There’s plenty of reason to be down this holiday season. The world is on fire; religions of peace are fighting gruesome wars, authoritarians are more prominent worldwide than they have been in a century; the climate isn’t just changing, it’s destroying so many things we thought would last; and few seem to have the patience or discipline to care.
But we’ve got some big time positive news in this Santa Cruz Gives issue.
Santa Cruzans are setting records for helping those in need.
In the words of the countywide charity’s organizer, Jeanne Howard, “Thanks to you, our generous community, Santa Cruz Gives has become the largest countywide fundraising campaign in support of local nonprofit organizations, whose work benefits us all.”
The group now hosts 65 charities in need of local funds. Started by Good Times in 2015, Santa Cruz Gives promotes hope throughout the community and has devoted much time, effort and money into producing it.
“Every year we’ve grown over the year before,” says Howard. “We’ve raised more than $4 million since the 2015 founding with $2.3 of it in the last two campaigns.”
It’s a diverse slate of organizations and you are sure to find many that speak to you,” she says. “Every one of these projects sounds so compelling, it’s hard to find where to put your funds. But please do find it.”
The great thing is whoever you give to, you will be able to see the effects of these 65 nonprofits right here in your ‘hood.
I’m proud to be part of an organization that gives so much time and effort to helping the community. And I’m so proud of Santa Cruzans for giving despite the hardships we all face every day.
Thanks for reading.
Brad Kava | Editor
PHOTO CONTEST
SKIMBLAST This is a shot of men’s pro winner, Lucas Fink, from Brazil, on July 15. PHOTO:Matthew C. Folsom
Good Idea
Free Jazz Improv Class
In this Dec 12 class, San Francisco-born trombonist Natalie Cressman will explore the process of improvisation, leading participants through concepts over well-known standards, with the aim to deepen their understanding of the song and build a strong foundation of form, time, and how the melody interacts with harmony.
This grant, one of five issued by the utility, will help Farm Discovery advocate for regenerative farming that supports biodiversity, conserves water, improves water quality, sequesters carbon and is socially-just. “Grant funding will be instrumental in enhancing the biodiversity of our organic fields through regenerative farming practices, on-farm education with local schools, and cultivation of native plants with volunteers,” said Farm Discovery’s executive director, Jessica Ridgeway.
Quote of the week
“Adulthood is saying ‘But after this week things will slow down a bit.’ Ad infinitum”
It would be intriguing enough that Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong are introducing a high-grade collectible vodka in partnership with UBlendIt of Scotts Valley.
But it gets better from there. The Judge’s Water—named for the courtroom scene in cult hit Up In Smoke where Chong’s character Anthony Stoner discovers the magistrate’s water is actually vodka—comes with a kit to convert the bottle into a water pipe.
Like Stoner tells Pedro de Pacas (Marin) in the 1978 movie, “You better fasten your seatbelt, man.”
On top of that, a portion of proceeds will support those imprisoned unfairly for cannabis-related crimes.
UBlendIt first got traction around greater Santa Cruz by partnering with local hubs like Hula’s, The Catalyst Club and Number 1 Broadway for house-brand spirits, so the collaboration carries some poetic symmetry, and marks the first of many celeb projects to come.
CEO John Spagnola enjoys bringing award-winning spirits to the table (UBlendIt vodka took double gold at the latest San Francisco Spirits Festival), but takes more pride in the visioning process.
“It’s fun working with big names and developing strategies around new products,” he says. “You get to be really creative.”
Pre-orders are available now at reservebar.com.
REALLY DOUGH
Popular Westside farmers market artisan pizza whiz Jayne Dough has quietly opened La Marea Cafe & Pizzeria in the former Reef Dog in Capitola. She’ll do breakfast and lunch featuring items like frittatas, bagels and focaccia sandwiches, but the star will be her signature deep-dish, house-fermented, Detroit-style sourdough pizzas. instagram.com/lamareacafe/
LO’ HIGH
Beneath the redwoods of Ben Lomond, new(ish) Aroma Restaurant is rounding into shape after eight months open. In the former Tyrolean Inn, the pan-continental menu—think Peruvian ceviche, Spanish paella, chicken adobo, garlic Aleppo prawns and kalbi short ribs—pairs with the rare setting, magnetic hospitality and a talented and diverse kitchen. “A really beautiful place,” longtime local chef/Aroma partner Mario Ibarra says, “with a really nice concept.”
aromarestaurant831.com
ANIMAL APPETITE
If there’s a better place for literature and dinner than Bad Animal, I’ve yet to find it. Bad Animal is the downtown S.C. bookstore that welcomes in purveyors for extended residencies that often lead to more good things. Former resident Katherine Stern, for instance, is working on debuting The Midway in the former Oyunaa’s Mongolian Cuisine next to the Rio Theatre on Soquel Avenue. Meanwhile, Hanloh Thai holds it down at the bookstore Wednesday-Sunday (which also doubles as a natural wine bar), doing inspired Thai like grilled oyster mushroom salads, lemongrass-chili black cod and claypot pork belly confit.
LAST CALL Food news nibbles, served fast: At Sunset Magazine International Spirits Competition, Venus Spirits took home Double Gold, Best of Class and Best Other Agave Spirit for its El Ladrón California “mezcal”…Big Sur Foragers Festival brings back the Fungus Face-Off on Jan. 20.
bigsurforagersfestival.org…
November is Native American Heritage Month. One awesome way to honor it is with a Nov. 18 forum at the Resource Center for Nonviolence with leaders from The Amah Mutsun Tribal Band sharing perspective on reclaiming historical narratives, with lunch provided by chef Joseph Schulz of India Joze and Friends of Juristac.
The release last week of the Beatles’ last song, “Now and Then,” inspired the lifestyle platform The Fresh Toast, which covers pot culture, to review the Fab Four’s relationship with weed.
As the site notes, it always was a pretty close relationship, starting the day in 1964 when Bob Dylan turned the lads on in a room at the Hotel Delmonico in New York City—a story that seems almost too perfect, but is by all accounts true—and continuing on through the decades.
But one thing The Fresh Toast missed was perhaps the weirdest song in the Beatles’ entire repertoire, which is loaded with weird songs: Paul McCartney’s 1966 “Got To Get You Into My Life.” Many people don’t realize this, but the song isn’t about a girl—or, you know, a woman. It’s a love song dedicated to… pot.
It’s no wonder that nearly everybody assumed Paul was singing about a love interest, given lines like “Ooooh, you were meant to be near me” and “Say we’ll be together every day.”
But no, it was definitely about weed, as Paul has confirmed several times. “It’s actually an ode to pot,” he toldRolling Stone, “like someone else might write an ode to chocolate or a good claret.”
Sure. People are always writing odes to chocolate. And did you know that Taylor Swift’s “Lavender Haze” is actually about a good claret? Not really.
Knowing the truth about the song puts its weirdness into stark relief. The first verse starts in a way that seems as if it could easily be a song about mind-altering substances. But by the end of that verse, the narrator is… in love.
“I was alone, I took a ride
I didn’t know what I would find there
Another road where maybe I
Could see another kind of mind there
Ooh, then I suddenly see you
Ooh, did I tell you I need you
Every single day of my life?”
The yikes continue in the second verse, where Paul applauds cannabis for not being a liar, and tells cannabis, “I just want to hold you.”
OK.
It makes total sense that the song, released just a year or so into what would be McCartney’s lifelong love affair with weed, was released on the 1966 album, Revolver. The preceding album, Rubber Soul, is often cited as marking the group’s transition away from its mop-top, Fab Four persona, though it still contained some Fab-ish elements. Revolver could be seen as the real beginning of the group’s creative flowering.
The idea that weed enhances creativity is hotly debated. As with so many of the effects of pot, it most likely varies wildly from person to person, from strain to strain and from session to session. But assessing whether pot made the Beatles more creative might be the wrong way to look at it. Often, people become more creative at about the same time they decide to open their minds to new experiences and perhaps try weed or LSD, which the Beatles were also experimenting with at this time. Would John Lennon have written “I Am The Walrus” if he’d never ingested such substances? Maybe not, but it’s certainly conceivable that he would have. Frank Zappa wrote “Freak Out” when he was perfectly straight, after all.
“Got to Get You Into My Life” is odd enough, but incredibly, there is another, somewhat similar song that might be even weirder, in that it addresses weed almost as a god. Ozzy Osbourne wrote “Sweet Leaf,” and his band Black Sabbath recorded it, in 1971. “You introduced me to my mind,” Ozzy tells a joint or a bong load or something. He continues:
“My life was empty, forever on a down
Until you took me, showed me around
My life is free now, my life is clear
I love you sweet leaf, though you can’t hear”
At least he knows the weed isn’t actually listening to him. Or anyway, he did at that point. These days, it’s easy to imagine him engaged in a deep conversation with his backyard ficus plant.
