in different ways. One of them is the early childhood education program that focuses on the first five years of a child’s life. The program determines and develops a series of approaches that provide special attention to activities oriented to the social and emotional development of children from 0 to 5 years old. The other program that involves education support in this foundation is the school food program, in which healthy food and nutrition for children is the main goal. The program states a healthy mind will only grow with healthy meals, which is why this program works on a nutritional reform for schools, and this reform involves preparing and delivering healthy food to the schools that are part of this initiative.
The Santa Barbara Education Foundation
The Santa Barbara Education Foundation, also known as the SBEF, partnered with the school district makes a great effort in investing in public education. This thirty year old foundation believes an excellent quality education is what will ensure the stability, the development and the integrity of a community and its members. This foundation also believes a good economy and a strong democracy will are the bases of a bright future for everyone and a quality education needs to be number one on the list of investments. Competence, equity, creativity, innovation, and confidence are five key factors that will guarantee the success of this mission in education. The programs that are developed by this foundation are oriented to benefit more than 15,000 students in the Santa Barbara area.
The Santa Barbara Scholarship Foundation
This foundation promotes several education opportunities for students of Santa Barbara, after finishing high school. The foundation encourages students to continue their education, it advises them on the different educational paths they can take and it helps them by providing financial help such as scholarships for their further education. For this foundation, money does not represent an obstacle if the interest of studying and the aim of self-development exists. Scholarships are not the only way this foundation benefits people. The families of the students are also able to access a special advisory service on how they can make a savings plan in order to afford their children’s education in case of not being able to get a scholarship. For the Santa Barbara Scholarship Foundation, there is no excuse for not studying after high school. That is why students will also be able to receive a student loan from the foundation, which they will start paying either six months after their graduation or eighteen months after graduation, depending on what type of loan they have received.