Carpe Vino Donates $5,000 to Placer Community Foundation

Note to readers:  In earlier messages to our Wine Club members, we let you know about our plan to discontinue our annual holiday party tradition and replace it with a contribution to a local charity.  We did that yesterday, with a $5,000 contribution to the Placer Community Foundation in the name of our Wine Club.  Our plan is to establish this as a new tradition, with an annual gift that will result in manifest benefits to those in need close to home.

Here is the text of a news release we sent out announcing the Wine Club gift:

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Too much of a good thing has sadly ended a Christmas tradition at an Old Town business, but in its stead, the Placer Community Foundation has just received a contribution for $5,000 designated for its Community Needs Fund.

“For at least a dozen years we have hosted a holiday party for our customers,” said Drew Moffat, co-owner of Carpe Vino, a wine shop and restaurant in the historic district.  “What began as an informal ‘thank you’ each December ended up morphing into a massive dinner for 400 guests hosted at the Blue Goose Events Center in Loomis.”

Moffat said the success of the annual event for Carpe Vino’s Wine Club–now in excess of 1,200 members–is ultimately what led to its demise.  “We just simply could not sustain the massive effort needed to pull off the event in the midst of the Christmas season, our busiest time of year.”

Recognizing a change had to be made, Moffat, along with his partner and father, Gary, examined alternatives that would both recognize their wine club members and serve the community.  They settled on a gift to the Placer Community Foundation, one they requested be earmarked for initiatives consistent with the mission of their business.

“We greatly appreciate the Moffats and the Carpe Vino Wine Club for their donation for food-based initiatives and programs directed at the homeless,” said Foundation Chair Pam Constantino. “We are grateful and proud to partner with Carpe Vino to help make a difference in the community.”

“It’s been a troubling contradiction for me to be in a business that celebrates food and wine at the same time so many people–even in our community–don’t have enough to eat or a place to sleep,” said Gary Moffat.  “We’ve worked with our Old Town neighbors at the Placer Community Foundation for years, and we have full confidence in this organization to make the most prudent and efficient use of the funds that we are delighted to present in the name of the Carpe Vino Wine Club.”