October 2021 News 2

Leer en Español

October 2021 | Issue 6

Deckers Art of Kindness Week

Students Receive New Shoes

New Website and Brand Refresh

Storyteller updates its look

Donor Appreciation Event

First in person event in over a year

Facing Ourselves: Reckoning - A Book Signing and Fundraiser for Storyteller

Donate Today!

The Art of Kindness

Deckers Shoe Company Models Kindness

The Art of Kindness (AOK) is a week of volunteering when Deckers employees work together to make a collective impact on our local community. This year, the AOK events happened during the week of September 27th - October 1st.

For Storyteller, kindness came from Deckers in the form of a shoe giveaway for all of our students. Travis and Angel from the Goleta showroom came to Storyteller in mid September to measure the children's feet. This was to ensure each child received the correct size of shoes along with a little room to grow.

Then on Friday, Oct 1st Deckers executives delivered 52 pairs of shoes, as well as pocket-sized notebooks and crayons, for our Storyteller students. In addition, Deckers also donated three boxes of school supplies.

We are so grateful for Decker's continued partnership.

New Website and Brand Refresh

Creating Greater Access

Last March, Santa Barbara Foundation awarded Storyteller a Small Capacity Building Grant for the purpose of redesigning and updating our website. A primary function of the new website is to offer information in both English and Spanish. Our website upgrade is part of a larger effort in our organization to offer all communications in both languages. Added mobile responsiveness will offer access via mobile phones. In addition, program enrollment forms are now fillable online. This feature will make it possible for families to complete this information on their phones and minimize the need to access a computer to view and print forms.

The project objective is to streamline our online presence offering families access to the school calendar, enrollment applications, parent meeting dates, and an absentee form. The update will also address language barriers and will increase accessibility. A well managed website will also offer our partners and donors a more efficient donation interface, complete program information, and updates regarding volunteer opportunities. We hope you will visit our new site to see all the changes. www.storytellercenter.org.

Thank You Donors!

Donor Appreciation Event

On Sept 30th, Storyteller hosted its first in person event since before the pandemic. As a way to thank our supporters over the last two years, we hosted an intimate mixer at the Grassini tasting room outdoors at El Paseo. Our new executive team, Susan Cass and Adrienne De Guevara, had a chance to meet many of our board members, advisory board members, and donors face to face for the first time.

Susan Cass shared her passion for Storyteller's mission, the incredible work being done by our teachers, and the importance of love and care in a child's life. Our new board chair, Michael Wasserman, introduced three new board members and thanked Patricia Madrigal, former board chair, for paving the way. To read more about our new board members, see the article in the Independent here.

Each donor was gifted a Storyteller canvas tote bag with our refreshed logo printed on the front. It is only with the support of our committed donors that we continue to thrive during these uncertain times.

Patricia Clarke's new book hopes to open a conversation about social justice

Patricia Clarke Book Signing

On OCTOBER 7 & 8, Patricia Clarke held a live book sale and signing of her new book, Facing Ourselves: Reckoning in Support of Social Justice. The signing was held at the Lobero Theatre during the two night run of Los Lobos show.

Patricia chose to give the proceeds of this book sale and signing to Storyteller to bring awareness to our mission, as she felt it aligns with her passion around social justice. Storyteller staff were at the book sale and signing to share information on our programs.

Patricia writes this about her work,

These photographs from small central California coastal communities represent the microcosm of challenges we are facing and how we cope with them, together and individually. Facing Ourselves: Reckoning honors those who march in search of peace and justice, who create art to remind us of what’s important, who write words to inspire us, and to all those who take action to create healthy, equitable and compassionate communities.

All net proceeds from this sale will benefit Storyteller Children’s Center through November 1st. Click here to visit Patricia's page and to find out more about her work.

Become a Volunteer

While we are not yet able to have volunteers on site, we are collecting information from those who would like to volunteer at Storyteller. Give back with your time and receive so much more.

Click here to fill out a volunteer form.

Scholarship Fund

Giving to the Scholarship Fund (formally Sponsor a Child) can make a dramatic difference in a child's life. Your contribution will go directly to supporting the costs associated with one year of early childhood education for a family in need.