Just like his name implies, Bravo the Bagchaser is out to get that green: money, cannabis and everything in between. Prior to 2020, this 22-year-old was already making a name for himself in his home city of Los Angeles. However, he blew up during the pandemic with his Born 2 Win record. Today, he has nearly half a million followers on Spotify, and his videos have millions of views. Joining him on tour is fellow Angeleno Rucci, who The Fader called “the biggest Inglewood rapper since Mack 10.” Both artists rap about the harsh realities of growing up on the streets and how they continue to evolve on different levels, both musically and in their lives. MAT WEIR
A potent mix of musical styles – jazz, rockabilly, folk, flamenco, reggae, country, and cumbia – has given Mexico-based Jenny and the Mexicats a uniquely eclectic sound. The band began in Madrid in June 2008 when Mexican double bassist Icho and English vocalist-trumpeter Jenny Ball started making music under the name Pachucos y la Princesa. The duo added flamenco guitarist-turned-rocker Pantera and Spanish Cajon player David Gonzalez Bernardos. They recorded their eponymous first album in the summer of 2011 in Madrid and moved to Mexico City in 2012, where their debut disc achieved gold record status. DAN EMERSON
On the spectrum of musical experiences, on one end is playing an NPR Tiny Desk Concert, and pretty far on the other side is playing in a punk band that opens for the Sex Pistols. Alejandro Escovedo, however, lives at every notch on that spectrum. His music is jammy, upbeat, gritty and fun. He sings in English and Spanish, sounding like a blend between the Boss and each member of the Traveling Wilburys, with Elvis Costello sprinkled on top (don’t ask how he does it; it’s unfathomable and impressive). While his influences are obvious, his sound is all his own. JESSICA IRISH
Founded in 2003, Son of the Velvet Rat is the brainchild of Austrian couple Georg Altziebler and Heiki Binder. Often described as “noir folk,” their sound is inspired by an eclectic mix of artists like late American country singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt, French poet Georges Brassens and garage punk underdogs Dead Moon. Now in their second decade as a band, Son of the Velvet Rat has recorded an impressive 11 albums and 5 Eps, earning many acknowledgments such as Altziebler being named the best Austrian singer/songwriter ever in 2012 by one of Austria’s largest papers, Kurier. Binder and Altziebler jumped the pond in 2016 and moved to the desert sanctuary that is Joshua Tree, which was Van Zandt’s favorite spot as well. MW
New Jersey band Public Serpents gives a loud and clear lesson on crack rock steady. Choking Victim coined the phrase in the ’90s, referring to a brutal combination of ska, punk, and death metal. Drummer and bandleader Skwert (who played in Choking Victim) launched the project in 2008 with the debut album Feeding the Fortune 5000. They got back to it recently with the release of their second full-length, “The Bully Puppet”, to heaps of praise this past March. For crusty vocals, anti-cop sensibilities, and trombones mixed with distorted guitars, see this show. ADDIE MAHMASSANI
At only 31, singer-songwriter Joy Oladokun has already generated a rich and expansive body of work in four folk and roots-rock albums. Her latest, “Proof of Life,” explores her identity as the daughter of Nigerian immigrants and as a queer Black woman, making a case for the importance of simple joys as evidence of one’s existence. “I hope these are helpful anthems,” she says. “I started making music because I wasn’t hearing from the ‘everyday human being’ on the radio. I hope this resonates with anybody who feels normal.” AM
If the name Roddy Radiation doesn’t ring a bell, certainly the Specials will. In 1979-1981, the 2 Tone ska band became one of the most influential bands in the British rude boy and punk scene. Radiation, the band’s guitar player, wrote some of their biggest hits like “Concrete Jungle,” “Rat Race” and “Hey Little Rich Girl.” Roddy’s current group, the Skabilly Rebels, has toured the world for the past 20 years with their mix of ska and rockabilly and a sound that is pure rock ‘n’ roll. Opening the show are Santa Cruz’s favorite Northern Soul mods, the Inciters. MW
INFO: 7pm, Rio Theatre, 1205 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. $25/adv, $35/door. 423-8209.
SUNDAY
INDIE ROCK
BUILT TO SPILL
For those who once knew—or have always known—that cool lives at the intersection of indie and rock, where concertgoers shimmied the top halves of their bodies to the beat and called it dancing, Built to Spill is here to serve. This is NOT to say that the band is a relic of the past; their latest album, “When the Wind Forgets Your Name,” dropped last year, and it’s got jams that belong on the best playlists, next to early songs from the Shins and Rogue Wave. Nostalgia? Yes. But also keeping up with what will always be good. JI
A low murmur fills the room as people find their seats. The lights dim and the stage becomes illuminated. Eleven members dressed in matching suits and dresses saunter to the mics. In a matter of seconds the silence is cut by an eruption of horns, tambourines, and a grooving rhythm section. The singer’s voice sails over the melody as the backup singers dance in sequence.
No, this isn’t the 1960s’ or 1970’s. It’s The Inciters, Santa Cruz’s premier Northern Soul act. Fresh off a European tour, the synchronized and stylish band returns to the Rio Theatre on November 18 on the heels of their new album, Bring Back The Weekend.
“We’re definitely a live band and we wanted to capture that energy,” explains founding member and trumpeter, Rick Kendrick.
“And everybody that’s listened to it has said we succeeded.”
Ok, it’s almost a given fact that every musician will say their latest work is their best. However, Kendrick and crew absolutely nailed their live act on this album, giving it a much fuller sound than previous recordings. The album defies anyone listening not to dance, wiggle their booty in their seat or–at the very least–tap a foot along to the rhythm.
Tracks like “Waiting By the Phone,” “Boot N Soul,” and “We Gave It a Good Run” sound as if the listener is the twelfth member in the room. It all kicks off with the album’s title track, which starts softly but grows to a crescendo giving the audience a taste of what’s to come in the following half hour.
“‘Bring Back the Weekend’ really gets me,” Kendrick says.
Originally founded in 1995, The Inciters of 28 years ago was a completely different band than today, literally. While they did play Northern Soul–a style of music and culture that grew out of 1970’s England heavily influenced by lesser known artists that didn’t get the same airplay as those on Motown or Stax records–Kendrick is the only remaining original member. That version broke up after a decade but in 2009 Kendrick decided to bring the group out of retirement.
Since their return The Inciters have only put out one album, 2013’s Soul Clap. But not for a lack of trying.
“We were going to [record] but then Covid happened,” he says. “So that threw it back a couple years but we decided ‘No more, we’re going to record.’”
The latest album also marks their first on Pirates Press Records–the much hailed punk label based out of Emeryville. Kendrick has known the label’s owner, Eric “Skippy” Mueller, for years and unsuccessfully tried to get the label to sign the band. At that time Pirates Press was strictly a punk label but for the last four years they have expanded their galley to include the soul and reggae sounds of The Aggrolites and rocksteady ska acts like The Slackers. With the new album finished, Kendrick knew the time had come and gave a copy to a friend to give to Mueller.
“And the next day I heard back and [Mueller] said, ‘You did it! I’ll take it,” laughs Kendrick.
Surprisingly, The Inciters won’t be the headlining band at their own record release party.
That’s because they’re opening for Roddy Radiation Byers and The Skabilly Rebels. Just as the name implies, The Skabilly Rebels combine all the flavors of ska with the straightforward sensibilities of rockabilly for some decisively catchy tunes.
Then again, Byers knows a thing or two about writing infectious earworms.
Afterall, as a founding member of the British two-tone ska band, The Specials, Byers left a huge impact on the punk, ska and mod scenes on both sides of the pond.
For those not familiar, two-tone is considered the second wave of ska that started around the late 1970s in England. Taking its name from the Two-Tone Records label founded by fellow Specials’ member, Jerry Dammers, it combined the punk rock attitude with Jamaican ska, rocksteady, reggae and even some New Wave as well. But what set it apart was its vehement anti-racist foundation.
“In the UK the Right Wing was on the rise again with The National Front and the British Movement,” Byers writes GT in an email.
“Two Tone was a way of offering the youth an alternative. Also the Rock against Racism Movement were organizing shows and festivals.”
He wrote some of The Specials’ most famous hits like “Concrete Jungle,” “Rat Race” and “Hey, Little Rich Girl.” The latter of which gained new life for modern audiences when the late Amy Winehouse covered it on her critically acclaimed and five time Grammy Award winning album, Back To Black.
“Personally, The Specials are my desert island band,” Kendrick admits. “If I had to listen to one record for the rest of my life it would be that first Specials album.”
Doubling-down on that claim, The Inciters covered The Specials’ seminal tune, “A Message To You Rudy” on their recent European tour. The proverbial cherry on top–or in this case pork pie hat–is Byers will join them on stage for that song at the show (and maybe, hopefully, one or two more, mod gods willing).
Along with the two acclaimed acts, ticket holders will also have the option to stick around after for a special presentation. While we can’t say what it is here, anyone with even the slightest idea of how Google works will be able to find it.
It looks to be one unforgettable night for an affordable ticket price. All you need to do is pick it up, pick it up, pick it up.
