These are truly anxious times, but I want to assure our partners and the wider community that the Scholarship Foundation remains committed to supporting the educational aspirations of students and families throughout Santa Barbara County.

As you would expect, we have canceled this year’s award ceremonies, as well as our annual dinner and north county reception. Each of these heartwarming events is a cherished tradition, but we have concluded that moving ahead with any of them would be both impracticable and insensitive. In a related development, the 2020 South Coast Business and Technology Awards dinner has been postponed to October 1.

Our work continues, however, and we will announce scholarship awards on May 15 per our usual schedule.

Given the prevailing uncertainty of this moment, our mission statement bears repeating: “The Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara inspires, encourages, and supports Santa Barbara County students to and through college, graduate, and vocational school by providing information, advising, and scholarships.” Health emergencies or no, we remain steadfastly devoted to this purpose, as we have since the organization’s founding in 1962.

If we have learned anything from this crisis, it is that expertise across a broad range of fields is essential to solving complex global problems. Education is the wellspring of such expertise, and we are proud of our role in facilitating postsecondary studies for generations of professionals.

I will have more to say about this, and our operational responses to the current situation in the coming weeks. In the meantime, please know that the Scholarship Foundation’s status as our community’s leading provider of college scholarships and financial aid advising services is undiminished.

Wishing our neighbors throughout the region wellness and peace.