August Newsletter

ART SHOW HIGHLIGHTS & MORE

Mind the Gap Community Art Show was full of amazing art pieces and our wonderful community! What a beautiful gathering of over 30 artist contributing their art pieces to benefit The Starfish Connection. There were about 200 attendees, families, children, and furry friends! There was tunes by DJ Bennet, lite bites from Satellite, sips served by Jennifer with the Mercury Lounge, and Talk-o-Truck collected 15 beautiful stories on art and mindfulness and we raised $3,623 for the Crisis Funding program. Another big thanks to Vanae Rivera for curating such a fantastic event! 

You can NOW LISTEN to the TALK-O-TRUCK stories on our YouTube Channel! 

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO IS PART OF OUR MONTHLY GIVING TEAM 

and member of our GALAXY OF GIVERS!  

 

Jack Reif | Collette Royer | Diane Kirkwood 

Toni Dart | Sophie Meginnis | Judy Hawkins 

 Erin McGovern | Jerry Cupit | Isis Castañeda

MaryBeth Carty | Lindsay Soleimani | Leonor Reyes 

 Sophia Lake | Sarah Abrams | Vicki Diioia

 

Our goal is to build a team of 24 monthly GIVERS in 2024. 

 Just nine donors to go! Will you help us grow?

please Reach out with any questions 

regarding monthly giving OR any donations:  

Email: Development Director: Leonor@thestarfishconnection.org

MEET OUR NEWEST BOARD MEMBER! 

Dianne Deras Kirkwood is proudly home grown in this beautiful city and has a passion for helping others and connecting with people. Born and raised in Santa Barbara, Dianne has a wide network of family and friends that are her village.

She was a single mother to her only child, Daniel, who passed away in 2007. Losing Daniel was by far the most difficult loss in her life. She relied on her village to walk and to continue walking with her on her path of grief and healing. During this time, Dianne sought support from local agencies... grief therapy at Hospice of Santa Barbara and an outstanding therapist at Family Service Agency. Being able to rely on local services inspired Dianne to give back to her community, both honoring her son’s memory and continuing her father’s spirit of giving back through acts of service.

 

“I am ready to give back to my village any way that I can. I love to live and live to love" - Dianne Kirwood

Message from our Executive Director

And away we grow! 

 

This summer has been full of new opportunities, new partnerships, new volunteers, new board members, and a lot of new friendships! Thanks to all of you who have shown up - we are so grateful for all the ways you support The Starfish Connection and the clients we serve!

 

I would be remiss if I did not give my praise and thanks to Leonor, Development Director and Sophia, Program Coordinator, who have hustled this summer to make so many amazing events happen! Our Board of Directors who SHOW UP time and again. And our VOLUNTEERS who are bringing their friends and spreading the love! Our community is expanding and because of you, so are the number of clients we can serve. 

 

Our $10 for 12 campaign is only NINE folks away from meeting our minimum goal of 24 monthly donors in 2024. Thank you to our Galaxy of Givers ranging in commitments from $10 to $100 monthly - you are helping us provide food, rent, MTD bus passes, catch sick people up on electric bills, car payments and more. 

THANK YOU for your generosity... Can we get nine more?!

 

I hope to see you on August 24th at Pride SB for a day of family fun and stories at the Talk-o-Truck. We'll be bringing back six word stories and have some fun take-aways for everyone who shares a story.

 

I hope the rest of the summer is as lazy as you like it!

 

xo, Sarah Abrams 

Executive Director 

 

The Starfish Connection is dedicated to building thriving communities by empowering individuals and fostering connection through crisis funding and community storytelling.

 

STAY CONNECTED