The Inciters w/Roddy Radiation & The Skabilly Rebels, Saturday, Rio Theatre
ARIES (March 21-April 19): In accordance with astrological omens, I would love you to experiment with blending the sacred and mundane. Bring your deep self into the daily routine and imbue ordinary rhythms with tender care. Here are a few fun rituals to get you in the groove: 1. Say prayers or chant ecstatic poems while you’re shopping. 2. Build a shrine in a parking lot. 3. Stir up an inspired epiphany while doing housework. 4. If you find yourself in a confusing or awkward situation, dance like a holy person to conjure a blessing. 5. Commune with the Divine Creator during crazy-good sex.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): I’ve met many people who feel their love lives are jinxed. Often, they believe this nonsense because a creepy fortune-teller declared they will forever be denied a satisfying intimate relationship. I hate that! Any astrologer who delivers such crippling bewitchments should be outed as a charlatan. The good news for you, Taurus, is that you are in a grace period for all matters regarding romance, intimacy, and togetherness. If you have ever worried there is a curse, obstruction, or bad habit inhibiting your love life, the coming weeks will be a favorable time to free yourself from it.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Gemini comedian Drew Carey says, “If I didn’t run from my fears, I wouldn’t get any exercise at all.” Let’s discuss his approach in relation to you. After analyzing the astrological omens, I believe that as 2023 draws to a close and 2024 unfolds, you will feel less and less motivated to run from your fears. In part, that’s because you will face them with more courage and poise; they won’t have the same power over you. In addition, I suspect your fears will become objectively less scary. They will be less likely to come to pass. More and more, your fine mind will see how they trick you into imagining they’re more threatening than they truly are. Congratulations in advance, Gemini!
CANCER (June 21-July 22): I would love to see you intensify your devotion to your masterpiece—however you understand “masterpiece.” It could be a work of art or an innovation in your job or business. It could be a new baby, an adopted pet, a redefinition of what family means, or an invigorated community. Might even be a beautiful alliance or enhanced connection with the divine or a refinement of the best gift you give the world. Life will conspire to help you in unexpected ways during the coming months if you rededicate yourself to this treasure.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Dear Sun, our one and only star: We love you and appreciate you! It’s amazing that you consume five million tons of yourself every second to generate the colossal energy you send in our direction. Thank you, beloved Sun! Is it OK with you if we think of you as a god? You are a superpowered genius of nourishment! And by the way, do you know who adores you the best? I’ll tell you: the Leo people here on Earth. They comprehend your grandeur and majesty better than anyone else. Would you consider giving them extra rewards in the coming weeks? They need and deserve a massive delivery of your bounty. Please fill them up with even more charisma, personal magnetism, vitality, and generosity of spirit than usual. I promise they will use it wisely.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Virgo musician and actor Shirley Manson has a message for you. She testifies, “I say embrace the total geek in yourself and just enjoy it. Life is too short to be cool.” This will be especially helpful and inspirational counsel for you in the coming months, dear Virgo. The wish to appear chic or trendy or hip should be so far down on your list of priorities that it drops off the list entirely. Your assignment is to be passionately devoted to your deepest truths, unique desires, and imaginative experiments.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): If you’re given a choice to advocate for either a dull, mediocre truth or a beautiful, invigorating truth, give your love to the latter. If you wonder whether you should ask a polite question that engenders harmony or a provocative question that pries loose agendas that have been half hidden, opt for the latter. If you feel nostalgic about an old tradition that stirs up little passion or fresh insight, let it go. Instead, dream up a new tradition that moves you emotionally and excites your mind.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Icelandic singer Bjork is a triple Scorpio, with sun, moon, and ascendant in your sign. Neptune is there, too, giving her even more Scorpionic intensity. It’s not surprising that she describes her daily practice like this: “I have to re-create the universe every morning when I wake up and kill it in the evening.” In another quote, she places greater emphasis on the rebirth: “To wake up in the morning and actually find the day exciting is the biggest victory you can have.” In accordance with current astrological omens, I invite you to exalt and celebrate the post-resurrection aspects of your life’s work. It’s time for you to shine and sparkle and shimmer and bedazzle.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): At the risk of sounding melodramatic, I prophesy that what has been lost will be found. What was last may not catapult all the way into the first spot, but it might—and will at least be close to the first. Here are more zingers for you as you move into the climactic stages of the Season of Turnarounds and Switcheroos: A difficult test will boost your intelligence; a rut will be disrupted, freeing you to find a smooth new groove; an unsettling twist will ultimately bring you delightful support. To get the best out of the upcoming challenges, Sagittarius, welcome them as opportunities to expand your understanding of how the world works.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Many cultures throughout history have staged rites of passage to mark the transformation from childhood to puberty. In ancient Greece, for example, kids formally relinquished their toys, symbolizing the intention to move into a new phase of their destinies. In accordance with astrological omens, I want to tweak this custom for your use, Capricorn. I propose that you embrace your second childhood. Fantasize about how you might refurbish your innocence, curiosity, playfulness, and spontaneous joy. Then select an object that embodies a burdensome or unpleasant aspect of adulthood. Discard it. Find an object that signifies the fresh young spirit you’d like to awaken within you. Kiss it, sing to it, and keep it in a prominent place.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): For advice about money, I talk with a banker who sometimes analyzes financial trends using Tarot cards. To keep abreast of politics on the ground level, I consult with a courtesan who has a Ph.D. in political science and cultivates intimate relations with governmental leaders. For guidance about rowdy ethics and etiquette, I seek input from an activist singer in an all-women punk band. How about you, Aquarius? Now is a favorable time to take an inventory of your posse of teachers, helpers, and counselors. Make sure it’s serving you well and providing maximum inspiration and support. Hot tip: It may be time to add a new facilitator or two to your entourage.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Now and then, you glide through a phase I describe as Freedom from Cosmic Compulsion. During these grace periods, fate has a reduced role in shaping your destiny. Your past doesn’t have its typical power to limit you or entrance you. According to my astrological analysis, you are now enjoying such a chapter. That’s why I predict that an infertile status quo will soon crumble. A boring, inflexible rule will become irrelevant. These and other breakthrough developments will give you extra leeway to innovate and invent. You will have a big, bright emptiness to work and play around in. Homework: My new book Astrology Is Real is available: https://bit.ly/AstrologyReal
November 15-December 31 | Donate @ SantaCruzGives.org
Santa Cruz Gives is funded by the generosity of Good Times, Volunteer Center of Santa Cruz County, Community Foundation Santa Cruz County, Applewood Foundation, Joe Collins, Driscoll’s, Inc., Comcast, Monterey Peninsula Foundation, Santa Cruz County Bank, Wynn Capital Management, The Pajaronian, and Press Banner.
Thanks to you, our generous community, Santa Cruz Gives has become the largest countywide fundraising campaign in support of local nonprofit organizations, whose work benefits us all. Learn about and donate to one or more of this year’s 65 participating organizations at SantaCruzGives.org.
AMAH MUTSUN LAND TRUST
HEALING MOTHER EARTH: We are the only Tribe in Santa Cruz County that provides Indigenous leadership in conservation through research and education, conservation and restoration, and on-the-ground Indigenous stewardship. The Amah Mutsun Tribal Band founded the land trust and has programs in native plant restoration, ocean and coastal stewardship, cultural burning, and sacred lands protection. We train and employ young adult Tribal members to implement our work.
ARTS COUNCIL SANTA CRUZ COUNTY
ART IS ESSENTIAL: If you value a strong arts ecosystem and living in a culturally rich community that provides inspiration, connection, and joy to so many, invest in the Arts Council. We’re engaging the next generation of creative thinkers and problem solvers — kids who will grow up to develop solutions to our world’s pressing issues and be prepared for a labor force that increasingly requires right-brain thinking. With your contribution, 18,000 youth will learn how to dream big, speak up, take positive risks, and turn mistakes into opportunities through arts education.
ASSOCIATION OF FAITH COMMUNITIES
CLEAN CLOTHES FOR OUR UNHOUSED NEIGHBORS: AFC is a network of 30+ faith communities that helps to eliminate homelessness supported by hundreds of volunteers. Each of our 150+ program participants receives a place to sleep, one-on-one support, and housing navigation to end homelessness. 50% move to permanent housing. We provide 1,500+ showers annually with our mobile shower. We now seek to provide laundry services. Accessing laundry is challenging for many unhoused individuals and affects hygiene, self-esteem, employment and stigmatization.
BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF SANTA CRUZ COUNTY
IT TAKES LITTLE TO BE BIG: Our project is driven by the belief that mentorship is a powerful catalyst for transformation that has a lasting effect on the lives of young people. Mentorship thrives on compassion, patience, and presence. We invite individuals from all walks of life to become mentors, giving their time, advice, and listening ear to ensure that every child has access to what—and who—they need to pave the way for a substantial and brighter future. Big Brothers Big Sisters of SCC has served at no cost to 8,500 at-risk youth through our outcomes-based, proven model of mentoring services since 1982.
BIRCHBARK FOUNDATION
SAVE A PET: When a pet has a health crisis with a good prognosis, the unique love of a family animal must never be lost simply due to cost. BirchBark provides financial assistance to vulnerable families faced with unaffordable, urgent veterinary expenses. We estimate that 30,000 pets in Santa Cruz County are owned by seniors, low-income families, or marginalized populations. The total population of pets is 273,000 with an estimated 60,000 dogs, and likely as many cats. We also offer education and pet loss counseling.
