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Pinot Days Friday Winemaker Dinner and Charity Auction Beneficiary: The Georges Family Relief Effort in Uganda
The proceeds from the Pinot Days Friday Winemaker Dinner and Auction will directly benefit the Georges Family Relief Effort in Uganda – one of many humanitarian efforts that operates through the OCMC. The purpose of this effort is to operate an orphanage and medical unit in AIDS-stricken Uganda. Their purpose is to save lives, assuage pain, house and educate children, and fill stomachs. The Georges have chosen to leave their very comfortable and successful lives here in America to go abroad to help those far less fortunate than we.
The nation and people of Uganda are working to overcome twenty years of turmoil and distress caused by dictators and civil war between 1966 and 1986. Since then, diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis, and AIDS have greatly hindered the recovery process. A large proportion of the most productive age group is gone, and over 50% of the population is under the age of fifteen. Uganda is recognized as a leader among African nations in slowing the spread of HIV, but AIDS is still a huge problem. The country has over two million orphans and not enough surviving family members to care for them.
Peter and Sharon Georges are sponsoring over 100 needy children in primary and secondary school. Sponsorship includes school fees, lunch, uniforms, school supplies, shoes, socks, and medical care. Most of the children are orphans, and additional support has extended to food, clothing, and shelter for some families, especially families held together by one HIV+ parent.
In addition, Peter is working to improve the situation for Orthodox communities displaced from their villages by violent rebel activity in the Gulu District of northern Uganda. Funds have been raised in the U.S. and contributed through OCMC to build a community, including an adult literacy program for women in an IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) camp, distribution of school materials, and educational support for orphaned secondary students. In the future, they envision schools, clinics, and microfinance development. Sharon, an RN, will work at the Holy Cross Mission Hospital. The employees often labor under difficult conditions, and must deal with frustrations such as frequent power outages and mosquito invasions. Sharon will continually assess the needs of patients and staff in order to improve efficiency, safety, and morale. She will also guide the nurses in providing instruction to the community in general health and hygiene, pregnancy, labor & delivery, infant and childcare, immunization, and AIDS prevention. If you would like to be added to their newsletter mailing list, we can help.
Pinot Days Grand Tasting Auction Beneficiary: Operation and Expansion of Pinot Days
The proceeds from the Pinot Days Grand Tasting Auction will support the ongoing operation and expansion of Pinot Days. Pinot Days is a U.S. government-recognized non-profit whose mission is to advance and promote domestic Pinot Noir. We do this by creating opportunities for pinot producers to pour their wines both to the public and the buying trade, and by writing about pinot noir and publishing our articles on the Pinot Days website. Monies raised to support Pinot Days are used to cover event production costs, expansion to other U.S. cities (New York, Chicago, and eventually Dallas, Atlanta, Denver, Las Vegas), the Pinot Days Newsletter (which we will publish monthly when funds permit), the creation and production of smaller Pinot Days events throughout the year such as winemaker dinners, thematic tastings, and the continued development of our website, which is an educational resource, providing a wealth of information regarding pinot-producing wineries, regions and appellations, clones and other specific information that is essential to fully appreciate pinot noir.
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