Hello all,
In lieu of our normal monthly newsletter, given our home base in Northern California, we at Charles Communications Associates, representing wineries from our own backyard and around the world, dedicate this missive to those affected by the Northern California fires of October 2017.
As this month comes to a close, we are collectively breathing a sigh of relief here in Northern California. On the evening of October 8th, high winds ignited what has now become one of the worst natural disasters in the state, taking with it sadly 42 lives, 110,720 acres and 6,500 structures in 3 separate fires according to the official CalFire site. Situated about a 60-90 minute drive from the places we visit regularly, places where clients, friends and businesses conduct their daily lives, we felt as if we were right on the scene as it unfolded. Within 18 hours of the onslaught of the fires, Charles Communications Associates established a GoFundMe account, which much to our amazement, went viral, raising close to $56,000 in less than 10 days. Another incredible outcome was that many of our peers whom we’re proud to call friends, jumped in to ask how they could help and soon a mobilized community of wine professionals were volunteering to deliver goods to 3 shelters in Petaluma, CA and 4 charities in the Napa Valley.
We invite you to view the videos of the two drives we made in Sonoma and Napacounties and as we look to the holiday season ahead when many will be without homes or work, that you consider contributing to the campaign we started. We pledge to continue its good works by vetting and sending funds to those most in need, particularly those who work in the vineyards and wineries as well as hospitality in our world class California wine country. Thanks to the generosity of Costco and Target stores, we were able to get both contributions and discounts for goods and gift cards delivered to communities, and we dealt with amazingly helpful and resourceful folks from those companies along the way. Thank you as well to our videographers, Kenrick Mercado and Susan Quinn for donating their time to producing the videos.
Another way you can help is to purchase wines from Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino and Lake Counties for your everyday enjoyment and holiday parties. Also, come and visit-- wine country is ready and welcominghttps://www.visitnapavalley.com and http://sonomawine.com.
All our best,
Kimberly Charles, Alex Fondren, Kelly Lawrence, Hannah Kearney, Kenrick Mercado and the extended CCA family
#WeAreOne #NapaFires #SonomaFires
Forged by Fire