BLACK SURF SANTA CRUZ
BLACK SURF SANTA CRUZ YOUTH COHORT: In a community centered around coastal culture, residents and visitors benefit from our efforts to dismantle barriers that limit participation in coastal recreation, whether participants have experienced a lack of safety, an unwelcoming environment, or lack of knowledge and skills to feel at home. We will launch our first cohorts for Black youth and other youth of color throughout Santa Cruz County. This project will build community through events such as trips to the beach, skill building by learning about water safety (how to protect head and neck, read tide charts, etc.), leadership building through engagement in advocacy and access issues, environment, environmental justice and recreation.
BOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF SANTA CRUZ COUNTY
POWER HOUR AND SMART MOVES PROGRAMS: We provide safe places filled with opportunity, enriching programs, and caring adults who cultivate relationships to ensure that all children feel connected, supported and valued, especially those who need us most. This program complements what youth learn at school via daily sessions in which every member at each club receives homework help, tutoring, or participates in self-directed learning. We support social-emotional learning and help youth strengthen healthy decision-making, boost self-esteem, avoid risky behaviors, develop assertiveness, analyze media and peer influence, and build resilience.
CASA OF SANTA CRUZ COUNTY
EXPANDINGADVOCACY FOR VULNERABLEYOUTH: CASA has served our county’s foster youth and now, after a successful pilot program, we have expanded to match volunteer-mentors (Advocates) one-to-one with youth on probation for minor offenses. Most of these kids have experienced the same traumas as their peers in foster care, many growing up without any supportive services to help them heal. As teens, untreated mental health needs may prompt them to act out, starting them on an uncertain path of involvement with the justice system. Without support these kids can get lost in the vicious cycle of incarceration, homelessness, addiction, and crime.
CENTERFOR FARMWORKER FAMILIES
PROJECT SAFE HAVEN—STABILIZING FARMWORKERS WHO HAVE CHRONIC ILLNESS: Low wages make it difficult for most farm workers to save for emergencies. An illness can be a crippling burden that results in an inability to pay for rent and food. This project would allow farmworkers to care for their families without fear of eviction and hunger. They often do not seek resources due to a lack of documentation or knowledge, yet due to physically demanding jobs, stress and food insecurity, have a high rate of chronic disease. We promote financial, physical, emotional, and mental health for farmworkers and their families.
COMMUNITY BRIDGES
SENIORS STAY ACTIVE AT ELDERDAY: Community Bridges is the leading nonprofit agency addressing poverty in our county. Our 11 programs deliver essential services, provide equitable access to resources and advocate for health and dignity across every stage of life. In 2021, we served 20,000 impoverished community members, where 80% earned incomes below 100% Federal Poverty Level ($13,590 per household annually). Our new Elderday Adult Day Health Care center serves a growing population of low-income older adults, allowing them to live in their homes and avoid costly institutional care. Physical, mental, and social activities improve health outcomes for older adults managing complex medical conditions.
COMMUNITY HEALTH TRUST OF PAJARO VALLEY
MUZZIO PARK COMMUNITY GARDEN: We are working closely with Watsonville to build community gardens on vacant City property. In 2024, CHT plans to build a new garden at Muzzio Park, an area with high rates of poverty and food insecurity. It’s 1.12 acres near the Pajaro River levee and Villa La Posada Apartments, a 42-unit, low-income complex. The garden will feature 29 planter boxes, compost bins, rainwater catcher barrels, picnic tables, a tool shed and fencing. It will provide communal space for a low-income community to grow produce, thus increasing access to nutritious food, physical activity, and well-being.
COUNTY PARK FRIENDS
TREASURE COVE AT JADE STREET PARK: We have two lines of work. Places—funds raised, then donated to County Parks; and People—educational programs, promotion of access and equity. You can help build a place where children of all abilities can play together! The playground is designed to foster compassion, acceptance, connectedness and joy. One out of every 10 children and two out of every 10 individuals have a disability. Every child, parent, grandparent and caregiver deserves to have a place to play with friends and families that accommodates their needs. The playground will have a marine and shoreline theme with inclusive equipment.
COASTAL WATERSHED COUNCIL
HEALTHY RIVER, HEALTHY SANTA CRUZ: We envision the Santa Cruz Riverwalk becoming our Central Park. It’s the only large open space in the heart of the city, a thoroughfare from the boardwalk to downtown for residents and visitors, and a backyard for many families and children who benefit from a safe, healthy recreation area. CWC volunteers remove trash, pull invasive weeds, and plant native plants to improve the beauty and health of the river ecosystem. The San Lorenzo River is our city’s main source of drinking water, home to threatened and endangered wildlife and the cornerstone of our city’s founding. It needs us, and we need it.
DIENTES COMMUNITY DENTAL CARE
DIGNITY THROUGH DENTISTRY — AFFORDABLE CARE FOR ALL: It’s unfortunate that wealth often dictates health. Dientes provides vital dental care for families with low incomes so kids can focus on school instead of a toothache, adults can make good first impressions with a healthy smile, and seniors can comfortably eat nutritious foods. Not only does lack of access to care impact physical health, but your smile affects self-esteem and confidence. Our program offers subsidized, affordable sliding scale fees and free care to your neighbors who need it most.
DIGITAL NEST
BIZZNEST PAID INTERNSHIP PROGRAM: Digital NEST gives Latinx youth in Watsonville free access to technology, workforce training, and paid internships so they can build a career that will transform their lives. This year, we’re expanding our yearlong internship program to provide up to 40 young adults with real-world, paid experience in web and graphic design, web development, and/or video production internships. Staff and professionals will mentor these budding tech professionals as they work with local organizations to produce video content, build and code websites and web apps, create visually engaging graphic design products, and meet deadlines.
DIVERSITY CENTER OF SANTA CRUZ COUNTY
CAMPOUT PROGRAM FOR LGBTQ+ TEENS: Our annual CampOUT youth program provides safe, affirming spaces where LGBTQ+ people can gather without judgment. We bring together LGBTQ+ teens for activities such as hiking, crafting, dancing, and facilitated discussion that creates interpersonal connections and grows the sense of belonging. In a historic redwood grove, our campsite acts as a haven where participants can express themselves and connect with nature, free from damaging stigmas or stereotypes. LGBTQ+ identified youth are much more likely to suffer from psychological, emotional and physical health issues than straight youth. Our services, activities, and spaces enhance our community’s well-being.
DOMINICAN HOSPITAL FOUNDATION
WELLNESS ON WHEELS—MOBILE WELLNESS CLINIC:
Our Mobile Wellness Clinic targets the underserved and uninsured population countywide. It is provided by a multidisciplinary team of nurse practitioners, allied health professionals, and clinic coordinators Monday-Friday at no cost to patients. Mobile units help reduce emergency room visits and prevent chronic conditions from advancing to the degree that patients need more intensive and higher-cost care, often in a hospital setting. With your support, we will expand services to enhance the level of care provided to Santa Cruz County outside the hospital’s walls.
ECOLOGY ACTION
RESILIENT SANTA CRUZ COUNTY: With many residents and groups now taking action on climate, Ecology Action’s expertise and 50 years of environmental work led us to create a one-stop-shop online platform and leadership training so everyone can prepare for climate change impacts and take household actions. This project provides locally specific resources and incentives for 120+ climate learning topics and actions so homeowners and renters can easily reduce emissions, save money, and prepare for climate change impacts. Nearly 40% of US GHG emissions come from five household sources: electricity, home heating, transportation, food choices, and our waste stream.
ENCOMPASS COMMUNITY SERVICES – SI SE PUEDE
HEALING GARDEN: Youth who are homeless, were in foster care or victims of crime flock to the Thrive Hive, Encompass’s resource center for ages 15-24, for meals, showers, counseling, life skills, and therapeutic yoga. We have an outdoor area with chairs but our young people would love a garden to grow vegetables and herbs for their cooking class (life skills). With garden boxes, furniture, seeds and soil, this garden would be beneficial to experience the healing tonic of nature; reap the benefits of nature; learn to seed, maintain and harvest food; and a calming environment for youth.
ESPERANZA COMMUNITY FARMS
RADICAL HOSPITALITY ON THE COMMUNITY FARM:We promote fresh, local organic produce and economic justice by supplying sustainably-farmed produce for families and partners (schools and nonprofits), especially traditionally excluded people. We’d like to host approximately 250 high school youth via field trips to the farm and 150 families annually. We welcome visitors from different walks of life to dialogue, explore and build relationships around the common interest of organic farming, stewardship of the land and good food for all! The gathering space for 30 will welcome elders and littles, with tables & benches, umbrellas, seating for children, educational toys and sitting blankets.
FARM DISCOVERY AT LIVE EARTH
NUTRITION SECURITY & FARMING EDUCATION PROGRAM: No one should have to decide between buying groceries or paying rent, between food and medicine, and no parent should skip a meal for their children to eat. We grow and distribute organic produce to residents experiencing nutrition insecurity—through partnerships with other local nonprofits. We will focus on areas intensified by floods, the ongoing health crises, and our success tapping into existing sources of organic produce and distribution networks. In 2023 we harvested and distributed 1,300+ pounds from our fields and gleaned 37,000 pounds. About 25 lbs feeds a family of four for one week (our cost: $1.30/lb). We will increase our distribution with your support.
