Breast Cancer Awareness is a longstanding October initiative at Vintage Wine Estates, a wine company headquartered in Santa Rosa, California. Purple Cowboy wines from Paso Robles, a popular Vintage Wine Estates brand, marks its annual donation to Tough Enough To Wear Pink, the western community’s campaign to raise money and awareness in the fight against breast cancer. Winery employees, distributor and retail partners recognize Tough Enough To Wear Pink Day by wearing pink to work. Exam reminders and survivor stories go out on winery social media throughout the month.
Purple Cowboy wines were created by Vintage Wine Estates Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing Terry Wheatley who also co-created the Tough Enough To Wear Pink campaign in 2004. The mission was to give back to a cause and a community with whom she had deep personal ties. In addition to being one of the industry’s top wine executives, Ms. Wheatley comes from a ranching family and is wife and mother to former champion professional rodeo cowboys. She is also a breast cancer survivor. With the help of rodeos around the country, Purple Cowboy wines and other committed sponsors, Tough Enough To Wear Pink, now in its 13th year, has raised $27 million.
“October at Vintage Wine Estates was all about giving to fight breast cancer. Until this October brought another crisis—the devastating Northern California wildfires,” explains Wheatley.
Lives were lost, thousands of homes and properties were destroyed. None of Vintage Wine Estates’ wineries in the Napa, Sonoma or Mendocino fire zones, including Clos Pegase, Swanson, Delectus, Cosentino, Girard, Viansa, B.R. Cohn or the Ray’s Station Hopland production facility were damaged. Sadly, many Vintage Wine Estates employees, and those of its neighbor wineries and vendors—even first responders— lost their homes.
Along with Jessica Kogan, co-founder of Cameron Hughes wines and Chief Digital Officer of Vintage Wine Estates, Wheatley quickly established a GoFundMe campaign, called Heart of the Vine, to put gift cards for basic necessities right into the hands of those in Napa, Sonoma and Mendocino who have lost their homes or experienced long-term displacement. The GoFundMe campaign, which was publicized on the wineries’ social media channels and mailing lists, has raised over $130,000 to date, and is being distributed on an ongoing basis, first to winery employees, then to other winery friends, neighbors and first responders who have experienced fire loss. Thanks to the generous support of partners such as the HEB supermarket chain in Texas, the GoFundMe campaign will move to a 501(3)c status shortly to fund continuing needs during the long recovery. The combined funds raised for the Heart of the Vine 501(3)c is over $285,000. Those who are interested in donating to Heart of The Vine can visit the campaign at https://www.gofundme.com/vweheartofthevine through November, 2017.
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