Profits from the Nature Store go to support local mountain parks like Henry Cowell.
It seems like this year has been nonstop doomsday talk. After imagined Mayan prophecies and a string of shocking tragedies, there has arisen a chorus of voices chanting that the only way for the world to go is down, and then out.
But even in the darkest times, there are people who dedicate themselves to bringing light. These are people who don’t believe that things can only get worse, but who also know that they won’t get better without a lot of hard work. They may gravitate to one cause or another, but collectively, they are linked by the fact that our community wouldn’t be the same without them.
The holidays can be a critical time for people like this—it’s the time when more people are thinking about issues larger than themselves and their love ones. According to a Red Cross survey, 80 percent of Americans agree that philanthropy is a critical part of their holiday tradition.
Here in Santa Cruz, much of the good work that gets done relies on raising money, and finding innovative ways to do it. Some of the area’s nonprofits have set up their own stores, while others offer a few specialized gifts or services. We’ve profiled a few of them this week, across a range of causes, in the hopes that some of the holiday giving this season can go toward
helping those who help all of us.
Homeless Garden Project Holiday Store
Helping the homeless get back on their feet can be as easy as purchasing a pair of hand-dipped beeswax candles, if you do your shopping at the Homeless Garden Project’s holiday store. HGP employs homeless men and women at their organic garden, giving them not just a wage, but an opportunity to learn job skills. Proceeds from the products sold at the holiday store—which is open every day through Dec. 24 (10am-8pm, 10am-5pm on Christmas Eve)—go back into the program to pay their wages. But those who’ve been with HGP for a while say there’s an even more important long-term effect it creates by giving individuals a greater sense of community and purpose. In short, it can change lives. “If you buy candles, they’re gifts that give twice,” says Kelly Mercer, who runs the volunteer program. Most of the gifts available at the holiday store come directly from the garden, including dry flower wreaths, jams, floral arrangements, teas, potted succulents, herb-infused oils and other natural products. Participants in the program work 20 hours a week and can work at the 3.5-acre organic farm for up to two years, year-round. If the weather doesn’t permit farming, employees work on the drying, preparing and packaging process. “That way the men and women in our programs get to be part of every stage, from seed to sale,” Mercer says. The store also sells art by local artists who donate half of their profits to the organization. And there’s another gift option in that the 22-year-old Homeless Garden Project sells shares of its CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). Supporters buy a share of the farm and receive a box of produce every week for five months.
Holiday Store: Cooper House Breezeway, 110 Cooper Street, Suite 100G, Santa Cruz, 831.426.1774.
Mountain Parks Nature Store
For your nature-loving friends and family, it can be challenging to think of the perfect gift to honor their outdoorsy passion. But at the Mountain Nature Store at Henry Cowell State Park, you can find one that not only pays tribute to nature, but will also go toward supporting nature at the same time. The Mountain Parks Nature Store may be a little bit of a drive, but the selection of gifts makes it worth the trip. There are countless books on the topics of nature, the local environment and the history of the area. There are also just plain fun items—shirts, sweatshirts, jewelry and their popular soap rocks (which are high quality soaps that are made to look like rocks). All profits from the Nature Store are funneled back into Henry Cowell and Big Basin State Parks. The main focus of the Mountain Parks organization that runs the all-volunteer store is education. That includes obvious ventures, such as helping to fund school trips to the parks (some 200 school groups a year visit them). But it also includes less obvious things such as all of the signage around the park that explains to visitors exactly what they’re looking at. Mountain Parks takes great care to maximize the impact of their funding by working directly with state personnel. “The State Park staff—who are experts in that area—tell us what it is they want to put in those areas, then we find a way to fund it for them,” says Brenda Holmes, the director of the Mountain Parks Foundation. One recent project was the refurbishing of the Visitor Center at Henry Cowell. They didn’t tear down the building, but rather helped update the lighting, display cases and educational materials. The store also carries artwork by local artists as well. “We do this so visitors that come through get a real taste of where they are in terms of location and history,” Holmes says.