“FOOD, WHAT?!”
FRESH PRODUCE FARM STAND: To address food insecurity in schools, FoodWhat has partnered with PV’s school district to run an affordable farm stand. It will distribute 2,000+ lbs of fresh, organic food that FoodWhat youth helped to grow for students and their families. This project is designed to uplift youth as leaders who cultivate skills, knowledge, and power and use them to create a healthy food access point that is by, for, and of their own community. We have a rigorous method of ascertaining youth needs and seek to partner with those who suffer disproportionately from problems associated with marginalization: racism, classism, poverty, educational barriers, extractive economics, trauma, housing/food insecurity and compromised health. On our two abundant farms in Watsonville and Santa Cruz, youth work together.
FRIENDS OF THE SANTA CRUZ PUBLIC LIBRARIES
JAIL LIBRARY OUTREACH: We support the Public Libraries through fundraising, volunteer services, and advocacy, with a goal to create stronger neighborhoods and cultural enrichment through library programs. This extends to all County residents, including those currently incarcerated, 70% of whom read at 3rd grade level or below, and their families. Literacy, personal development, family connections, and community engagement are key to support inmates and their families now, and reduce recidivism in the future. The Boundless Minds program will increase access to books, materials, and programming for the approximately 450 people in the County jail system.
GIRLS INC.
GIRLS INC.LEADERSHIP MENTORING PROGRAM: We serve 1,300 girls in 21 schools with research-based programs and trained professionals (often older teens) who mentor them in a safe environment. We request your support to provide leadership mentoring for sophomores and juniors in high school to encourage post-secondary education, planning for careers, valuing themselves, and developing an action plan to achieve their goals. Participants in this program will learn life skills to help them make good choices now and in the future. Our goal is 100 girls who will meet twice a month during the school year and participate in 14 interactive sessions.
GREY BEARS
SENIORS NIGHT OUT SERIES: Grey Bears proposes to rebuild the community after Covid hibernation to spur long-term positive impact through social connection. 12 monthly events in 2024 will build on our successful speed dating events last year to create engaging social interaction opportunities for our County’s diverse, growing senior population. We hope to pilot event concepts to be implemented in perpetuity. The series focuses on maintaining healthy bodies and minds, with topics such as current events, health, the arts, wellness activities, food, gardening, and books. Each will feature a light meal, a bag of produce, staples and goodies for attendees to take home.
GROWER-SHIPPER FOUNDATION
AG AGAINST HUNGER GLEANING: We hope to expand and engage more volunteers to go to harvesting locations to “glean” excess produce left behind in the fields that otherwise might go to waste, and deliver it to local food banks. Funding will help us reach 350 volunteers, provide up to 800 cartons of fresh produce, host 4 gleaning events in 2024 and reimburse transportation costs to food banks if needed. We would appreciate your support!
HEALTH PROJECTS CENTER
HPC’s Commitment to Vulnerable Communities: Our Big Idea seeks to transform the lives of vulnerable individuals at risk of prematurely being put in nursing homes, particularly those with low incomes. It costs much less for elders to live in their current homes. Building on past success, we aim to double the number we support in care management. Last year we aided 2,529 individuals. Our approach includes assessing recipients’ needs, such as assistance with daily tasks like getting dressed, using the toilet, and other ”Activities of Daily Living.“ We also offer assistance with housing, transportation, and medical appointments.
HOMELESS GARDEN PROJECT
GROWING FOR SANTA CRUZ:
Thanks to partnerships with 15 local nonprofits and donors from Santa Cruz Gives, in 2022 we grew our program to provide organic produce at no cost to individuals battling food insecurity from 30 weekly boxes of nutritious produce to 45, grown by trainees in HGP’s transitional employment program. In 2023 we saw the program grow again, doubling the previous 30 shares to 60 in 2023. The produce is grown from seed to harvest by individuals experiencing homelessness, raising self-esteem and demonstrating that their actions can positively impact our community. Please visit our online store
HOSPICE OF SANTA CRUZ COUNTY
KNOW US BEFORE YOU NEED US:
As the only nonprofit hospice care in Santa Cruz County, we put people over profits so that every patient and their family receives high-quality care that reflects their goals, values, and preferences. To meet the need for quality end-of-life care, we became a pioneer in the hospice movement and are regarded as the most experienced, innovative, and largest nonprofit hospice and palliative care program in the region. Many who need our services are challenged by language, fear of the medical system, lack of information, or cultural barriers. Please support our bilingual education and outreach programs to increase access to care.
HOUSING MATTERS
RENOVATION OF THE NOOK: People experiencing homelessness have few places to charge their devices, use wifi, meet with case managers, or just rest, and even fewer choices that are dry, safe, and don’t require a purchase. When libraries closed during the pandemic, we created The Nook on our campus to meet this need. Now that we communicate mainly through electronic devices, folks need to correspond with landlords, case managers, housing navigators, and other service providers. The Nook is more popular than ever, with 11,339 visits in the past 12 months from 1,131 unique individuals. Our expansion will accommodate more individuals.
JACOB’S HEART
A NEW HYBRIDVEHICLE: When a child is diagnosed with cancer, one thing is paramount: getting them to life-saving treatments, and shockingly, 80% of our families rely on our transportation. A new hybrid vehicle will enable transportation for patients, who are young, and many are uninsured or live below the poverty line. Pediatric treatment is primarily available in the Bay Area, placing a burden on local parents who already face financial and emotional crises. The demand for rides for children with cancer has more than doubled, from 507 rides in 2021 to 1,248 in 2022.
KSQD 90.7FM
Squidcasting: Community Stories from Santa Cruz County
KSQD invites proposals for short features and personal commentaries or editorials so community members can write, record and submit their stories for potential airplay. KSQD will provide training in interviewing, writing and hosting for new and existing volunteers.
Donors may also contact us about supporting the creation of a recording studio space in Watsonville for interviews/podcasting so residents can easily access the airwaves near their homes to create news and cultural programming in Spanish and English. We celebrate our region through news, arts, and culturally diverse programming.
LIFE LAB
LLEGE INTERNS GROWING IN THE PAJARO VALLEY: At our two farm site classrooms in Watsonville and Santa Cruz, we promote learning through field trips, summer programs, and teacher workshops. Children love to learn from nature and from inspiring young adults. That’s why Life Lab is expanding internships to the Pajaro Valley. College students will teach children in outdoor garden classrooms at elementary schools and farm sites. Together they will explore the life sciences, beauty of nature, and growing and preparing nutritious foods. Life Lab provides classes for 5,000 elementary students and has trained thousands of college students to be educators. We’ll train 85-100 in 2024.
LIVE LIKE COCO
BUILDING A BOOKMOBILE: We primarily promote literacy by working with 17 public schools to let every student choose a book they love. Now we will convert a step van to a beautiful mobile library by teaming with the public Watsonville Charter School of the Arts. Live Like Coco volunteers will use it as an inviting outreach and delivery vehicle during summers and weekends, while the charter school—which does not have its own library—will use it during the school year. It will allow the school to link with the district library system, and will also hold 1,000-2,000 books. !
MENTORS DRIVING CHANGE FOR BOYS, MEN AND DADS
IGNITE 100 MENTORS IN SANTA CRUZ COUNTY: One in three young people today grow up without exposure to positive mentors. Research indicates that boys in the US are more likely than girls to experience adverse outcomes such as academic failure, substance use, binge drinking, involvement in violent crime, behavioral disorders, prescription of stimulant medications, and taking their own lives. Boys are twice as likely as girls to drop out of school and four times as likely to be expelled. With your support, we will ignite 100 mentors who identify as male to guide participating boys and men in their journeys.
MOTION PACIFIC
BLACK, BROWN AND QUEER FESTIVAL 2024: BBQueer (Black, Brown and Queer) is a free, annual series of performances, collective actions, workshops and gatherings by artists from diverse backgrounds and performance practices, culminating in a multi-day fall festival. BBQueer celebrates the transformative power and embodied activism of Queer Black, Indigenous and People of Color as a response to the County’s declaration that racism is a public health crisis. Through the arts and community gatherings, we provide a home where the BIPOC queer community can feel seen, affirmed, included and safe, and guides our wider community in how to support youth and rewrite the social narrative.
PLANNED PARENTHOOD MAR MONTE
TOGETHER WE RISE. WE RESIST. WE CARE. December marks 18 months since the Dobbs decision took away our federal constitutional right to safe and legal abortion. PPMM has worked hard to deliver timely care as people seeking abortion are forced to travel hundreds or thousands of miles, endure longer wait times, and risk their health and safety. In all 34 of our health centers, patients can access kind and compassionate gender-affirming care. We are building new and expanding current health centers near airports and transportation hubs, training more abortion providers, and expanding services so we can provide care to all patients no matter what.
