Growing Up Great with PNC Bank

Students give PNC Bank volunteer a group hug after reading activity. April 2025.

Community partners of ECS provide invaluable support to clients. One of these partners is PNC Bank, offering volunteers, classroom supplies, activities, and engagement to ECS Head Start students.

Last month, PNC Bank sent four volunteers to a Head Start center to celebrate spring. Students planted seeds and did some arts and crafts with the help of the volunteers. Afterward, students took their pots home and watched their plants flourish as they cared for them.

Students plant seeds to take home and care for. March 2025.

The springtime fun continued with PNC Bank’s Grow Up Great Month, where they focus on giving back to their community partners, and in their 21st year of building brighter futures, PNC donated new books for Head Start classrooms and a bilingual activity book for each child. Two volunteers from PNC Bank, Eva Bryant and Valerie Attisha, visited ECS San Ysidro Head Start to read with the children.

ECS is grateful for the support from PNC Bank. The volunteers and resources shared benefit ECS Head Start children, educators, and families, expanding education to a new level and creating lasting memories.

To learn more about ECS’ community partners, visit Partners — Episcopal Community Services.

Volunteers help students with a craft activity. March 2025.

Students’ plants bloom after a few weeks of care. April 2025.

Thank You for Creating Memories with Family-to-Family 2024!

This Christmas Eve, the spirit of giving shines bright at ECS. Through our Family-to-Family for the Holidays program, 84 families and 365 individuals experienced even more joy this season.

Thank you, Angel Ibarra, Associate Director of Strategic Partnerships & Government Affairs, for your leadership, and to our incredible Head Start, Para Las Familias, Central East Regional Recovery Center, and ACCORD staff for partnering with him to bring this meaningful program to life for ECS families.

We are also deeply grateful to the parish communities of St. Paul’s Cathedral and St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church, along with an individual donor, whose generous contributions made it possible to provide gifts for clients at Uptown and C-HRT Safe Havens, spreading holiday cheer even further.

To each of our incredible donors, your generosity has turned holiday wishes into reality for so many. You’ve truly made this season memorable!

Thank you to everyone who participated in Family-to-Family this year. December 2024.

Family-to-Family sponsors help create lasting memories for ECS children. December 2024.

GivingTuesday at Quigley Fine Wines

SAN DIEGO — In 2012, GivingTuesday was created to counter the consumerism of the holiday season with the spirit of generosity. Since its inception, GivingTuesday has been embraced by people and organizations across the globe, including ECS and its supporters.

Friends gather and enjoy the night while supporting the work of ECS. December 2024.

This year, ECS held an event at Quigley Fine Wines to fundraise for ECS programs and celebrate the community of dedication and generosity that has allowed ECS to continue transforming lives in San Diego for nearly a century.

Guests mingled, catching up with familiar faces and meeting new ones, while enjoying a beautifully arranged charcuterie board and wines unique to Quigley.

Joanie Huck, a parishioner of Christ Church and a former member of ECS’ Board of Directors, attended the event and commented on the importance of fundraising for ECS. “A lot of the projects need funding especially the mental health ones,” she said. “It’s a hard road for our clients.”

During her time on the board, Huck worked on many fundraising events, such as the annual gala. Her passion for ECS runs deep. “We’re so diverse and our staff is so talented,” she expressed. “I just love it.”

Toward the end of the evening, Development Director Tim Whipple shared ECS’ gratitude for everyone who donated to the 2024 GivingTuesday campaign. The initial goal for the campaign was $5,000, but through the generosity of ECS supporters, the campaign reached more than double that amount, totaling over $12,000 raised.

CEO Elizabeth Fitzsimons delivers an engaging ECS client success story. December 2024.

ECS CEO Elizabeth Fitzsimons shared an impactful update to UTSH resident Maria’s story, demonstrating just how necessary and powerful ECS programs are for people across the San Diego region.

ECS extends is thanks to everyone that has supported the mission to break barriers and transform communities. Whether it be a monetary donation, volunteering of your time and talents, or advocacy for ECS’ programs and clients, you truly make a difference.

