• Tony Blair addresses the Santa Barbara Community
  • Engaged Preschool Teaching
  • CPR during a Masters of Disaster Lesson
  • School Food
  • Orfalea Early Childhood Director's Retreat
  • Jr. Chef Day
  • Kids Cook
  • Orfalea Outdoor Classroom Project
  • Local Harvest
  • Culinary Boot Camp
  • Paul speaks with President Bill Clinton
  • James Lee Witt speaks to Santa Barbara County
  • Learning Outdoors
  • Orfalea Early Childhood Directors Retreat
  • Main School Family Resource Center- Carpinteria, CA
  • Montana Yellowstone Expeditions
  • MYE Students hiking in Montana
  • Assemblyman Pedro Nava attends Preparedness Event
  • MYE Students at the Beach
  • Santa Barbara County Emergency Operations Center
  • Our Local Agriculture
  • Students eat food that they made
  • A Jr. Chef peels her tomato
  • A Jr. Chef peels his carrot
  • Playtime at local Family Resource Center
  • Playtime at local Family Resource Center
  • MYS Students visit the farm
  • Children at the farm
  • The Orfalea Family and Mr. Tony Blair
  • Getting creative outdoors
  • Junior Chefs checking out their final outcome
  • MYE Student having a good time
  • Student admiring local produce

Submitting a Letter

Areas and Projects NOT funded by the Orfalea Foundations:

  • Events

  • Requests outside of  Santa Barbara County

  • International Grants

  • Endowments

  • Capital Campaigns

  • Research

  • Gifts to Individuals

  • Organizations that are not 501(c) (3s

If you feel your organization has may be a strong fit with the goals and focus of the Orfalea Foundation’s s’Cool Food and Aware & Prepare Initiatives, please take the time to visit the Our Initiatives section of this website to learn more about each Initiative. Once you have determined that your request is consistent with either Initiative, the next step is to fill out our online Letter of Inquiry (LOI).

A complete Letter of Inquiry will very briefly outline:

  1. The full contact information for the organization/person submitting the LOI

  2. The mission of your organization

  3. The title and short description of the program for which you are seeking support

  4. The dollar amount of funding requested

  5. The expenses this funding will pay for and over what period of time

  6. The number of people to be served by the grant funding

  7. The goals and intended results of the grant

To open and begin a NEW  LETTER OF INQUIRY to the Orfalea Foundations, please click the appropriate link:

To ACCESS YOUR ACCOUNT PAGE, click here. (If you are returning to a Letter of Inquiry or Application you have already started, but not yet submitted, please use this link)

There is a rolling deadline for the Letter of Inquiry process. Letters of Inquiry may be submitted at any time. Once Letters are received and reviewed, successful applicants will be sent an electronic link for the full application. Deadlines will be set according to the next appropriate Board of Directors review session. The Board of Directors determine the final dollar amount and terms of the award.

Due to the volume of inquiries at this preliminary stage, we discourage personal visits to the foundation office by prospective grantees. In addition, we do not accept requests for introductory meetings. Upon approval of your letter, you will have the opportunity to submit detailed proposals and supplementary materials, such as line-item budgets, visuals and references, to further support your grant application. Please do not send these materials with your initial Letter of Inquiry, as they will slow the processing of your request.

The Letter of Inquiry process outlined above helps agencies better target their valuable time and resources before submitting a full application, and allows the Orfalea Foundations to concentrate on the priorities we have identified. All Letters of Inquiry will be reviewed and organizations will be contacted regarding the outcome within three weeks following the Letter of Inquiry  submission date.