Letters to the Editor
Should SVH leaders resign?
Editor: Kudos to the residents of Sonoma Valley for being smart enough to vote down the high cost of building a new hospital in Sonoma. Shame on the local leaders for telling Valley residents that we need to build a new hospital or lose the one we have. We are going to vote on a property tax to rebuild the existing one we have at about $15 for every $100,000 of property value, which will pass and give us the hospital we need.
Instead of eminent domain to take property away from people to build a new hospital, it stays where it is. It is too bad our local leaders spent thousands and thousands of dollars on consulting fees, and thousands of dollars on elections. Would I be wrong to ask these local officials to resign from their positions? They were not very honest with us, so I think not.
Greg Larson
Boyes Hot Springs
Local charities support Wine Auction
Editor: There are an infinite number of reasons to attend this year’s Harvest Wine Auction − good causes, great wine and entertainment not the least of them! This year, for the first time, nonprofit youth organization Operation Youth (OY) is participating in this fantastic event, and it couldn’t come at a more critical time. Indeed, OY has been highlighted by community leaders as a significant key in the solution to curbing youth violence, drugs and drinking problems.
Established 12 years ago by members of Trinity Episcopal Church to provide critical medical aid to teens without insurance, OY eventually became its own 501(c)3 and now covers four comprehensive teen programs, while also being a careful steward of its resources. Operation Youth furnishes teens − in particular, at-risk and alienated youth −
with safe spaces, caring role models and opportunities in which they can empower themselves.
We have been able to provide these services to teens at a cost of less than $10 per teen served, but we need additional funding to keep running our programs effectively.
The 10-year-old Shop, an alcohol-and-drug-free music venue, has produced over 250 shows, with thousands of teens from Sonoma County attending productions. Though primarily organized by teens, adults supervise each production.
Three years ago, Operation Youth also launched The No Name Café on the campus of Sonoma Valley High School. Today the cafe offers tutoring sessions, art programs, after-school enrichment, work experience, computer access, healthy snacks and a warm, dry place to meet before or after school. It also provides OY staff the opportunity to make meaningful connections with a significant percentage of the 200 or more students who use the cafe every day.
Established 10 years ago by a local parent whose teen was killed in an alcohol-related car accident, Teen Safe Ride (TSR) has been under the OY umbrella for the past five years. TSR provides over 200 taxi vouchers each year to Sonoma Valley teens, keeping drunk drivers off the road and allowing OY staff the chance to identify, intervene and counsel teens who have used more than two vouchers or have engaged in risk-taking behavior.
Operation Youth also administers a youth fund, which provides emergency funding to teens on a case-by-case basis, for everything from counseling and healthcare to meals.
By supporting Operation Youth at the wine auction this year, you can help us make the most of every dollar, reaching out to teens in the community, keeping them safe, offering them leadership opportunities and showing them we care about their future.
Operation Youth
Sonoma
Editor: The Boys & Girls Clubs of Sonoma Valley has benefited from the efforts of the Sonoma Valley Vintners & Growers Alliance through the Sonoma Valley Harvest Wine Auction since its inception.
The financial support of the Harvest Wine Auction has helped BGCSV for many years to fulfill its mission of providing positive opportunities for youth to learn and succeed. Monies from this event have been used to directly support our year round programming in arts, education, sports and recreation, character and leadership development and health and life skills. Proceeds from the event also help pay for the operational costs of the Clubs four facilities, providing a safe haven for valley youth where they can build character and strengthen life skills in a fun, safe and constructive environment.
The Boys & Girls Clubs of Sonoma Valley is a private, nonprofit organization providing over 2000 Sonoma Valley kids aged 6-18 years with educational, recreational, and leadership programs. The Club serves approximately 40 percent of the total youth population (age 6-18) in Sonoma with attendance of 375 kids per day. BGCSV provides the critical means for parents who live and work in and around Sonoma Valley to ensure their children engage in meaningful and constructive activities during the critical after school hours of 2:00 –
7:00 p.m. and all day during the summer months and school holidays.
The longevity of the commitment shown to the mission of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Sonoma Valley by the Sonoma Valley Vintners and Growers Alliance has been a significant factor in the ability for the Club to grow and serve more of the Valleys youth. On behalf of the board, staff, and children of BGCSV, we are thankful for the support of the SVVGA.
Dave Pier, Executive Director, Boys & Girls Clubs of Sonoma Valley
Sonoma
Editor: Proceeds derived from the Sonoma Valley Harvest Wine Auction in 1993 were allotted to help keep Sonoma Valley Hospital Emergency Room open. Again in 1994 $54,000 was raised for much-needed equipment for the Hospital’s Emergency Room. 2007 helped start our Community Care Endowment Fund for the Emergency Room.
