SAN DIEGO — ECS could not serve the San Diego community without the generosity and dedication of donors like Steve and Elaine Turnbull. The Turnbulls have been a part of the ECS community for many years; Steve is a former president of the ECS Board of Directors, and Elaine has helped organize the annual fundraising gala for many years.
Steve and Elaine at the ECS gala. May 2022.
Their relationship with ECS goes even deeper than their service to the organization. When Elaine’s brother needed drug and alcohol treatment, Central East Regional Recovery Center (CERRC) brought him in right away. “His life totally turned around,” Elaine said. The Turnbulls also had a granddaughter who was a foster child at one point. “When I heard what Para Las Familias (PLF) did... to get [children] to bond to their parents or foster parents, to experience that and kind of have a do-over, that really appealed to me that they could do that much for kids,” Steve said. Since then, ECS has been special to the Turnbulls.
“My heart is really into all the things they do,” Steve remarked. “Drug and alcohol recovery is an important thing to us in our past and our family. Para Las Familias is an important one, foster kids and others who often go into that program. Head Start, I like to see it grow in all of its dimensions... I just think [ECS] is growing, and I love watching it thrive.”
The Turnbulls are looking forward to this year’s fundraising gala. The event allows them to give back, make connections, and see change in the making. Elaine shared that they enjoy “meeting all kinds of people throughout the diocese and making a lot of connections that way... we invite people that we might be able to get involved working with ECS.” Their connections expand to those receiving support from ECS programs as well. “Talking to clients and becoming acquainted... to be able to go the next year and you know them by name, you can tell a lot of good is getting done,” Steve remarked. “We’re making a difference in their lives; many of those clients are now giving back to ECS, as well,” Elaine added.
The funds that ECS receives through donations are vital for program impact. Steve shared that donations have helped the growth of PLF and CERRC. Many smaller necessities also depend on donations, ensuring that clients have everything they need. “Things many of us take for granted are so important to those individuals,” Elaine said.
ECS aims to uplift the entire San Diego community. “You don’t have to be an Episcopalian to be a beneficiary of ECS,” Steve said, to which Elaine followed up “It’s about all of God’s people.” The Turnbulls have been longtime ECS donors, and the organization is grateful they continue to choose ECS as a place of giving. Steve explained that they keep choosing ECS because they see it as “well established, has a reputation for caring, broad, really works to meet the needs of San Diego,” he said. “They do a lot of good services and I think the services they provide fit. They dovetail with some of the needs that the county health can’t, for the homeless for example... that’s worth investing in.”
Join ECS for the 2024 Moonlight Ball to celebrate the impact of ECS and contribute to the transformative efforts being made. “It’s one of the topnotch organizations, nonprofits in the city,” Steve said. With the help of donors like the Turnbulls, ECS can help ensure that “more people are getting the services needed and information needed to move in a positive direction,” Elaine said. For more information on ECS’ programs, the Moonlight Ball, and ways to give, visit https://www.ecscalifornia.org/.