Thank you to dear friend Patty C for the eloquent title of this post!  Although I believe she was referring to the time friends can all meet up again after covid, after “the troubles” as it were, we thought it a fitting description of the days after Thanksgiving also.  This is a time usually reserved for shopping, decorating, nesting, baking, wrapping, and most of all, giving.  We see so many who are in need right now and we are urged to help out however we can.  Giving Tuesday is a wonderful opportunity to do just that.

Here are a few ways to donate  — whether it’s time or money, local or national, personal or global.  Let’s expand our horizons and band together to get through the difficult days we’re in and get to the after times we all crave.

Giving Tuesday is the perfect time to donate to your favorite charities. On a local, national and global level, there’s an urgent need to fund foodbanks and other organizations that have been working overtime to meet the increased challenges faced by people devastated by the economic fall out from the pandemic. In Santa Barbara we have several excellent organization that have stepped up to meet those in need:

The Santa Barbara Foodbank

Food from the Heart

Unity Shoppe

Transition House

and nationally:  Feeding America

We also want to highlight one of the top non-profits in the world that we are proud to say is headquartered here in Santa Barbara and will play a major role in distributing the covid vaccine: Direct Relief

So let us toast to better times ahead for all of us with one of our favorite cocktails.