The Wine Auction has allowed us to purchase a Digital Imaging System, Color Doppler Echocardiography, a Central Monitoring System for Emergency Department, Ultra Sound System, CT Scanner, Four Anesthesia Machines and many more. The most recent acquired piece of equipment is our new Digital Mammography machine. This year we are hoping to pay for a Bone Density machine. Both will be used in our new Women’
s Center.
For 15 years the Sonoma Valley Hospital Foundation has been able to reach our financial goal because the Wine Auction is our biggest supporter. It is a very important event in our Sonoma Valley and we all need to be aware of it! Come, enjoy and raise your paddles to help all the beneficiaries. Thanks.
Carolyn J. Stone, Chair, Sonoma Valley Hospital Foundation
Sonoma
Editor: On behalf of the Sonoma Valley Community Health Center (SVCHC)’s Board, medical staff and patients, I urge you and all of our Sonoma Valley residents and business owners to attend this year’s Harvest Wine Auction event on August 31st at Cline Cellars. Sonoma Valley Community Health Center is one of a dozen non-profit organizations that are beneficiaries of this fund raising event. Our Health Center has been a charity partner for over ten years, which has raised thousands of dollars for the Health Center. With proceeds from the Harvest Wine Auction Event over the years, SVCHC has added needed medical services and programs, bought medical equipment and improved access to health care to our vulnerable unserved and uninsured residents of Sonoma Valley.
This year’s proceeds will fund a new project that cultivate leadership and enrich teens’ and young adults’ lives by training and empowering them to be peer outreach health advocates. This program will duplicate an existing, successful program based in San Francisco; funds raised at this year’s event will pay to train and educate our community’s young people who will then impact the lives of hundreds of Sonoma Valley’s teens and young adults.
We urge Sonoma Valley residents to show their support our non-profit health center by attending the 2008 Sonoma Valley Wine Harvest Auction event at Cline Cellars and enjoy the event’
s festivities while also knowing you are helping thousands of members of our community.
Patricia Talbot, RN & CEO, Sonoma Valley Community Health Center
Sonoma
Editor: WillMar Center for Bereaved Children is honored to be a charity partner for this years Sonoma Valley Harvest Wine Auction. Funding received from this event will help us continue an important aspect of our work, which provides support groups to children and teens who have lost someone they love. It will also help train our valuable volunteers who work with the children and provide the welcoming space and unique programming we offer. WillMar has served over a thousand children in Sonoma County over recent years because of the generosity of groups like the Vintners & Growers Alliance and VJB Winery (our partner for this year’
s live auction lot). The funding received from this event directly affects the success of each of the beneficiary organizations. All those that participate in the weekend events, especially the fun-filled auction, can feel great about having a rousing time this year knowing they are positively changing and touching many lives!
WillMar Center for Bereaved Children
Sonoma
Editor: The Hanna Boys Center has been selected as one of the beneficiaries of the Sonoma Valley Vintners & Growers Wine Auction, Labor Day weekend. This means a great deal of financial support to Hanna. This type of financial support is very important to the strength of our program as we are an independent nonprofit organization that relies solely on private donations to fund our clinical, residential and educational programs.
Hanna is one of Northern California’s most successful residential treatment centers. For close to 60 years, Hanna Boys Center has helped change the lives of thousands of at-risk boys of diverse ethnic and economic backgrounds from the greater Bay Area and beyond, through caring, respect, education, and faith.
Since opening its doors in 1949, Hanna Boys Center has helped turn hurt into hope for thousands of troubled boys. Thanks to support from many individuals and events like the Sonoma Valley Vintners & Growers Wine Auction Hanna Boys Center we’
ve had the ability to serve as many boys as we have over the years.
All of us at Hanna would like to thank the organizers of the Wine Auction for their dedication to our community. We hope the event is even more successful this year than last!
Father John Crews, Executive Director, Hanna Boys Center
Sonoma
Editor: “We make a living by what we do, but we make a life by what we give.” −
Winston Churchill. Those of us in the Sonoma Valley nonprofit community are so fortunate to be supported by a group who personify this quote, the Sonoma Valley Vintners and Growers Alliance.
Sonoma Valley Education Foundation has been a long time charity partner and has supported programs in music, art education and technology for public school students with the proceeds from the Sonoma Valley Harvest Wine Auction. Over the years, more than 24,000 students have benefited from innovative programs, educational equipment and technology provided with funds donated by Sonoma Valley Vintners & Growers Alliance.
We appreciate the dedication, generosity and creative energy of all who produce and support the Sonoma Valley Harvest Wine Auction.
Kevin Jaggie, President, Sonoma Valley Education Foundation
Sonoma
