NV Wine Auction Donates $583,000

The Napa Valley Vintners Association (NVVA) donated a record-breaking 8.7 million to local charities at the end of 2000, reflecting the record-shattering proceeds of the NVAA's 20th annual Napa Valley Wine Auction last June.

That included a grant of $583,000 to Queen of the Valley Hospital Foundation, the Vintner's largest single grant ever in support of the hospital.

The bulk of the grant, $500,000, is ear-marked for the renovation and expansion of the hospital's Maternity Center. The Vintners also approved $83,000 for the HIV Network, a Queen of the Valley Hospital program, for outpatient medical care.

"The Foundation is deeply grateful to the Vintner's Association and the Wine Auction for their continued support of the Foundation and the hospital's mission," said QVH Foundation President Jim Tidgewell. "The Vintners have been major contributors to our Foundation for many, many years, and we thank them for continuing to be our partners in providing health care to all in our community."

Since the Wine Auction began in 1981, the Vintners Association has given close to $4 million to the Foundation in support for health care in the Napa Valley. That includes a $400,000 grant last year to help with the purchase of a new CT scanner for the hospital.

The auction, the world's largest charity wine event, has raised more than $30 million total for local health-care entities and other charities.

"What a pleasure to see our community so enriched by the generosity of bidders, vintners, and volunteers," said the chair of the 2000 Wine Auction, Nancy Andrus of Pine Ridge Winery. And she noted that the groups that benefit from the auction also are crucial to its success.

"We had people from each groups that were beneficiaries from the previous years auction working for the 2000 Wine Auction," she explained. "It was wonderful, because we couldn't put this event on without the hard work of our 1,000-plus volunteers."

The 2000 Wine Auction was able to almost double its charitable contributions over the previous year's total of 4.5 million. The auction has broken its own fundraising record every year since it began.

"The success of the Wine Auction has hugely surpassed the wildest dreams of everyone involved in it." said Tom Shelton, president of Joseph Phelps Vineyards, who serves as president of the NVVA in 1999 and recently joined the QVH Foundation's board. "Queen of the Valley has always been one of the most important beneficiaries, and the auction's success means there's more to give."

The NVVA half-million-dollar grant to the Foundation will help the hospital with a needed expansion of its Maternity Center, a projected that will cost an estimated total of approximately $4 million. The expansion will allow the hospital to meet the needs of its growing obstetrics practice and ensure that all maternity patients have the most up-to-date facilities.

The project will include construction of several up-to-date labor, delivery, recovery and postpartum rooms, as well as expansion of the well-baby nursery and the intensive-care newborn nursery - the only neonatal intensive-care unit in Napa County.

In addition to providing a total of almost $3 million in grants to the Foundation and 26 other local nonprofits, including health care, youth development agencies, and affordable housing groups, the Vintners Association also deposited 3.2 million in auction proceeds into its Health Care Fun. The Wine Auction contributes a percentage of its proceeds each year to this account to fund special health-related projects and to ensue that core local programs will continue to receive funding even if auction proceeds fall short in future years.