Henry Cowell State Park, 101 North Big Trees Road, Felton; 831.335.0782
Habitat For Humanity ReStore
What’s amazing about Habitat for Humanity isn’t just how they inspire people to donate money to help low-income families in need of homes; they also find people willing to donate their time and actually build them. If you are unable to get out there and swing a hammer yourself, and don’t have any extra money to donate, there is a third way you can help—shop at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore. All proceeds from the sales at the ReStore get put back into the organization, which directly translates into more homes being built. The staff at the ReStore are all volunteers, which keeps the overhead low and the percentage of the money going towards homes high. The ReStore, open Thursday through Saturday, is basically a home improvement store that sells products that have been donated to them. They have building materials, furniture, appliances and knick-knacks. There are lots of great gift ideas there, big and small. And it’ll feel good to put your money toward helping people. For the families that get aid from Habitat for Humanity, it goes well beyond the fact that they’ll have a nicer place to live. They also get help developing their skills in areas like budgeting, home maintenance and landscaping. Families purchase the homes, which are for a discounted price with a no-interest mortgage. Plus they themselves will be amongst the volunteers out there building the home.
719 Swift Street, Suite 56-A, Santa Cruz; 831.423.7200
Ocean Discovery Shop
You don’t have to drive to the Monterey Bay Aquarium to learn about the marine life in this region. The Seymour Center at the Long Marine Lab has its own aquarium, as well as a shark in a touching tank and an 87-foot-long blue whale skeleton (the biggest in the world). If your loved ones love the ocean and the animals that call it home, you can purchase something marine-themed for them at the Ocean Discovery Shop, and at the same time help to keep the Seymour Center afloat. The shop has all sorts of interesting and educational items—books, scarves, posters, shirts, toys, art and the ever-popular glass jellyfish. “They’re hand-blown glass. They come in different colors and they glow in the dark. People think they’re real jellyfish, but they’re not,” says Terry Wardwell, an employee at the Ocean Discovery Shop. All proceeds from sales go back into the Seymour Center, which is affiliated with, but separate from, the Long Marine Lab, which is a marine research unit at UCSC. The Seymour Center is the lab’s public education facility that interprets their research. “We are trying to encourage science education in people. We want to encourage people to get into science as a career path,” Wardwell says. The Seymour Center is a regular destination for school kids in the area, giving them a place to visit on field trips to see marine animals firsthand. Classes visit, so do summer camps, even college classes, as do teachers that want to further their own knowledge. The Seymour Center has ongoing visiting lecturers, so there’s always something new to learn, even for people who’ve been there several times.
Seymour Center at Long Marine Lab, 100 Shaffer Road, Santa Cruz; 831.459.3799
Tannery Arts Center
Supporting local art is always a good thing, but what if you could go directly to the artist’s studio, watch them work and then purchase the piece of art right there? This is what the Tannery Art Center offers. “It’s really seen as a tourist destination,” says Ann Hazels, who works for the Tannery Arts Center, and is one of the artists that has a studio there. There are in fact 27 different working studios at the Tannery Arts Center. Some are occupied by individual artists, others by entire organizations like the Printmakers at the Tannery and the Catamaran Literary Reader (a magazine that Hazels says makes for a great stocking stuffer.) Every studio maintains its own schedule, and not every one has something for sale, but more than likely if you head down there you’ll find something you’ll want to buy—including glass ornaments, note cards, ceramic pieces, pottery, small sculptures and much more. The Tannery Arts Center also has 100 affordable lofts for working artists to live in. “We were losing so much of our creative talent throughout the county, so this was a way to be able to provide a permanent and affordable place for artists to live and art to be creative,” Hazels says. Currently the Tanner Arts Center is raising funds to open a third leg: a performing arts center. It will be a fully equipped theater for local dance, drama and film, and is expected to open in 2014. Money from art purchases at the Tannery stay with the artists; however, you can go to the Tannery Arts Center website and make a donation.
