Happy New Year! It’s a greeting so filled with hope and promise, and it rolls off our tongues to everyone we see. Wishing everyone a healthy, happy and prosperous new year is routine in our country. And that wish carries with it some reasonable expectation that it will come true in this the wealthiest and most powerful nation on earth. Happy New Year – but what if it’s not?
In Santa Barbara County, we unfortunately have some residents for whom it may not be so happy, healthy or prosperous. There are people that are facing challenging or even life-threatening illnesses or medical conditions without the economic wherewithal to help themselves. Their new year’s prayer is probably not festive in nature, but rather plaintiff in seeking help.
Enter the Vikings of Solvang, a group of approximately 200 citizens of the county who have made it their mission to provide help for the medically related needs of qualified individuals and heath care organizations. The Vikings provide hope for some who are hopelessly without a solution. While Viking assistance is limited to medically related needs, this provides help for some who are helpless and don’t know where to turn. And they provide an avenue for citizens of this county to express their compassion for those who may feel lost and alone from a combination of illness and economic situation.
Each year Viking Charities, Inc. provides tens of thousands of dollars (or in some years hundreds of thousands of dollars) to help people and health care organizations in Santa Barbara County. They do so without a lot of red-tape and/or fanfare. They keep their collective ears to the ground to hear about people who are having difficulties; they utilize their own resources to offer solutions when they can; and ultimately they reach out to our community for help when the need is great. And the beauty is that with the Vikings and the support of our local citizens, they provide that hope; that help; and that compassion where it is needed with 100 percent of every dollar contributed for such help.
Since 1974 when the Vikings of Solvang joined together, they have arranged for well over $2 million in direct support for these needs in our county. But just like the New Year rolls around continually, each year brings new people who are in need and looking for someone to help. As we have since our beginning, Viking Charities will continue to provide others within Santa Barbara County a better quality of life through their charitable efforts.
So, by all means, Happy New Year. Best wishes for a healthy, happy, and prosperous new year – especially so in Santa Barbara County when we have organizations like Viking Charities to help fulfill that wish to the maximum extent possible.