Helping Hands

Kenny Loggins has been a Unity Shoppe supporter for years (photo by Jensen Sutta) Laboratory Manager Carole Rollins tests wastewater, confirming it is fully disinfected to kill pathogens and viruses. Since 1962, the Montecito Sanitary District has been safely collecting, treating, and disposing of Montecito’s wastewater. The District’s certified laboratory and operators ensure the protection of the local environment by continuous monitoring using the latest testing equipment and technology. The District’s well‐maintained facilities and award winning staff serve the Montecito community 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If you have any questions call General Manager Diane Gabriel at 805‐969‐4200. For more information, visit our website at www.montsan.org SAVE YOUR PIPES, DON’T FLUSH WIPES! “Flushable” and disinfectant wipes and similar products can clog the machinery in our treatment plant, clog your household pipes, and cause a mainline backup or sewer overflow on your property. Please dispose of all wipes and similar products in the trash. More information on this topic can be found here: https://casaweb.org/wipes/. U nity Shoppe has come a long way back since a huge gap in its funding forced the nonprofit agency – the largest, single direct distributor of food, clothing, and necessities in the county – into briefly closing its distribution doors for two months in the fall of 2019. The nonprofit shut its doors for the first time in 103 years due to an unanticipated economic downturn, and 15 full-time management and staff employees were laid off while support programs were put on hold.

Now, after returning in time for the holiday season, Unity is stepping up in an even bigger way than ever as the current COVID-19 crisis has forced area employers to make even more massive layoffs.

Recognizing a deep need for the most basic of services, the Unity Shoppe has consolidated its offerings to food distribution alone to meet an ever-increasing demand. The agency estimates it is serving more than three times the number of families that came in for services just in the middle of March, as daily layoffs continue and such vulnerable populations as the unemployed, single-parent families, seniors on fixed incomes, the disabled and homebound start to run out of groceries. The Shoppe is servicing increasing numbers of hourly minimum wage residents who had never needed assistance before. Indeed, over the next six to 12 months, Unity anticipates that its services will be utilized to capacity much like they were during the Thomas Fire and Montecito debris flow, if not more.

The Shoppe – which as an essential service is able to stay open during the partial shutdown – is following the most up-to-date guidelines for sanitization and safety, and social distancing is being implemented not only while people are waiting in line but also inside the store, where staff members wearing masks and gloves allow people, admitted alone or as a family, to choose by pointing at what they would like.

Accordingly, Unity anticipates that it will go through larger quantities of food and other supplies than ever before to keep up with the growing demand. Donations from the public are needed immediately to purchase Helping Hands by Steven Libowitz Unity and FoodBank

both fresh produce and canned, jarred and boxed staples with longer shelf lives, as well as masks and disinfecting wipes to keep Unity staff and the public safe.

That’s where Kenny Loggins comes in. The septuagenarian singer-songwriter, who has been involved with Unity Shoppe for more than three decades and created and participates in the nonprofit’s annual Christmas Unity event, has recorded PSAs to encourage donations.

“Unity is my baby,” Loggins – who has been living on the Mesa ever since being displaced from his Montecito home when the January 9, 2018, debris flow washed out the access bridge – said over the phone on Monday. “I know it works and all the things we say about it are true, which is why we keep saying them. Right now, they’re the best way to get food into people’s homes who need it. Unity is always there and has been for 30 years. The doors are still open and people are showing up in more numbers than ever. But they need support so they can continue to help people with fresh healthy food.”

Unity Shoppe Food Distribution Services is located at 1401 Chapala Street, and is open 1-4 pm MondayFriday. If you are in need of food or other essentials, call Unity’s main number at 805-965-4122 for assistance. To make monetary donations, visit www.unityshoppe.org or mail checks to 1209 State Street, Santa Barbara, 93101. Donations of nonperishables can be dropped off at Unity’s side entrance: at 110 West Sola Street, 10 am to 5 pm weekdays. Foodbank Increases Services

Foodbank of Santa Barbara County is also experiencing a sharp increase in those seeking its services. Since COVID-19 safety measures took effect, the Foodbank has quadrupled the amount of food it normally provides to community members facing hunger and food insecurity, at one point earlier in the week distributing 83,000 pounds of food in a single day, a new record that is four times higher than normal. As part of its coronavirus response, the Foodbank has also provided 2,000 home deliveries to seniors in the last two weeks. As with Unity, Foodbank is now providing food and groceries for thousands in our community who have never needed help before, including contractors, salespeople, construction workers, waiters and waitresses, chefs and cooks, childcare providers, bartenders, hairstylists, barbers, drivers, artists, craftspeople, and many others. At the same time, however, the nonprofit has seen a rapid decline in food donations from many of its sources, so there is an increasing need for support. Meanwhile the organization has widely increased its distribution network, and has a big need for more personnel help. Twenty National Guard personnel have joined the Foodbank for two weeks to help in its two new temporary warehouses, assist at its SAFE Food Net distributions and deliver food to seniors. Visit https://food banksbc.org for information on where to get food, how to donate and where to volunteer. •MJ

The Montecito Sanitary District remains committed to protecting your health and the environment by safely collecting, treating and disposing of Montecito’s wastewater. Although the District business office is closed, District staff continues to operate the system with the highest level of service and professionalism, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If you have any questions, please contact the District’s General Manager Diane Gabriel (dgabriel@montsan.org), or visit our website: www.montsan.org.

MEDICARE ANNUAL ELECTION PERIOD

Concerned? We Can Help!

