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Sonoma wine country sipped deeply from the cup of generosity this week, as 84 county nonprofits divvied up portions of the more than $3 million raised at last year’s Sonoma Wine Country Weekend.
The $3,385,400 raised through the 2014 fundraising weekend was made official April 2 at a “check presentation” and reception for nonprofit recipients, donors and wine-industry officials at the Vintner’s Inn in Santa Rosa.
The 2014 slate of Wine Country Weekend fundraising events, put on by the Sonoma Valley Vintners & Growers Alliance and Foundation and Sonoma County Vintners, took in a record-setting amount for the annual fundraiser – tripling its revenue from 2013, according to event officials.
More than $1.7 million in contributions alone was raised at last August’s Sonoma Harvest Wine Auction – funds which went toward Fund the Future, an initiative to support children’s literacy programs.
Squire Fridell, president of the Vintners and Growers Alliance, announced the record-setting totals at the check presentation last Thursday.
In a statement, Fridell praised the way the wine industry comes together to “invest in our youth and children for their future success, by preserving our environment and natural resources, and by improving the health and welfare of our local communities.”
He says through the years the event has given more $16 million to local nonprofits.
Wine Country Weekend takes place over Labor Day weekend and features such events as Taste of Sonoma, at MacMurray Ranch; Sonoma Harvest Wine Auction, at Chateau St. Jean; and Sonoma Starlight, at Francis Ford Coppola Winery.