PAJARO VALLEY LOAVES & FISHES
SERVING HOLIDAY MEALS IN PAJARO VALLEY:Following the devastating floods, we hope to provide 650 of our Pajaro Valley and Santa Cruz County families with a special food basket for preparing a hearty meal with their loved ones during the holidays. These meal kits will include local produce, canned goods, rice, butter, whole chickens, or turkey. Meat and dairy products provide protein essential to a balanced diet and are often too expensive to access for families facing food insecurity. The reasons individuals face food insecurity are complex, and asking for resources can carry shame. We work daily to serve guests with dignity and compassion.
PAJARO VALLEY PREVENTION AND STUDENT ASSISTANCE
RENFORZANDO LAZOS FAMILIARES (STRENGTHENINGFAMILY TIES): We decided to focus on the family unit due to stress families faced during the last few years. Providers have seen disconnect, isolation, and conflicts that severed family ties. Our staff was trained in several curriculums by the National Compadres Network and has implemented these. We’d like to serve 60 families, with three 12-session cohorts in 2024. Families will start and end the session as one unit, with separate skill development for women, men, and parents in between in areas such as positive identity, self-advocacy, substance/violence prevention, leadership development.
PAJARO VALLEY SHELTER SERVICES
CABRILLO COLLEGE STUDENT HOUSING PILOT PROJECT: Our project is a pilot program between PVSS and Cabrillo College offering desperately needed low-cost transitional housing and supportive services for unhoused female students. PVSS will set aside beds, provide supportive case management, and expand housing resources while streamlining access to Cabrillo College educational opportunities for all PVSS participants. We request support for unhoused students, as education and training are the keys to successful employment and housing stability.
QUEER YOUTH TASK FORCE
TRANS TEEN PROJECT: We would like to support trans, nonbinary, and gender-expansive youth in Santa Cruz County with a website resource that educates and raises awareness among parents and the community about trans issues. We will facilitate conversations and understandings between trans teens and the wider community. Trans teens will control their narratives and share stories and experiences that are important to them. Our goals are to promote existing resources available for the trans community, make short documentary films, implement teens-led small projects, promote an activity titled “Unbox Me,” and host radio shows.
REGENERACIÓN—PAJARO VALLEY CLIMATE ACTION
CLIMATE-READY AND CLIMATE-RESPONSIVE PAJARO VALLEY:We are building a network that empowers residents to reduce fossil fuel emissions and make our region more resilient in the face of climate change. We will create jobs, improve health outcomes, increase community well-being, and address economic- and race-based disparities. While every person has felt the effects of climate change through wildfire, extreme heat, intense rainfall, or flooding, young people will live with the effects longer. Their leadership is needed to achieve environmental justice. Working in partnership with high schools, colleges and universities, Regeneración provides mentorship and leadership training for youth interested in climate-focused careers and movement building.
SANTA CRUZ CHILDREN’S MUSEUM OF DISCOVERY
LOW COST MEMBERSHIPS FOR FAMILIES WITH YOUNG CHILDREN: Every year we provide play-based science, engineering, and arts education to about 50,000 people in our community. Research finds that this type of “guided play” can lead to stronger learning and development outcomes than unstructured play, and in many cases, stronger academic gains than formal curriculum during early childhood—a critical time to learn. One-third of families need one of our income-based access programs to drop the price of admission so they can afford a joyful, educational, safe experience proven to help build healthy, happy families. $100 donated gives a family (up to six) museum access for a WHOLE year.
SANTA CRUZ MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
THE EARTH STEWARDS PROJECT: This project provides allows high school students to fulfill community service learning outdoors in nature, to connect with adults invested in their success, and to be of service. Students’ perspectives are transformed as we guide them to explore options for careers in nature and science. They learn skills that foster environmental stewardship and lifelong learning, and build relationships with regional environmental and land management organizations needing volunteers, interns, and employees. In 2023, our students served 18 locations countywide, building and maintaining trails, planting 28 species of plants, removing invasive species, removing trash from shorelines, and more.
SANTA CRUZ SHAKESPEARE
TRANSPORTATIONFUND FOR STUDENTS: Often, schools in Santa Cruz County run into transportation difficulties when planning a trip to enjoy a production at The Grove. To alleviate expense issues, SC Shakespeare provides funds for buses, allowing these schools to bring students to a professionally-produced Shakespeare or classic performance at an outdoor theater. Our goal is to ensure that every single high school student in Santa Cruz County has seen a live, professional production of a Shakespeare play by the time they graduate. We extend the season into September each year to offer student-only matinees.
SANTA CRUZ SPCA AND HUMANE SOCIETY
MORE THAN SHELTER: Across the US, animal shelters are full and struggling to provide for homeless animals, especially those that need “above-and-beyond” care. At the Santa Cruz SPCA, above-and-beyond is what we do best! We welcome needy dogs and cats, including those that might be at risk in other shelters. We never euthanize an animal due to long stays or crowding. We prioritize comfort, love, and individualized attention for each animal while we search for new families. From specialized medical treatments to behavioral training, it is the support of compassionate community members that ensures animals receive the care they deserve.
SANTA CRUZ COUNTY ANIMAL SHELTER FOUNDATION
SUPPORT ACCESS TO VET CARE: The purpose of the all-volunteer SCC Animal Shelter Foundation is to raise charitable dollars in support of the SCC Animal Shelter—the county’s sole “open-admission” facility, which means NO animal is ever turned away! We improve access to veterinary care for the neediest animals in our County. This desperately needed care (including improved access to spay/neuter services through our Planned PetHood program) increases quality of health, reduces homelessness and overpopulation, and saves lives. Our work is community-based, carried out by field officers, shelter staff, volunteers, business partners, and the grateful communities we serve.
SANTA CRUZ WELCOMING NETWORK
LEGAL FUND FOR ASYLUM SEEKERS: Asylum seekers and their families face deportation if they do not win their cases in immigration court. Due to a shortage of lawyers and exorbitant legal costs, most do not have lawyers. We work to make legal representation accessible to asylum seekers. We are an all-volunteer group, 73 strong that currently assists 50 people. We continue to receive requests from new individuals and families that have made their way to Santa Cruz. The two greatest needs are legal representation and housing. Integrating our new neighbors into our community positively impacts us all.
SECOND HARVEST FOOD BANK
Food! Did you know that over 1/4 of our county’s residents face hunger every month? That staggering statistic highlights how many live on the edge. You can help us provide food for 65,000 people a month who depend on us and our network of 100+ nonprofit partners to fill pantry shelves and provide hot meals. With your donation, it’s possible for our partners who serve community members directly to never have to pay for the fresh produce and proteins for seniors, young families, the homeless, and anyone needing food to learn, work, and thrive.
SENDEROS
¡ARTES CULTURALES! CULTURAL ARTS PATHWAYS FOR LATINX YOUTH: Senderos is rooted in the cultural experience of the Mexican immigrant community in Santa Cruz County. We will expand FREE after-school Mexican folkloric dance and traditional music instruction for youth, most of whom are low-income and cannot participate in extracurricular activities. We provide musical instruments and traditional dance outfits for practice and performance so there are no barriers to participate. Showcased in over 30 community and school events each year, our programs connect young people to their heritage, enhance self-esteem, and push for academic success.
SENIOR NETWORK SERVICE (SNS)
GIVING TO SENIORS IN NEED: We engage daily with older adults in our community who face poverty, hunger and homelessness. We know these individuals, their needs and struggles, and can be your link to ensure your gift has maximum impact. This program fills the gap in traditional support services with cash grants. We encounter many serious problems with low-cost solutions that older adults are simply unable to fix. Our average payment is $250. Your donation might support a wheelchair repair, new shoes, compression socks that relieve neuropathy, glasses to replace a broken pair, or medicine.
SHARED ADVENTURES
RECREATIONAL AND SOCIAL INCLUSION: Not only will the underserved disabled population benefit from inclusion in all activities in society, the overall community is also enriched by inclusion of this population. Our 100+ activities per year help more than 1,000 disabled individuals and their families achieve stable and healthy conditions, and integrate in jobs and schools, leading to less institutionalization, crime, drug use, and family fragmentation. Shared Adventures will create expanded opportunities by working with recreation venues and agencies to provide experiences such as beach access, sailing, horseback riding, dances and cultural events.
SAVE OUR SHORES
MARINE CONSERVATION EDUCATION FOR YOUTH: In the 2022-23 academic year, we collaborated with 18 Santa Cruz County schools, reached 1,429 youth, and completed 41 marine conservation education programs. We build our youth education programs to ensure all youth can take part in outdoor education! This year we launched our first after-school program, Junior Sanctuary Stewards, to reduce barriers to coastal access and connect underserved youth to shoreline/marine ecosystems. At the end, participants are designated stewards and have opportunities to facilitate public education and outreach, serve as associate site cleanup captains, and be Youth Advisory Board members for future junior stewards!
SEYMOUR MARINE DISCOVERY CENTER
BIENVENIDOS AL CENTRO SEYMOUR/WELCOME TO THE SEYMOUR CENTER: The Seymour Center unveiled a new look and set of interactive experiences. Visitors will discover the science behind the unusual natural events we are experiencing locally. You’ll understand real solutions that heroes in our community are advancing and what you can do, as well as nature-based solutions that may help us prevent urban flooding, human infrastructure that can help animals move through our cities more freely, and local companies reducing plastic in the ocean. Our new exhibits are bilingual. The next step is to translate the aquarium into Spanish and add bilingual programming. We receive 65,000 annually!