The 2024 GivingTuesday campaign has concluded, but our End-of-Year campaign is ongoing. If you feel called to give this holiday season or beyond visit ecscalifornia.org/donate.

Guests at ECS’ GivingTuesday event bonded with other ECS supporters. December 2024.

ECS’ leadership team among those at Quigley’s Fine Wines Tuesday night. December 2024.

Anook Athletic Clothing Distribution

ECS Head Start parents choose from the selection of new clothing donated by Anook Athletics. October 2024.

SAN DIEGO — This month, ECS received its largest in-kind donation to date — a collection of brand-new athletic wear from Anook Athletics, valued at about $725k.

A community distribution event was held at the ECS Family Engagement Center (FEC) Wednesday evening in partnership with Anook Athletics International Community Foundation (ICF), and This Is About Humanity. Head Start Parents attending a Head Start Policy Committee meeting had first pick of items from the array of choices. The tables of clothes stayed up the next day for Head Start’s Fall Resource Fair. The clothing will remain available at the FEC for ECS clients and community members as long as items are still available.

Anook Athletics is an activewear brand designed with pregnant and post-partum women in mind, although anyone can wear it. CEO and Founder Allie Lindenmuth attended the distribution event. The donation came as a result of Anook Athletics clearing its inventory, but Lindenmuth knew she wanted to do something big with the remaining product.

“I truly believe [giving] is in my DNA,” Lindenmuth said. She shared that she has been involved with nonprofits and service work since childhood. That desire to give back was no different in this instance. “This is like this perfect little bow of giving back to the people I always really wanted to serve,” she said.

Lindenmuth grew up in San Diego, which made the donation all the more special for her. “I got a little teary,” she said. “I hadn’t even fully thought about that full circle moment, so it does feel nice to be able to donate half of the product in Austin [Texas] where we were based and then to San Diego, my hometown.”

“This is the closing of a seven-year journey of starting up Anook and seeing it through, then closing the door, and instead of letting it be this sad experience of just seeing the loss and letting go of a company, saying ‘look how beautiful this is,’ and getting to be here and enjoy this experience,” Lindenmuth said.

ECS, Anook Athletics, ICF, and This Is About Humanity make a difference through collaboration. October 2024.

The donation was made possible through the partnership of ICF and This Is About Humanity.

Julie Campos, ICF’s fund development officer, commented on the role ICF played in the exchange. “As resource mobilizers, we facilitate the connection between generous donors like Anook Athletics to nonprofit partners and leaders like ECS who strive to create that social change in their communities and address societal needs,” she said.

The event also carried meaning for her on a personal level. “As a soon-to-be new mom, this event really hits home. I have so much love and respect for Anook Athletics since they are a maternity activewear brand. Their clothing is really made to fit every mom and woman throughout different stages of their lives. It allows them to feel confident and stay active in their journey,” Campos said.

Yolanda Walther-Meade, one of This Is About Humanity’s co-founders, attended the event, as well. “This Is About Humanity is so pleased to be able to join forces with ICF and ECS Head Start,” Walther-Meade said. She expressed that the donation exemplifies her passion for “bringing together different organizations for the benefit of families and children in our community.”

As Head Start parents mingled and selected Anook items, Zamorano Head Start parent and Policy Committee Representative Alejandra Sotelo Solis offered her insights on the donation.

“When we have organizations that give back to the community… to encourage parents and adults to get out, do activities, but also to have the proper attire to do these activities — whether it be yoga or running around chasing the kids on the playground — I think it’s really important,” she said. “When we look good, we feel good and we’re able to give back to our children in a way that makes us feel good.”

Thank you Anook Athletics for your generous spirit, and ICF and This Is About Humanity for making this incredible gift possible.

To learn how you can support ECS’ work, check out the “Get Involved” tab on our website, www.ecscalifornia.org.

New high-quality women’s athletic wear on display at the FEC.
October 2024. 

ECS Head Start staff encouraging active, healthy lifestyles for South Bay families. October 2024.