Sonoma Wine Country Weekend triples local contributions, distributes $3.3 million
A record-breaking total of $3,385,400 in contributions to 84 Sonoma County non-profit organizations was distributed Thursday afternoon from the hugely successful 2014 Sonoma Wine Country Weekend. Over 150 guests representing Sonoma County’s wine industry leadership, non-profit organizations, local dignitaries, and top donors celebrated the momentous donation at a reception hosted by American AgCredit at Vintner’s Inn.
The record-breaking figure includes over $1,700,000 from the Fund the Future initiative to support children’s literacy programs, which was raised during the Sonoma Harvest Wine Auction last August. Beginning in 2013, the Fund the Future literacy initiative supports successful Sonoma County organizations focused upon childhood literacy and preparing kids to read. These funds will be divided between Fund the Future beneficiaries Sonoma Valley Education Foundation: Summer Reading Academy and the Grade Level Proficiency Program, Healdsburg Education Foundation: Accelerated English Program, Community Action Partnership: Pasitos Playgroups and AVANCE, and United Way: Schools of Hope.
In addition, over $1,670,000 in Sonoma Wine Country Weekend Community Grants ranging from $2,000-$50,000 were awarded to 79 charitable groups located across Sonoma County. Last year’s contributions to Fund the Future and Community Grants from the 2013 event totaled $1,086,350 reflecting a 211% increase in revenues for 2014.
Squire Fridell of GlenLyon Vineyards & Winery and the President of the Sonoma Valley Vintners and Growers Foundation announced the donation total to the group. “As Sonoma County’s leading wine fundraising event, Sonoma Wine Country Weekend brings the wine industry and our guests together to support our community by investing in our youth and children for their future success, by preserving our environment and natural resources, and by improving health and welfare of our local communities.” To date, the event has given more than $16 million dollars to help secure Sonoma County’s future through the work of important non-profit organizations.
Dan Goldfield of Dutton-Goldfield Winery and President of the Sonoma County Vintners Foundation stated, “Today is a great day for our vintner and grower community as we award our Sonoma Wine Country Weekend contributions to more than eighty non-profit organizations from across the Sonoma County wine community. Wine is community. No other endeavor is as connected to the place where it is made as wine, and the stronger our community is, the stronger we as vintners and growers can be at what we do. It is an honor to be able to support organizations in every town in our community. Thank you to again to everyone who helped us get here.”
Sonoma Wine Country Weekend Community Grant Recipients are: 10,000 Degrees, Alliance Medical Center, Arts Guild of Sonoma, Becoming Independent, Boys & Girls Club of Central Sonoma County, Boys & Girls Club of Sonoma Valley, Career Technical Education (CTE) Foundation, Ceres Community Project, Chop’s Teen Club, Committee on the Shelterless, Community Action Partnership: Pasitos Playgroups and AVANCE, Community Matters, Council on Aging, Court Appointed Special Advocates of Sonoma County, Family Justice, Center Sonoma County, Fence at the Top, Food For Thought, Forget Me Not Children’s Services, Friends in Sonoma Helping, Friends of the Sonoma Library, Gianni Cycling Club, Girls on the Run Sonoma County, Global Student Embassy, Habitat for Humanity of Sonoma County, Hanna Boys Center, Healdsburg Education Foundation: Accelerated English Program, Hospice by the Bay.
Recipients continued: InterFaith Shelter Network, Inc., Jewish Community Free Clinic, Jewish Family and Children’s Services, Kid Scoop News, La Luz Center, Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation, Montgomery High School, Nuevos Horizontes, Alexander Valley School ESL, Operation Access, Operation Blanket, Pediatric Initiative of the North Coast, PEP Housing, Petaluma People Services Center, Redwood Empire Food Bank, Santa Rosa Community Health Centers, Santa Rosa Junior College Culinary Arts, School Garden Network of Sonoma County, Sebastopol Area Senior Center, Social Advocates for Youth (SAY), Sonoma Community Center, Sonoma County Fair Foundation, Sonoma County Public Library Foundation, Sonoma County Regional Parks Foundation, Sonoma County Youth Ecology Corps, Sonoma Ecology Center, Sonoma FFA Agriculture Department, Sonoma International Film Festival, Sonoma Overnight Support, Sonoma Paradiso Foundation, Sonoma Theatre Alliance,
Recipients continued: Sonoma Valley Community Health Center, Sonoma Valley Education Foundation: Summer Reading Academy, Grade Level Proficiency Project, Sonoma Valley Historical Society, Sonoma Valley Hospital Foundation, Sonoma Valley Mentoring Alliance, Sonoma Valley Museum of Art, Stewards of the Coast and Redwoods, Sunny Hills Services, SVVGA Scholarship Program, Teen Services Sonoma (Sonoma Valley Teen Services), The Children’s Village of Sonoma County, The Living Room, TLC Child and Family Services, Transcendence Theater Company, United Way of the Wine Country: Schools of Hope, Valley of the Moon Aquatics, Verity, Volunteer Center of Sonoma County, West County Health Centers, Willmar Center for Family Grief & Healing/Social Advocates for Youth, Women’s Recovery Services, Worth Our Weight.
In addition to supporting over thirty Sonoma County charities each year, over $5.25 million in Sonoma Wine Country Weekend gross proceeds directly support the local economy and marketing and promotion of Sonoma County growers and vintners year-round. Promotion and media coverage of the event generates hundreds of millions of additional media impressions for Sonoma County wines and tourism. To date, more than $16 million has been invested in Sonoma County’s future. For more information visit www.SonomaWineCountryWeekend.com.