SUSTAINABLE SYSTEMS RESEARCH FOUNDATION
SECURING THE LOCAL FOOD SUPPLY CHAIN: Many of us are concerned about local food chains and food security. Small minority-owned farms can be more productive per acre than large, highly-mechanized farms yet their operators face significant obstacles: unpredictable weather and climate, complex regulatory requirements, limited market opportunities and restricted access to state and federal resources. This project, in its third year, offers Spanish-speaking farmers from Santa Cruz County a workshop series that provides technical assistance and methods of sustainable and regenerative agriculture while operating their businesses efficiently and effectively. Regenerative agriculture benefits our climate, prioritizing soil health, which captures and stores carbon.
TWDCC
SUSTAINING ACCESS, EQUITY, AND EXCELLENCE: Tannery World Dance & Cultural Center will break ground in 2024 on a new building on the Tannery campus that will house the TWDCC studios. With the support of Santa Cruz Economic Development, this will enable more community engagement with youth and adult classes, performances, and events with two 2,200-square foot dance studios, a small office, lobby, and restrooms. We foster artists to develop professional work, and provide access, equity, and excellence in dance education, with scholarships for 20% of our youth. Artists forge new ideas through engagement as audiences learn from performances, festivals, artist talks, and classes.
TEEN KITCHEN PROJECT
NEW KITCHENEQUIPMENT: Approximately 150 teen chefs from countywide areas learn to prepare, cook and package meals. In 2024 TKP will provide 90,000 home-delivered, medically-tailored meals to 800 individuals in Santa Cruz County who are impacted by a life-threatening illness. 84% are low-income. Support from Santa Cruz Gives will help TKP purchase an industrial steamer to get healthy food to medically vulnerable people more efficiently. A steamer will allow us to prepare a higher volume of fresh vegetables and ensure they are not overcooked to retain nutrients and flavor. Currently we blanch items in hot water, a time-consuming process.
UNCHAINED
RUFF TIME: UnChained has served more than 400 youth who have helped, train, socialize, and find homes for over 200 homeless dogs. As youth train and rehabilitate dogs, they engage in their own journey of self-discovery. Many lack the emotional tools necessary for healthy relationships until caring for dogs facilitates a parallel journey of self-nurturing and growth. This year’s project represents an expansion of our educational approach. We plan to integrate therapy for our students into our training to enrich the students’ social and emotional development. A professional facilitator will guide students through activities and discussions designed to encourage introspection and self-awareness.
UNITED WAY OF SANTA CRUZ COUNTY
COLLABORATIVE YOUTH PROGRAMMING: United 4 Youth (U4Y) creates neighborhood spaces where youth can thrive, learn, and find their path to success. With nearly 400 participants in Live Oak and Watsonville, U4Y creates safe spaces for students to access homework help, youth-led and designed prosocial activities, and relationships with caring adults. We want to expand programming in Capitola and Scotts Valley. We select locations to support high-opportunity youth, reduce adverse childhood experiences, and increase youth engagement, and have built this around the idea that each neighborhood, with its unique strengths and dreams, should shape the opportunities for its youth.
VETS 4 VETS SANTACRUZ
Home Repairs for Veterans: Requests for home repairs have increased and we are asking your support to stabilize veteran housing in this way. We operate with one part-time staff person and 70 volunteers. We help with minor repairs such as building wheelchair ramps, repairing or replacing old appliances, and restoring deck safety. Materials costs have risen, thus the request for funding at this time. Staffed by volunteers, moving assistance is another of our biggest programs. Vets 4 Vets is trusted and effective in its responsiveness to the needs of local veterans.
VILLAGE SANTA CRUZ COUNTY
INCREASE EDUCATIONAL PRESENTATIONS & DISCUSSION: Ours is the only program in the County that combines social, educational, and service needs, and interacts with seniors at the neighborhood level. We learn from each other and from experts in the aging field. Village members identify and build activities around specific wishes and needs in their area. The Village runs on volunteerism and a sliding-scale membership fee. Outreach into diverse communities requires in-depth discussions to understand cultural differences and challenges. We ask for your support to hire bilingual and culturally experienced presenters on topics affecting older adults, particularly in south county.
WALNUT AVENUE FAMILY & WOMEN’S CENTER
SAFE TEMPORARY ACCOMODATIONS: Approximately 20 domestic violence incidents happen DAILY in Santa Cruz County. For 2024 Walnut Avenue hopes to expand capacity for immediate need of safe overnight accommodations for those fleeing from intimate partner violence in our community. Walnut Avenue offers multiple services and advocacy for survivors, but the need is currently greater than our budget allows. No one should have to return to a violent home for lack of a safe place to go. Please help us keep families safe and sound while we assist them in getting the resources they need to move forward.
WINGS HOMELESS ADVOCACY
RESTORING HOPEFOR HOMELESS SENIORS: Our Big Idea is to raise $7,000 to help seniors who are transitioning from homelessness to home. We’ve seen an uptick in senior homelessness and it moves us to help through both our Welcome Home and Vital Docs programs, assisting them to get their important documents and making sure they have what they need to live independent, safe, healthy lives in their new housing. Wings has no building expenses, and by coordinating 50 volunteers, we leverage the power of community in action.
WATSONVILLE WETLANDSWATCH
LIVING SCHOOLYARDS IN THE PAJARO VALLEY: Just 9% of Watsonville is covered by tree canopy. We must triple that to achieve parity with similar communities and to meet our goal of 30% tree coverage. Trees reduce surface temperatures on high heat days and sequester atmospheric carbon, cleaning air and filtering groundwater before it flows to the Pajaro River. WWW will collaborate with teachers and students at Pajaro Valley USD to plant shade trees and native plant pollinator gardens on campuses, to create living schoolyards that support student health, environmental health and learning about local wetlands, watersheds, and traditional uses of native plants in the wetland ecosystems.
November 15-December 31 | Donate @ SantaCruzGives.org
Santa Cruz Gives is funded by the generosity of Good Times, Volunteer Center of Santa Cruz County, Community Foundation Santa Cruz County, Applewood Foundation, Joe Collins, Driscoll’s, Inc., Comcast, Monterey Peninsula Foundation, Santa Cruz County Bank, Wynn Capital Management, The Pajaronian, and Press Banner.
Chants echoed across the mountaintops on Friday morning as around 25 pro-Palestinian demonstrators showed up at Lockheed Martin Space System’s Bonny Doon facility to call for a ceasefire in the ongoing Israel-Gaza conflict.
Protestors stood outside the gates of the facility and lined the road leading up to it, yelling chants of solidarity with the people of Palestinians into a bullhorn.
Yulia Gilich, one of the organizers, said demonstrators were there to protest Lockheed Martin for profiting off the conflict.
“Lockheed Martin is an arms manufacturer and those are arms that are sold to Israel to kill and bomb Palestinian people. So Lockheed Martin is a war profiteer that is making money off of the genocide of the Palestinian people,” Gilich said.
The facility at the top of Empire Grade is owned by Lockheed Martin Corporation, an aerospace, arms, defense, information security and technology corporation and has operated the site for decades.
The company has ongoing contracts with the U.S. Department of Defense. In September of this year, Lockheed Martin signed a contract for over $800 million with the U.S. Navy, according to defense.gov. The Israeli government is also a client of Lockheed Martin, with the Israeli Air Force being the first to acquire its fifth-generation F-35 fighter jet.
Now in its second month, the conflict began on Oct. 7 when Hamas militants launched an attack on settlements in Southern Israel, killing 1,400 people. In response, Israel declared a goal of eradicating Hamas, and since has bombed the Gaza strip and killed over 11,000 people, according to the Associated Press.
Demonstrators at the Bonny Doon facility want the Santa Cruz community to know that Lockheed Martin has a presence in the county.
“Lockheed doesn’t make fridges, they make weapons,” said Michael Gasser, one of the protestors.
At one point, protesters began chanting “From The River To The Sea, Palestine Will Be Free.”
According to the Anti-Defamation League, the chant is an antisemitic slogan calling for the destruction of the Israeli state and the killing of Jews. Earlier this week, Michigan Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib was censured in Congress for using the slogan, as Jewish lawmakers called for her to face consequences for “hate speech.” Tlaib is Palestinian and has shown support for the people of Gaza.
“I think it’s a wrong interpretation,” said Gilich, who is a Jewish Israeli. “People are seeking antisemitism where it doesn’t exist. [It] means that we want the Palestinian people to be free from Gaza, to Israel proper, to the West Bank. That chant does not imply any violence against Jewish people, Jewish Israelis.”
80-year-old Joyphil Greenleaf showed up to the protest holding a sign reading “Ceasefire- Jewish Voice for Peace.” She said that she and other Jewish grandmothers are begging for the killing to end.
“I care about all the children,” Greenleaf said. “Bombing needs to stop.”
