Philanthropist Betty Elings Wells has donated $1 million to San Marcos High School’s Royal Pride Foundation to support the school’s Building Community Wellness Project.
The gift will help build a new wellness center on campus to provide physical and mental health services to students and families. It will be designed to be “welcoming, private, and accessible,” according to the Royal Pride Foundation, the nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting San Marcos High School. It will include multiple therapy rooms, space for group counseling, and areas for wellness education and programming — intended to “normalize care and make support more approachable” for students, families, and staff. The school will collaborate with local mental health organizations to develop a “mental health framework” centered on prevention and early intervention for the community, the foundation said.
In recognition of the gift, the center will be named after the Elings Wells family. Betty Elings Wells is quite a prolific donor in Santa Barbara, giving away large sums of money to schools and nonprofits around town and leaving a string of facilities — and, yes, Elings Park — named after her family in her wake. Her former husband, Virgil Elings, made pioneering contributions to nanoscience — and essentially kickstarted nanotechnology — while teaching at UC Santa Barbara. Meanwhile, Betty was a real estate investor, property manager, and Virgil’s business partner. The two of them made a fortune — and a name for themselves at the university, donating millions to research projects and facilities over the years, alongside other philanthropic ventures in Santa Barbara.