1050 River Street, Santa Cruz; 831.621.6226
CASA Cards
Children who’ve faced abuse, neglect or trauma in their lives often have a difficult time adjusting to adulthood. The foster care system isn’t always able to give them the help they need, because of how crowded many homes are, and because of how often children go from foster home to foster home, never experiencing a sense of permanence or security. The purpose of the Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) is to give those children somebody, other than their foster parents, who can be a dependable, consistent and loving fixture in their lives. Only one child is assigned to each CASA advocate, which means that child gets all of their attention. The advocate works with the child’s attorneys and social workers, and talks with anyone involved with the child’s life, including family, foster care providers, doctors and teachers. Children with a CASA advocate have been shown to be more emotionally stable, and are more likely to succeed in school when compared to those who face similar situations without an advocate. This service is reserved specifically for kids in the worst situations of abuse and neglect. To help them this holiday season, the organization has converted elements of the mural done by local artist James Aschbacher for the CASA house into cards that can be purchased as gifts. Every dime from the sale of these cards goes back into CASA of Santa Cruz. Aschbacher’s work for CASA revolves around the theme of children experiencing joy—which is precisely what the purchase of these cards promotes. CASA also accepts donations on its website.
813 Freedom Blvd, Watsonville; 831.761.2956
Surfrider Foundation Gift Membership
We Santa Cruzans love our beaches, and the Surfrider Foundation is committed to protecting them. They work to maintain the health of California’s coastline, and coastlines all over the globe. The organization operates by doing what they can to fight pollution along the coast, and by educating the public about environmental issues that relate directly to the health of our oceans and beaches. Currently Surfrider is offering a special holiday gift membership package for beach-loving family and friends. It’s full of goodies, and as a bonus, the money spent on the gift will help make beaches cleaner and more vibrant. For $49, the recipient of the gift membership will receive custom-made Surfrider socks—which are designed with a wicking fiber to keep feet from getting sweaty. They will also receive a Surfrider beanie, perfect for those cold early mornings surfing. Most importantly, your loved one will receive a year’s membership to Surfrider, which will get them access to the digital newsletter Making Waves. The founders of Surfrider started the organization in 1984 when development on the Malibu coast threatened to alter the ocean in a way that would eliminate the surf break they had so thoroughly enjoyed surfing. They protested and won. Today the organization seeks to preserve the coasts and water as much as possible, while acknowledging that there is no such thing as a perfectly pristine coastline. “We don’t want to put a velvet rope around a beach and tell people to keep off,” organizers say on their site. “We’re surfers, we’re beachgoers, we’re watermen… we enjoy the coasts. We’re a user group.”
To purchase a gift membership, go to surfrider.org.
SPCA Gift Shop
There is no shortage of animals in need of help. The Santa Cruz SPCA is doing its part to rescue dogs and cats that have traditionally been the most difficult to adopt out. Their priority is sick, elderly and abused animals—basically the ones that end up getting euthanized in overcrowded shelters. The SPCA doesn’t generally take walk-ins, but instead goes to these other shelters and takes the animals considered “unadoptable,” rehabilitates them and finds them homes. Nearly 100 percent of the animals they rescue get adopted—even in cases the other shelters have considered impossible. “They’re perfectly adoptable once we treat them,” says Sarah Eryezec, who works at the Santa Cruz SPCA. The SPCA rarely rescues pets from the Santa Cruz shelter, because it is less crowded thanks to a spay and neuter ordinance in the city. But some nearby cities, like Salinas for instance, have no such ordinance, and therefore have severely overcrowded shelters. It’s on these cities that the Santa Cruz SPCA focuses most of its attention. A popular gift you can give your animal-loving friends is one of the SPCA holiday cards, which feature a photo of adorable dogs or cats and a note stating that a donation has been made to the SCPA in their honor. More than just being cute, the pictures serve as a reminder of what the money is used for—saving the lives of animals. Aside from the holiday cards, SPCA has a store in Capitola that sells shirts, jewelry and other gift items. All the money from the store goes back into the rescue-rehabilitate-adopt program. They also sell pet supplies like collars, harnesses, toys and food.
Capitola Mall, 1855 41st Avenue, Capitola; 831.465.5000
