Early in the evening of Tuesday January 9th, 2018, following the debris flow disaster (later to be known as the 1-9 Debris Flow), a teen girl felt sad, upset, and wanting to help.

She thought to herself: “How can I help? What am I good at?”

Then she thought, “Art & Drawing!”

So she came up with a concept, created the art, and designed the t-shirt.

She contacted Santa Barbara County Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD). The next day VOAD Chairwoman, Kathleen Riel, responded with encouragement and information about charity relief organizations.

She did all of this on her own, without her parent’s knowledge.

In sharing her idea it blossomed, and thanks to many in the community, the SB Strong T-Shirt Initiative, one of many good efforts, was born.

Sofia shares, "No matter what you are good at, we can all make a difference."

Your shirt becomes both a symbolic and tangible form of healing, helping and standing in solidarity.

We've already served Direct Relief Thomas Fire/Debris Flow Fund with thousands of dollars raised in the first 48 hours of sales.

We're currently partnering with the following organizations to directly support those affected by the Montecito mud slides and Thomas Fire:

• The Search and Rescue Dog Foundation, whose dogs were critical during the initial recovery and saving lives. Additionally, they sustained extensive damages to their facilities during the Thomas Fire. A major goal is to raise $20K to sponsor a Search and Rescue Dog.
• Bucket Brigade
• Local schools and Go Fund Me campaigns who are selling the shirts to raise money for families impacted by the disasters.
• And we're looking forward to supporting AHA SB which facilitates grief and healing circles for youth and adults.

We grew out of a 16 year-old's desire to help... and we will only be strong because of you! Join us in supporting our community!

We need further assistance as we work to help our community and we welcome assistance with t-shirt sales. We need someone who can shepherd the online purchases and shipments of our shirts. The more we sell, the more we help!

Partner with us, sell the shirts at your event, outside a store, at your store, at your dental office, at your school …the more sold = more healing, more support.

Contact us to let us know you want to help!

You can also help by:

• Supporting local businesses and the livelihood of their employees;
• Supporting The Santa Barbara Firefighters Alliance
• Supporting The Bucket Brigade
• Reaching out to friends, colleagues, and service providers from the grocery clerk to your dry cleaner or florist… in essence, we all have been impacted and connecting with one another is a great way to heal. Reaching out may help both you and them, as sometimes just knowing there are people who care can make all the difference in the world.
• Visiting Nurse & Hospice Care SB and Hospice of Santa Barbara's grief counseling services rely completely on community donations. As we continue to recover there is a tremendous need in the days ahead as many move from mourning to the long healing journey. Reaching out to these services, supporting them, and directing those in need to these services is helpful.
• And you can learn more by visiting this great list of many resources.

Our heart-felt thanks go out to:

• First Responders, Fire Fighters, The National Guard, The Coast Guard, all the helpers official and unofficial, the donors, the caring neighbors, and friends far and wide!
• The local print maker Table Salt Design in the Funk Zone.
• The Bollag & Martin-Vella families who gave the seed-money to start this t-shirt project
• The support of Laguna Blanca school in encouraging the T-Shirt sales
• Santa Barbara web designer Patrick Broom for creating this site for us
• And many many more…you know who you are!