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2005 Award Recipient: The Bryant Family
Bob
Bryant is well-known throughout Santa Barbara as the founder of
Bryant & Sons, Ltd., a jewelry store that has been a staple
of State Street since 1965. Even more spectacular than his gem
collection, however, is Bob Bryant’s devotion to the community.
Following
the death of his son Danny to a drug overdose in 1995, Bob scaled
the 20,000-ft. Mt. Kilimanjaro in an effort to raise funds to
create an adolescent drug treatment program in Santa Barbara.
The event was dubbed “Summit for Danny (and all
our kids)” and raised more than half a million
dollars for the creation of the Daniel Bryant Youth and Family
Treatment Center, a program of the Council on Alcoholism and Drug
Abuse.
Since
then, the Summit for Danny has led climbers to mountaintops all
over the world, raising a continuing source of funds for local
drug treatment efforts.
Yet
turning personal tragedy into hope for others affected by drug
addiction hasn’t been Bob Bryant’s only contribution
to Santa Barbara. He and his wife Patty have served on dozens
of nonprofit boards and fundraising efforts, including the Council
on Alcohol and Drug Abuse, the Santa Barbara Symphony, the YMCA,
Domestic Violence Solutions for Santa Barbara County, Girls Inc.,
the Santa Barbara Zoo, United Boys and Girls Clubs, and many more.
Bob’s
son, Mike Bryant, is not only his business partner, but his partner
in philanthropy, as well. He serves on the board of the Santa
Barbara Symphony, and has previously served the boards of the
Santa Barbara Chamber of Commerce, Carpinteria Boys and Girls
Club, and on the United Way Allocations Committee.
The
Bryant family also includes son Shannon Bryant, a firefighter
in Santa Cruz, California; daughter Kathy, who is married to Paul
Shields and lives in Goleta; and 11 grandchildren.
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