Sonoma County Vintners Foundation Announces $1 Million Pandemic Relief Grant

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The Sonoma County Vintners Foundation announced a distribution of $1 million in Community Grants to 87 Sonoma County nonprofits that have been greatly impacted during the pandemic on July 7.

“We are honored to contribute to the incredible organizations that make Sonoma County an amazing place to live,” says Sonoma County Vintners Foundation President, Clay Mauritson. “The pandemic has been a challenge for all, but especially for those in our nonprofit community. This year’s approach was to prioritize and focus the grant distribution to address the challenges and pressing needs they face.”

Through the support of the Sonoma County wine community, donors, and sponsor partners, proceeds from the annual Sonoma County Wine Auction are distributed through Community Grants to Sonoma County nonprofit organizations each year. This year’s grants were funded from the 2020 Sonoma County Wine Auction.

The Sonoma County Vintners Foundation partners with the Community Foundation Sonoma County, which provides insights to aid in distributing the annual funding. In the past five years, grants were distributed to 339 organizations dedicated to education & literacy, health and human services, the environment and arts & culture.

This year’s insights concluded that the pandemic greatly impacted education and literacy in Sonoma County. Recent data indicates 70% of youth feel anxious about the future. With this in mind, the Sonoma County Vintners Foundation prioritized nonprofit organizations working to bridge the digital divide and those that support youth mental health with an emphasis on serving LGBTQ, BIPOC and low-income youth.

Basic human needs were also exacerbated during the pandemic, especially for vulnerable populations. As a result, grants for health and human services focus on immediate and direct critical safety net-services such as access to food, shelter, housing, transportation and medical expenses.

Arts & culture nonprofits were critically impacted by the pandemic, and the funding for the 2021 grants extends support to nonprofits that provide culturally diverse programming and audiences.

In addition to the pandemic, Sonoma County has also endured multiple environmental challenges in recent years and this year’s Community Grants continue to address the impacts of fires, floods and related challenges.

The 2021 Sonoma County Wine Auction will be a live event on September 18 at La Crema Estate at Saralee’s Vineyard. Named one of the nation’s top charitable wine auctions, proceeds have supported more nonprofits than any other fundraising event in Sonoma County. For more information and to attend, visit: SonomaCountyWineAuction.com.

To make a donation, contributions may be made payable and mailed to Sonoma County Vintners Foundation, 400 Aviation Boulevard, Suite 500, Santa Rosa, CA 95403, or donate online at https://donorbox.org/sonoma-county-vintners-foundation.

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