Bonnie Carroll's Life Bites

David Selberg (Middle) with Kerry Methner & Mark Whitehurst (l) Dr. Fred Kass, Partner for Kids Honorees

Keynote Cheryl Strayed - Honorees Dr. Fred Kass - Partners for Kids - Kerry Methner & Mark Whitehurst Voice Magazine

The 2026 Heroes of Hospice Annual Awards Luncheon on Sunday, September 27, 2026 at the Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort Hotel honored unique individuals who have shared their experience, strength and hope to inspire everyone around them through their individual, personal and professional contributions around the corner and around the world.

Guest gathered around the silent auction tables to do some serious bidding before the luncheon awards to support Hospice of Santa Barbara nonprofit, a community nonprofit that has in some way affected the lives of every family in the community following a loss of a loved one at one time or another. Fabulous auction items included everything from original art works to exciting escape vacation destinations. HSB also invited the community of supporters to join in for their online Silent Auction this year.

Cheryl Strayed, Keynote Speaker 2026 Heroes of Hospice (Courtesy Hospice of Santa Barbara)

Bestselling author, Cheryl Strayed, keynote speaker at the Heroes of Hospice Awards is a New York Times #1 bestselling author of works including her acclaimed memoir Wild, Strayed has written powerfully about love, loss, resilience, and finding a way through life’s most difficult passages. Few writers speak to the theme of this year’s event with as much authenticity and grace as Cheryl, and Hospice of Santa Barbara was deeply honored to host her in Santa Barbara.

Audience members were touched by her remberance of her mothers sudden passing when she was only twenty-two, at a time when hospice really was not available to help, as well as the vastly different experience years later of having strong hospice support when her husband past. She shared tools that she created used to enable her to maintain and grow in times of loss that were extremely inspiring.

Dr. Fred Kass 2026 Medical Award Recipient (Courtesy Hospice of Santa Barbara)

“Our 2026 Heroes embody what is so special about this community—the willingness to care for one another, to collaborate, and to use our individual gifts in service to others,” said David Selberg, CEO of Hospice of Santa Barbara. “Dr. Kass, Partners for Kids, and Voice Magazine have each made a meaningful difference in the lives of others, and we are honored to celebrate them.”

This year's recipient of Heroes of Hospice Medical Award is a longtime friend and champion of Hospice of Santa Barbara, Dr. Kass who has been a longtime supporter of the work done at Hospice for decades.

As an oncologist, he was an early supporter of HSB’s Patient Care Services program and referred many patients and families for its compassionate, non-medical support. Dr. Fred Kass is renowned in his field and served at the Santa Barbara Center from its inception until recently as he prepared for retirement. According to attending guest Lori Willis, Executive Director of Cancer Foundation of Santa Barbara, "Dr. Kass has been so devoted to his work, and without him there would not have been a Cancer Center in Santa Barbara."

His loving and outstanding care of area cancer patients makes him an outstanding candidate for this award, as well as his ongoing sharing of cancer health care and cancer prevention information among members of the community.

During his acceptance Dr. Kass shared he had attended Yale, then Harvard and in Santa Barbara he learned about spirituality studies and felt he had been blessed with the trifecta to served so many families and organizations in the community.

Heroes of Hospice Partner Award was presented to local publishers Mark Whitehurst and Kerry Methner, who are a Voice that has championed Santa Barbara’s nonprofits, arts and community life for more than three decades. They are longtime promotional partners of HSB, generously helping connect Hospice of Santa Barbara programs and services with the community. Mark and Kerry shared how grateful they were for the opportunity to be involved with HSB, and gave a public thank you to their Voice staff attending the luncheon.

Partners for Kids recieved the Partners for Kids award. This an innovative collaboration bringing together healthcare and community organizations across Santa Barbara County to surroung children facing serious illness, and families who love them, with coordinated care and support. HSB has been part of this extraordinary effort from its earliest development.

Kerry Methner and Mark Whitehurst, publishers of Voice Magazine, are recipients of this year’s Heroes of Hospice Partnership Award. (Courtesy Bonnie Carroll LBN)

Hospice of Santa Barbara's mission is to care for anyone experiencing the impact of a life-threatening illness or grieving the death of a loved one. Their vision is healing the loneliness of grief and the fear of death. It is a relationship-centered hospice program with staff and bolunteers listening carefully to the concerns of clients, patients and family members, who define their own quality of life, with staff and volunteers striving to improve the quality of life for patients ande family members by meeting their needs.

Cheers to the 2026 Heroes of Hospice and kudos to the event committee, board of directors, board emeritus, generous sponsors, and the army of volunteers who make this event memorable each year. For additional information or make a donations visit: www.hospiceofsantabarbara.org or call 805-563-8820.