Crab Feeds. Love of the Land. Wine & Cheese. Wine & Shoes. The list of Sonoma County events go on and on in a normal year, and everyone seems to have a favorite way to support our local nonprofits and community. Before 2019, I would have had a hard time choosing my favorite event. I probably gave each one that status in the moment, since we are blessed to live in such a beautiful place that celebrates and supports our community.
In 2019, I found my new and unequivocal favorite event, complete with a mariachi band playing in the backdrop to the laughter of kids, casual conversation, excitement, maybe a little nervous energy, and lots of hugs and handshakes being shared around the room. Our annual Sonoma County Grape Growers Foundation (SCGGF) Employee Recognition Celebration is the culmination of SCGGF’s flagship yearlong program, recognizing local vineyard workers.
SCGGF is the only nonprofit in Sonoma County that operates with the sole mission to serve Sonoma County’s farmworker community. Since its relaunch in 2016, SCGGF has continuously proven it is a unique model of outreach and support, recognizing and relying on the trusted relationship that farmers have with their employees. In the past three years, SCGGF has proudly and humbly provided Sonoma County Farmworker families with more than $1.5 million in direct financial support to more than 25% of the local farmworker population. In addition, it helped organize a COVID-19 vaccination rollout to all 6,000 vineyard workers in the county.
In 2016, before we developed our first strategic plan for the relaunch of the foundation, we conducted three listening-feedback sessions in Spanish with farmworkers from around the county. These sessions included both men and women, with a broad range of ages, employment histories, and included those with and without families. One of the biggest takeaways from the feedback sessions, was that farmworkers heavily rely on their employers for resources, information, and support, especially in a crisis.
In addition to these sessions with farmworkers, the organization also hosted a community-wide summit that brought together more than 80 public officials, nonprofit leaders and other organizations that offer programs that support farmworkers. This summit allowed SCGGF a crystal clear view of how we can best serve the farmworker community, where the gaps existed and how SCGGF could partner with organizations already supporting the Latino community. Based on the listening sessions and community summit, the foundation developed its strategic plan with six major pillars of focus: affordable housing, childcare, education, health care, recovery and resiliency, as well as workforce development.
One of the first programs launched and managed by SCGGF is now considered our flagship program—the Employee Recognition Program. Each month, our local grape growers nominate employees who are achieving excellence in the workplace. Employees are recognized and rewarded for individual achievement and exceptional performance in a different theme each month to best showcase the various skills of and numerous contributions made by Sonoma County’s vineyard employees. Areas of recognition range from leadership and communication to safety and pruning. The monthly winners receive a $500 gift card and SWAG and are featured in both English and Spanish advertising in the local papers.
The program culminates with an employee recognition celebration where vineyard workers invite their families to see them honored in front of the local winegrape growing community and all the other winners. It is at this event, where we also announce the employee of the year. The excitement, energy and appreciation can be felt throughout Saralee and Richard’s Barn at the Fairgrounds where we celebrate our local workforce. Congressman Mike Thompson has joined us the past two years to help us distribute awards and announce our employee of the year. Last year, we added a mariachi band to increase the fun. Gabino Ramirez of Serres Ranch was named the Employee of the Year for 2018. For 2019 Jose Cervantes of Cornerstone Certified Vineyards was named Employee of the Year. It was inspiring to see these talented and hard-working men and women receive industry and Congressional honors in front of their entire family.
Check out the video on the Sonoma County Winegrowers YouTube channel to experience the event for yourself (youtube.com/watch?v=g7fgg0G8OKg).
Now that we are finally re-opening around California, we are so excited to (finally!) host our Employee Recognition program this fall celebrate all 44 employees of the month and announce the 2020 Employee of the Year. And the winner is…
Karissa Kruse is president of Sonoma County Winegrowers and executive director of the Sonoma County Grape Growers Foundation. For more information, visit sonomawinegrape.com or scggf.org.
