with Share the Bounty event
Niagara County, NY – The wine was not the only “spirit” to be seen along the Niagara Wine Trail USA last weekend. The spirit of giving back is the theme of the trails’ “Share the Bounty” event, held November 8-11. The 19 wineries along the Niagara Wine Trail, USA raised funds and non-perishable food items for local charities and food banks.
The Niagara Wine Trail wineries combined raised over $9,780 and donated over 550 non-perishable food items.
The annual event encourages each winery on the trail to pick a charity or worthy 501(c)(3) cause within the community to donate proceeds from wine tasting sales collected during that weekend. In addition to wine tasting sales, wineries like Arrowhead Spring Vineyards, also donated a $1 to their chosen cause (Roswell Park Alliance Foundation) from the sale of certain wines. Black Willow Winery and Midnight Run Wine Cellars also encouraged giving to their respective charities of choice (Wild Spirit Education and Lakeview Animal Sanctuary) by having the charity present during the event to take donations in person, and so that customers could meet face-to-face some of the furry and feathered friends their donations would benefit. Even Long Cliff will be maintaining a drop off box for new un-opened toys for the next several weeks to benefit Western New York’s Toys for Tots. Anyone wishing to donate new unopened toys will be able to drop them off at the winery.
“We schedule our annual Share the Bounty event Veterans Day weekend – not just because it’s a long weekend – but because it’s a holiday that inspires appreciation and generosity,” says Elizabeth Maute, the trail Coordinator. “It’s so easy to get caught up in planning for the upcoming holidays, but Veterans Day reminds us that we need to take a step back and thank those who have served, but also those that are still making sacrifices and may not be able to enjoy the upcoming holidays with family and friends.”
Below is a list with each winery’s charity of choice and amount raised:
• Schulze Vineyards – collected 8 boxes of food and will be donating $1,000 to the Newfane Community Food Pantry.
• The Winery at Marjim Manor – will be donating $350 in cash, along with 3 boxes of canned goods to the Barker Food Pantry.
• Leonard Oakes Estate Winery – $328 will go to benefit Foodlink.
• Long Cliff Winery – $527 will be donated to Western New York’s Toys for Tots.
• Eveningside Vineyards – Will donate $650 to the Response to Love Center in Buffalo.
• Arrowhead Spring Vineyards – $981 will be donated to the Roswell Park Alliance Foundation.
• A Gust of Sun Winery – raised $1,487 for the WNY Heroes organization. In addition, they collected 3x’s as much non-perishable food items as they did last year!
• Black Willow Winery – $250 was raised for Wild Spirit Education.
• Niagara Landing Wine Cellars – $335 and non-perishable food items raised to benefit the Salvation Army of Lockport.
• Freedom Run Winery – $189 and cases of food will go to benefit the Meals on Wheels of Lockport.
• Flight of Five Winery – $153 will benefit St. John’s Outreach in Lockport.
• Honeymoon Trail Winery – $1,500 was raised to benefit Niagara Hospice in Lockport.
• Spring Lake Winery – $150 will benefit the Women and Children’s Hospital of Buffalo.
• Vizcarra Vineyards – raised $816.00 and about 25 canned goods that will benefit the Zion Lutheran Church food bank in Gasport.
• Victorianbourg Wine Estate – 183 items of food were collected and donated to the Wilson Community Food Bank (a member of Food Bank of WNY)
• Chateau Niagara Winery – $324.00 and 30 canned good items will be donated to the Food Bank of WNY.
• BlackBird Cider Works – will be donating $345 to the Community Mission of Niagara Soup Kitchen.
• Midnight Run Wine Cellars – $300 will go to the Lakeview Animal Sanctuary in Pendleton to assist them in rebuilding their shelter.
• Lake Ontario Winery – $100.00 will go to benefit the Crohns and Colitis foundation.
Most of the wineries along the trail acknowledge Veterans Day during the event weekend by also offering special discounts and/or complimentary wine tastings to veterans and active service members. “It’s just a small way our businesses can say ‘thank you.’”
The Niagara Wine Trail will hold next year’s Share the Bounty event over Veterans Day weekend, November 7–10, 2014. For more information on the Niagara Wine Trail USA, member wineries, and a schedule of upcoming events, please visit http://www.niagarawinetrail.org.
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Media Contact:
Elizabeth Maute / Niagara Wine Trail Coordinator
lizrose@niagarawinetrail.org
Niagara Wine Trail USA: Blog 
November 17, 2013 at 8:42 am
Are some wineries holding out? It seems strange that some wineries raised over $1000 while some raised very little. I was around on the trail that weekend, and I can tell you that some of these wineries claiming to have raised only a couple hundred dollars had hundreds of people visiting them. I thought all tasting fees were being donated? They were not telling the truth!
November 18, 2013 at 11:29 pm
Hi Henry – Many wineries took canned goods in exchange for the tastings instead of monetary donations, so that will make a difference in the total amount reported. Some had organizations on hand during the event which they raised additional funds donated to them directly, not through the trail. We also had wineries contribute to the total amount raised with portions of their wine sales that weekend, or rounded up their totals in good faith. We did have some wineries report that traffic was a little slow, while others had many large groups with buses, so uneven traffic will affect things as well. And, please remember that all of our wineries may not charge the same price point for wine tastings, too.
November 18, 2013 at 3:54 pm
Reblogged this on longcliffwinery and commented:
Share the Bounty Weekend may be over, but we’re still collecting donations for Toys for Tots! Now through December 17th you can drop off a new, unwrapped toy at the winery, and in exchange for your generosity we’re going to give you 20% off all bottle purchases!