In the summer of 1993, a small group of Santa Barbarans met to create a Foundation which would serve the needs of the Santa Barbara Jewish community. The Foundation’s first project was the establishment of a campership fund to help provide supplemental assistance to families who wish to send their children to a Jewish camp. This was done in the hopes that the Jewish experience would help to instill in the camper a love for Jewish culture, a respect for his/her Jewish identity and a commitment to Jewish values, particularly that of tzedakah.

By 1995, we undertook several new projects as the needs arose in the community. We established the Emergency Medical Fund to financially assist Jews in need of medical treatment which they could not otherwise afford or receive from other established Jewish organizations. We began to provide financial assistance to high school students to attend programs in Israel such as the March of the Living program. The Santa Barbara Jewish Community Foundation (SBJCF), in conjunction with Jewish Free Loan Association of Los Angeles, operates the Hebrew Free Loan program. It provides interest-free loans to Jews in Santa Barbara County who need financial assistance in several different categories.

Our grants are supplemental and given on a one time basis.

From a very small beginning, we have grown and been able to help many people in the Santa Barbara community. A listing of our projects and how we have helped the community to date is included inside. However, this would not have been possible without very generous donations from numerous members of our local community, and for this we are grateful. Central to the Foundation’s mission is the Jewish tradition of tzedakah, which requires every Jew to help create justice in an unjust world by sharing the bounty of his or her good fortune with others, and by giving back to the community in which he or she lives and prospers.

“Tzedakah is equal in importance to all the other commandments combined”
Babylonian Talmud
Bava Bathra 9a