Staff Report
With help from the community, Grassini Family Vineyards has raised nearly $60,000 in the last five years for some deserving local charities at its annual Grassini Gives Back charity event.
This year’s benefit was on Dec. 10 at Grassini’s new tasting room in Santa Barbara’s El Paseo.
The event supports Food From The Heart, a local nonprofit that prepares and delivers nutritious meals to those in the Santa Barbara community who are dealing with major illnesses or surgeries, or those in failing health who cannot take care of themselves.
The Grassini Family is matching 100 percent of the day’s tasting fees and raffle ticket proceeds, as well as donations of any size.
“My family and I understand how truly lucky we are to be able to run our business in this beautiful and very special place, and we take every opportunity to give back to this community,” said CEO Katie Grassini.
“We are very active in charity-related activities throughout the entire year, but Grassini Gives Back is the only fundraising event we host, so we always try to make it as special as possible,” she said.
“To see the growth of this event over the past six years has been incredible,” General Manager Paul Azdril said. “I think what has made this event such a success is that people realize their contributions are that much more powerful because of the family’s pledge to match the funds we raise. Your donation of any size will be doubled. That’s huge.”
“Our ability to serve our community is dependent on the generosity of friends, foundations, sponsors and individual donors,” said Kelly Onnen, president of Food From The Heart’s board of directors.
“We are so thankful to Grassini Family Vineyards for this opportunity to spread the word about the work we do and to raise much needed funds to continue serving our clients,” Onnen added.
