The Wooden Floor hosted its 6th Annual Keep the Promise Wine Tasting Benefit at Big Canyon Country Club this month, raising more than $200,000 to support its award-winning year-round dance, academic, and family services – a 25 percent increase from the previous year.
More than 250 local wine enthusiasts and community supporters tasted a selection of 12 highly- rated, hard-to-find wines from the Oregon and California coasts, each hand-‐selected and graciously donated by Premier Sponsors John and Janice Markley.
Silent and live auctions highlighted the evening, including a $6,000 winning bid for a 2009 Kosta Browne Pinot Noir magnum donated by Sonoma vintner Dan Kosta.
In addition to being introduced to spectacular wines, event attendees gained a deeper knowledge of The Wooden Floor’s 29-year-old mission and tremendous outcomes. Guests enjoyed a short award-winning film on The Wooden Floor students, titled “From Here, You Can Step Anywhere,” followed by remarks by Board Chairman Ernesto Vasquez, Executive Director and Co-CEO Dawn S.Reese, Artistic Director and Co-CEO Melanie Ríos Glaser, and John Markley.
Most importantly, Esai Alvarez, a member of The Wooden Floor’s Class of 2013, spoke about pursuing his goal of higher education to someday become a surgeon.
Since 2005, 100 percent of graduates from The Wooden Floor have completed high school on time and enrolled in college, outperforming their socioeconomic peers three-‐fold.
Private community support accounts for 90 percent of The Wooden Floor’s funding, and enables its year-‐round programs to be offered free to the majority of its 375 students.
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