Masks, masks and more masks

Fire Chief Kevin Taylor

• The Voice of the Village • 2 – 9 April 2020 MONTECITO JOURNAL 37 ON THE RECORD Page 394 what a hand stitch looked like, nobody else in her family practiced the art form and Sztuk is self-taught. “I went to a little bit of design school to get the gist of things,” she says. “Then I started going to Goodwill and taking things apart to see how things are constructed, so it’s been a natural learning experience for me.”

Sztuk converted the garage of her craftsman-style house in Santa Barbara to a workspace where she has since built a solid business as a seamstress, performing all kinds of work from simple alterations to more complicated custom jobs while also raising two kids, a boy and girl who are now eight and five, respectively. “I was just going on a wing and a prayer,” she says. “I’ve been able to establish a great clientele and am not afraid of taking on any work, so if people call me and ask if I can do something, I always say yes.”

When the coronavirus pandemic hit her radar, Sztuk and countless other seamstresses across the country took it upon themselves to begin making masks to help the public protect themselves from the disease. Although the masks are not designed to specifically protect wearers from the virus, they do have the effect of keeping people from touching their faces, particularly their noses and mouths, which greatly reduces the likelihood of infection.

“We are like Rosie the Riveter,” Sztuk explains, referring to the famous World War 2-era poster urging women to work in factories to help speed up emergency wartime production. “There is a big need for masks and obviously we have a shortage of them for nurses and because of that, everyone who can sew is making masks for friends and family and for shelters, whoever needs them.” After a client gave one of Sztuk’s masks to well-known Montecito realtor Adam McKaig, her orders skyrocketed. “I guess he was my influencer,” Sztuk reasons. “People are still calling me for masks. I’ve made about 250 of them so far. I don’t have time to do anything other than sew them.”

Sztuk says that until the pandemic passes, she will continue to make as many masks as possible. “This has given me a sense of purpose,” she says, adding that for every mask ordered she will make and donate another mask. “I mean this is what I do,” she concludes. “It feels good to be making things that people are going need.”

To order masks, contact Sztuk at Stitch Witch Alterations, 805-363-2067; stitch-witch-alterations.business.site. A Coronavirus Update from Montecito Fire Department Chief Kevin Taylor

Based on the rush of emergency supply hoarding that has gone on for the past few weeks, it seems reasonable to suggest that most Montecito residents weren’t exactly prepared for the COVID-19 crisis when it first hit two weeks ago. Fortunately for us, the Montecito Fire Department (MFD) has been preparing for the event for the past three months. “Back in January, we started participating in planning calls with the county public health department once a week,” says Chief Kevin Taylor. “That allowed us to ramp up or preparations for a pandemic.”

On March 12, about 20 minutes after California Governor Gavin Newsom issued a state of emergency, the MFD issued orders to its staff to begin focusing only on what the agency calls “mission-essential functions,” meaning its ability to respond to public requests for response to fires, medical emergencies, and hazardous material spills.

“Our non-essential employees who can work from home initiated telecommuting on that date,” Taylor says. “We also initiated social distancing, meaning we closed our fire station to the public, cancelled all our public meetings, and switched our board of director meetings to virtual from in-person.”

So far, the biggest challenge in changing up the department’s routine involves the fire station itself. “It’s hard, because the fire station is a family-like environment and folks come and go every 24 hours.” So essential staff have been instructed to call in sick if they have any symptoms, while those who do show up for duty are first subjected to what Taylor calls a “very enhanced regimen” of decontamination.

The department has also joined with the rest of Santa Barbara’s fire departments to purchase coronavirus-proof emergency supplies en masse from the county’s Public Health Department. “Public Health is the clearing house for scarce medical resources, Taylor explained. “Previously we would all make separate requests, which makes their job much more difficult. This coming together makes it easier for us to get what we need and share equipment amongst each other without bothering Public Health.”

The good news, according to Taylor, is that Santa Barbara seems to be weathering the coronavirus pandemic much better than more densely populated areas of California. “We have not yet seen an increase in call volume in our community,” he observes. “Countywide we have actually seen a slight decrease in calls for service, but watching the news, we are all anticipating an uptick. But folks should know that we have been engaged with this for quite some time now and we’re well positioned for whatever happens next.” Pee, Poop and Paper Only, Please!

Eagle-eyed readers of this esteemed journal may have noticed the Montecito Sanitary District’s public service ads that have run in the paper the last two weeks urging residents not to flush wet wipes down the drain. “SAVE YOUR PIPES, DON’T FLUSH WIPES!” the announcement reads, informing customers that supposedly flushable disinfectant wipes can clog both household pipes and mainline backups as well as the machinery in the MSD’s sanitary plant.

This public warning is serious business. When I took a tour of the facility a few months ago, I got a glance at the plant’s rotary grinders, which while capable of destroying organic material like sticks or roots, can easily be jammed by rags or wipes, which must be retrieved by hand, a process that is just as gross as it sounds.

“We can usually handle the type of wipes that are truly biodegradable,” Diane Gabriel, MSD’s general manager, told me. “But with everyone now using all these sanitary wipes that are a lot tougher than the other kind, these are clogging the pumps and various valves we have.” According to Gabriel, the clogs and jams raise the risk of waste overflowing at the plant or spilling elsewhere along the line. “We don’t want an overflow,” she said. “We monitor it all remotely so when a pump starts lagging or running hot – taking more time to pump the same amount of wastewater – we know there is something wrong. We hope people can do their part by being conscious of what they are putting down the drain.” Alex Alonzo, MSD’s operations and