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PUBLIC RELATIONS

the most positive difference in help saving and at Ecole l’Erudite de Leogane in Haiti. For the
improving the lives od folks around the world. fifth year in a row, we were able to provide an
Most all charities have an annual charity gala, education in a clean and safe school for chil-
and these wines were used to serve great wine dren who would otherwise not be able to
to the folks attending the dinners. The vast ma- attend one.
jority of the bottles were used for a silent and Dr. Tim O’Connor, one of the co-founders of
live auction during the gala. This resulted in InterVol said it best when he said: „It‘s wonder-
remarkable success and over the 25 years this ful that Raise a Glass Foundation is able to do-
group has been part of donating over 100,000 nate wine to our fundraisers. The wine that Raise
bottles of wine that were used in these auctions a Glass Foundation donates is always a hit, and
to raise close to $4 million dollars. the wine donated supports a multitude of events,
These days, Raise a Glass hosts the Great whether it‘s wine used at our gala, golf tourna-

American International Wine Competition, ment, monthly wine dinners, or silent auction, the
a truly International Competition – with entries funds raised goes to support InterVol’s mission!“
and professional judges from over 25 countries, So it’s really simple. Raise a Glass Foundation
one of the largest International wine competi- is a group of over 200 volunteers that donate
tions to support charities in the America’s. The their weekends several times a year to help
lead charity we’d love to talk about is InterVol, Dr. O’Conner and more than ten other charities
the one we think makes the most positive diffe- that make the world a better place. Thanks to
rence in the world today! the efforts of this fantastic volunteer group and
InterVol saves lives every day by collecting all the wineries that enter the Great American
sterile, unused medical supplies from NY hos- International Wine Competition, each and eve-
pitals and shipping them at no cost to hospitals ry one of them helps make a positive difference!
and clinics in desperate need around the world.
An example of where they helped: they coordi-
nate and ship gowns, gloves, dressings, as well
as ostomy and pediatric supplies to Beirut, Le-
banon following a massive explosion that de-
stroyed a portion of the city.
They coordinated medical volunteers to
meet the needs of Rochester‘s homeless and
underserved populations during week-long
mobile clinics. And with a limited number of
volunteers we were able to assemble 500 first-
-aid kits for distribution throughout Rochester’s
homeless population.
They provide beds, linens, OB/GYN supplies
and high-end instruments, along with crutches,
wheelchairs and walkers to organizations in
the sub-Saharan countries of Burkina Faso and
Ghana.
In the early days of Covid, distributing more
than 34,000 face shields and masks to local
non-profits like Volunteers of America, Daystar
and Lifetime Care.
They are continuing to support 83 students
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