fbpx

From Wine Spectator: Wine industry, Oakland Raiders and others come together for Napa earthquake relief

August 28, 2014

In the aftermath of the 6.1-magnitude earthquake that struck Napa Valley on Sunday—the Bay Area’s largest in 25 years—the California wine industry and others are coming together to help those in need in Napa.

• Napa Valley Vintners (NVV) has donated $10 million to the cause so far, and is inviting others to add to their Napa Valley Community Disaster Relief Fund. “The process of seeking state and federal funding after natural disasters can take some time,” Cate Conniff, communications manager of NVV, told Unfiltered. “And we as an organization understood that there were immediate needs for people.” NVV’s initial $10 million donation comes from an emergency fund, created years ago for such a time as this, drawn from Auction Napa Valley proceeds. They’ve partnered with the Napa Valley Community Foundation, which has a history of responding quickly to community needs. The purpose of the fund, said Conniff, “is providing financial support for the local community and [getting] businesses up and running as soon as possible.” In addition to helping NVV member wineries, the fund will assist all kinds of local businesses, and will provide services like temporary housing, medical care and debris removal for Napa County residents. “People are in need now; they need assistance now,” Conniff said. “We wanted to let people know that immediate help was on its way.” Contributions may be made through NapaVintners.com.

• Jason and Angelica Moore of Modus Operandi, a Napa-based winemaking outfit that sources fruit from around the valley, are doing their part to assist in the earthquake relief efforts through the fund-raising siteGoFundMe/NapaStrong. “This fund will go mostly to taking care of lunches and other conveniences (like child care) for the brave people who are risking their safety to take care of this work,” states the page’s description, reminding readers that retrieving 500-pound barrels of wine stranded on damaged racks 20 feet in the air is a precarious task. In just a day, the fund’s donations have numbered 57, reaching more than $6,800, with a goal of $30,000. “We all put so much love and care into each barrel we produce and to see them broken and wine spilling down the drain is heart-wrenching,” wrote Moore. But in #NapaStrong spirit, “Napa is still functional, beautiful, and our vintners need you to come visit us.”

• On Wednesday, the Oakland Raiders football team gave $50,000 to three organizations providing relief in Napa, and today Wells Fargo announced it had made a $50,000 donation to the American Red Cross of Napa County and has enabled customers to make donations at more than 1,700 Wells Fargo ATM locations in Central and Northern California from now until Sept. 11. There’s even an ALS ice-bucket challenge-inspired #WineBucketChallenge making the rounds on the Internet, raising awareness and urging donations.

 

What is a Community Foundation?

We know you might not know, and that’s ok.
Click the “learn more” link to tuck into the details.

Learn More