How our 15th Anniversary = 27 years of Philanthropy

So, how exactly do you cram 27 years of giving in to 15 years? With an explanation  of course!  The Wine and Food Foundation of Texas officially turns 15 years old tomorrow, October 27th, 2012.  You see, according to the IRS, we were formed as a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit public foundation on October 27th, 1997 thus making tomorrow our 15 year anniversary.  Pretty cool.

However, we have actually been operating as a philanthropic community donor for over 27 years starting with our first ever Rare and Fine Wine Auction in April of 1985 benefiting KLRU public television.  Over the past 27 years, we have given over $1.50 million back to our community through scholarships, grants and donations including over $800,000 to our original beneficiary, KLRU.  We have also given out over $190,000 in culinary scholarships, $175,000 in grants to underwrite TexSom and $15,000 to Share our Strength and Texas No Kid Hungry to help end childhood hunger.

Coincidentally, tomorrow will also be my 2 year anniversary with the Foundation so clearly I have not personally witnessed all the good deeds we have done.  However, I am a pretty good forensic investigator and have had a lot of fun learning all the good works we have done from helping eradicate Xylella fastidiosa (Pierce's disease) in our Texas vineyards in partnership with Texas Tech University to sponsoring a TV show about childhood nutrition once called Flapjax and Papi's Kitchen (unfortunately, we were a little too far ahead of our time for the show to succeed).

Of course, we are not about to stop here!  We have selected Dell Children's Medical Center as our 2013 Rare and Fine Wine Auction beneficiary, we are committed to hosting the annual TexSom conference and we are partnering with a group in West Texas to raise money for the South Plains Food Bank and much, much, more.

I have no idea if we will continue for another 27 years or 100 years, but I can tell you that I am very proud of what we have accomplished so far and look forward to the next 15 years with the Foundation.

Cheers,

Marshall Jones

Executive Director