The American Red Cross has honored the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County with the Good Neighbor Partnership Award for its mission and service providing healthy food, and proactive disaster meal planning for our community.

The Foodbank’s partnership with the Red Cross has a long history of essential disaster relief — delivering food to Red Cross shelters, and for distribution in the most critical times of need.

“The Foodbank of Santa Barbara County has demonstrated exceptional initiative in identifying and meeting a community need for a countywide disaster feeding plan, and they did it by working hand-in-hand with the Red Cross every step of the way,” said Jessica Hodge, Red Cross Disaster Program manager.

“During the pandemic, the Foodbank has become a lifeline to many of our more vulnerable community members and we have been honored to work with them.” 

After the debris flow in 2018, the Foodbank embarked in a proactive disaster food-planning initiative, helping Santa Barbara County become more prepared. This required a year-long process of working with community partners to write a county Disaster Feeding Plan and establish a Feeding Task Force with the Foodbank, Salvation Army, the Red Cross and others.

The Good Neighbor Partnership Award recognizes a member or team from the community that has made significant contributions to the American Red Cross. The nominee must have:

• Demonstrated exceptional initiative in identifying and meeting a community need through Red Cross services. 

• Reflected a positive, visible impact in the community for the American Red Cross.

• Encouraged and promoted excellence in each other and created a working environment that inspires others to strive for and achieve superior work performance through paid and volunteer partnerships.

For more about the American Red Cross, visit redcross.org/centralcalifornia or cruzrojaamericana.org.

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Recent Santa Ynez Valley transplant Patty DeDominic was honored with a Women of Achievement Award, along with Santa Barbara Mayor Helene Schneider, by the Association for Women in Communications at a luncheon at El Paseo Restaurant in June.

“I am really honored to be chosen and I hope I am helping give women a voice in our community. Women need to know they can be powerful,” DeDominic said.

DeDominic was honored at the luncheon for her role founding the International Women’s Festivals. Schneider was honored for her time on the Santa Barbara City Council. Following the tradition of recent years, Poet Laureate Emeritus Perie Longo presented poems especially composed for the inspiring pair.

In 1979 DeDominic founded PDQ Personnel Services Inc. and later acquired CT Engineering, which grew into a powerhouse staffing agency. She sold those businesses in 2006 and she currently operates DeDominic & Associates, a specialized business consulting firm that offers professional services to enterprise builders and philanthropists.

She was recently elected to the Solvang Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and has served many nonprofits, including SCORE and the Santa Barbara Chamber of Commerce.

The AWC-SB provides access to role models and leaders in the communication fields as well as access to scholarships, current trends and related research and technologies for their members. AWC-SB inspires members to assume leadership roles and or work collaboratively with others in shaping a better future for themselves and their communities.

Leaders who’ve received the Women of Achievement Award in the past include former Congresswoman Lois Capps, Dr. Nancy Leffert, Marianne Partridge, Marsha Bailey, Paula Lopez, Perie Longo, Lynda Weinman, Starshine Roshell, Catherine Remak, and Sara Miller McCune.

For more information log onto www.awcsb.org

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