I am becoming more involved in a local support group and resource information provider for parents and loved ones of people with Autism Spectrum Disorders. I, in fact, am the new Secretary of the Board of Directors. (Funny, I said I wanted to be more involved and did they need help stapling and labeling their newsletter, and ended up on the board…Ha-ha!) Anyway, we were approached by the owners of our local Vino 100 and asked if they could fundraise for us. Whoa! We’ve never really had any fundraising efforts outside of ourselves!
Ok, so the bennies of being a Board member kicked in right away. Before I'd even had to take a minute's worth of Minutes, I (we) was invited to a private wine tasting hosted by a prominent local business couple and benefactor, a City Councilmember who has a son with autism, and our California Assemblyman and his wife, to launch Vino 100's partnering with Hope Wine and to benefit our group,. Hope Wine offers several varieties of wine, of which 50% of the profits benefit various charities incuding ACT Today for Autism, the Susan G. Komen Foundation for Breast Cancer, and AIDS Lifecycle.
From the Wine Maker:
CABERNET & AUTISM
Generally Cabernet is the varietal of choice for the male wine drinker. Naturally, it makes sense to pair Cabernet with Autism because recent statistics show that four in every five children diagnosed with Autism are boys. In addition, Autism tends to be one of the few causes that have an equal amount of male supporters as female supporters. Autism affects 1 in every 150 children, and for each child that has autism there is a father who wants to help in the fight against Autism and more than likely enjoys a glass of Cabernet.
AWARDS
Silver Medal - 2007 Taster's Guild Wine Lover's Consumer Competition
From the Blogger:
Kind of a weird statement about the fathers and the Cab, but their heart is definitely in the right place.
Last night Vino 100 hosted a Parent’s Night Out, also to benefit our group. What a lovely event. Several friends of ours, for whom our family is their closest tie to autism, came out to share the evening with us. Even my buds from Ventura came out. We went to dinner afterward and caught up on all the Lab Happenings, and kid, girlfriend, updates. What a great time! Definitely nothing to whine about here!
I was so bummed we couldn't make it! I'm glad you all had fun. Hopefully, next time I'll not plan The Boy's party on a weekend we could actually have a social life! Our babysitter was sick anyway. That wine is yummy!
Posted by: Alisa | August 26, 2008 at 08:02 AM