A spokesperson for Lockheed Martin said that the company respects the right to protest and stands by its partnership with the U.S. military.
“Lockheed Martin’s core values are to do what’s right, respect others and perform with excellence. These values provide clear, unambiguous and uncompromising standards for how we treat each other with understanding and compassion. We respect the right to peaceful protest and we are honored to partner with the U.S. military and our international partners to deliver strategic deterrence and security solutions.”
Santa Cruz author Peggy Townsend talks about her brand new adventure novel, The Beautiful and the Wild, launched Nov. 7 at Bookshop Santa Cruz.
Christina Waters: In your previous Aloa Snow books you capitalize on physical jeopardy with which to trigger the action surrounding (and propelling) your main characters. In this new book as well, your protagonist finds herself in personal danger. What is it about this scenario that appeals to readers, and writers?
Peggy Townsend: That’s a great question. I think our attraction to stories of physical jeopardy stems not only from some ancient part of us that was built to survive wild animals, starvation and storms but also because we live in a society where risk is constantly being mitigated. I think that many of us still crave that adrenaline rush of physical jeopardy, a way to test our strength and power. It’s why we climb mountains, run rivers, attempt marathons, surf big waves. We long for adventure and physical challenge—both in our lives and in our books. I wanted readers to feel that rush when they read.
CW: Does this thriller contain a degree of true, personal confession? Have you ever experienced this kind of physical danger?
PT: I wouldn’t say there’s anything confessional in this book but a novelist can’t help but draw on personal experiences when they write. I’ve been in a few tense situations both as a journalist and as a mini-adventurer. I used those fear experiences to fuel the actions and responses of my protagonist in this book.
CW: I know you spend time each year in breathtaking Sierra backcountry. What drew you to Alaska as a setting for this new book?
PT: My husband and I spent two months traveling the Yukon and Alaska in our van. We were stunned not only by the beauty of the place but also by the sheer scale of it. We found ourselves camped by lakes without another person in sight and hiking toward mountains we thought were close but were actually miles away. When I set out to write a book about secrets being concealed and revealed, Alaska seemed like a place where you could hide but also where the harshness of the land would peel back your layers of protection.
CW: Your new book free-ranges across descriptions of densely forested landscape, tense exchanges between romantic rivals, apparently casual conversations in which dangerous secrets must be hidden, and technical descriptions of wilderness survival techniques. Plot, characters, and environmental description: which of these was most difficult?
PT: I like that idea of free-range writing. I would say that for me, the most difficult part of the writing process was capturing the feeling of living in a harsh wilderness. I had to combine research with my time in Alaska and the winters I spent in our little cabin in the woods. In those early years, we had to hike a quarter-mile through the snow to bring in groceries and supplies, chop and haul wood to heat the cabin, keep the pipes from freezing. I multiplied those experiences by one hundred to come close to what my characters were experiencing.
CW: Your protagonist and her special-needs son form the emotional center of this book. Was the choice of a developmentally alternate character a plot device intended to deepen the bond with Russo?
PT: From the beginning, I wanted my protagonist to be a mother who was driven to save her son. At one point, I happened to come across an article about Williams Syndrome, a genetic condition that is characterized by cardiovascular problems and learning challenges that come side-by-side with a love of music, wonderful verbal abilities and highly social personalities. I read more and my character Xander was born. His superpower is honesty and openness, which the adults in this novel clearly don’t have. ⬛
There was good and bad news for the 1,200 customers of the struggling Big Basin Water Company who have had their drinking water trucked in at a cost of $60,000 a month.
In the last two weeks, BBWC has stopped trucking in water, has cut the cost of importing water by 60% and is now able to stock reserve tanks.
However, “Well 4”, the primary source of drinking water for customers, was operating at about 100 gallons per minute, a third of its capacity.
That was the update given at a Nov. 2 town hall, where 50 people packed the Boulder Creek Fire Protection District headquarters and an additional 40 via teleconference.
“We have water ready and available and in reserve in our tanks,” attorney Nicholas Jaber said. “Likewise, for the first time in many, many months water levels are in fact, steadily rising in our primary tanks.”
The public meeting, which was hosted by the office of District 5 Supervisor Bruce McPherson, also served to introduce Jaber, an attorney with Silver & Wright LLP, who has taken on the task of steering the receivership. Silver & Wright signed on as the public receiver for BBWC on Oct. 5.
In the month since Santa Cruz Superior Court ruled to assign a public receiver for Big Basin Water Company’s (BBWC) drinking water operation to take over the company’s finances and bring it back into compliance with state water regulations, the efforts to steady the situation of the troubled private utility have begun to take shape. BBWC customers have been waiting years for a solution to the problems with drinking water and wastewater services.
Steady Flow
Since the receiver took over, problems with the flow of water from wells that feed the drinking water system for BBWC forced the operation to truck in water to serve customers. Jaber said that, on average, trucks would haul in around 4,000 gallons a day. In the last month, Jaber said it was a “huge problem” and “ financially unsustainable for the receivership.”
A positive development came with working with the San Lorenzo Valley Water District. Now, flow between the San Lorenzo Valley system and BBWC’s has increased from 15 gallons per minute to 62 gallons per minute.
The receivership has so far managed to stabilize the water flow, but in late October any progress made seemed in jeopardy.
When Silver & Wright took over as receiver on Oct. 5, BBWC’s operations were being managed by Central States Water Resources (CSWR), a private utility company which had entered into a tentative agreement to buy BBWC. At 6:30 a.m on October 20, CSWR sent out a notification to customers of BBWC it was terminating its contract as operator effective immediately.
Jaber informed town hall attendees that with the help of Santa Cruz County and Supervisor McPherson’s office they were able to secure $40,000 to “keep the lights on” at BBWC. The money was used for the “day-to-day operations” and “primarily-purposed to support water hauling.” Jaber also revealed that the county recently obtained a $240,000 grant from the California Department of Water Resources to fund the purchase of “emergency” water.
“Without these funding packages I’m not really sure where we’d be right now, but it would be pretty dire,” Jaber said.
Jaber acknowledged that customers would see an increase in their water bill as BBWC anchors itself and builds a comprehensive billing system. He said that, at the moment, they are purchasing water from San Lorenzo Valley Water District for roughly 13 cents per unit and are selling it to customers at about 3.5 cents per unit. How much the increase will be for customers is yet to be determined.
Jennifer Epp, a representative of the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board, which regulates BBWC’S wastewater operations, said that her office was blindsided by the abrupt departure of CSWR. CSWR also operated the wastewater facility, and now officials are working on short-term solutions to keep the plant running. Roughly 30 customers are serviced by the plant.
The water board filed a complaint on Oct. 24 in Santa Cruz Superior Court against BBWC owners Thomas J. and Shirley Moore and CSWR, according to Epp. The court issued an order the next day requiring CSWR to run the plant until Nov. 9.
“We took them to court for basically walking away from you guys and we prevailed,” Epp said.
The wastewater plant is still running and decisions are being made on a day-to-day basis. The next court date is Nov. 9 and further steps will be determined after.
There’s plenty of reason to be down this holiday season. The world is on fire; religions of peace are fighting gruesome wars, authoritarians are more prominent worldwide than they have been in a century; the climate isn’t just changing, it’s destroying so many things we thought would last; and few seem to have the patience or discipline to care.
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It would be intriguing enough that Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong are introducing a high-grade collectible vodka in partnership with UBlendIt of Scotts Valley.
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The release last week of the Beatles’ last song, “Now and Then,” inspired the lifestyle platform The Fresh Toast, which covers pot culture, to review the Fab Four’s relationship with weed.As the site notes, it always was a pretty close relationship, starting the day in 1964 when Bob Dylan turned the lads on in a room at the Hotel...
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BRAVO THE BAGCHASER
Just like his name implies, Bravo the Bagchaser is out to get that green: money, cannabis and everything in between. Prior to 2020, this 22-year-old was already making a name for himself in his home city of Los Angeles. However, he blew up during the pandemic with his Born 2 Win record. Today, he has nearly...
A low murmur fills the room as people find their seats. The lights dim and the stage becomes illuminated. Eleven members dressed in matching suits and dresses saunter to the mics. In a matter of seconds the silence is cut by an eruption of horns, tambourines, and a grooving rhythm section. The singer’s voice sails over the melody as...
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November 15-December 31 | Donate @ SantaCruzGives.org
Santa Cruz Gives is funded by the generosity of Good Times, Volunteer Center of Santa Cruz County, Community Foundation Santa Cruz County, Applewood Foundation, Joe Collins, Driscoll’s, Inc., Comcast, Monterey Peninsula Foundation, Santa Cruz County Bank, Wynn Capital Management, The Pajaronian, and Press Banner.
Thanks to you, our generous community, Santa Cruz Gives...
Santa Cruz author Peggy Townsend talks about her brand new adventure novel, The Beautiful and the Wild, launched Nov. 7 at Bookshop Santa Cruz.
Christina Waters: In your previous Aloa Snow books you capitalize on physical jeopardy with which to trigger the action surrounding (and propelling) your main characters. In this new book as well, your protagonist finds herself in...
