It is our pleasure to announce that the 7th Annual Key Biscayne Wine, Food and Silent Auction Event will be held on Friday, November 11th from 6:30 pm to 10:00 pm at the Links in Key Biscayne. The evening’s proceeds will benefit the Rotary Club of Key Biscayne Foundation (RCKBF) and its affiliated charities for adults and children.
This year’s event will feature premium wines from the best wine producing regions in the United States, graciously supplied by Strategic Imports. Prestigious wineries from Washington, Oregon, Ohio, New York, and, of course,California will compete to earn the title “Best in Show”. All presented wines will be available for sale at the event through Stefano’s Wine and Liquors, our official Key Biscayne wine retailer. Stefano’s will coordinate all orders, payment, delivery and pick-up, and will donate 10% of sale proceeds to the Rotary Club of Key Biscayne Foundation.
The wine judges for this year’s event include some of South Florida’s most discerning wine palates: Chip Cassidy (FIU), Roberto Colombi (The Boca Raton Resort), Barry Alberts(Berries to Wine) and Henry Barrow (Talking About Wine & La Bottega). Shari Gherman, President of the American Fine Wine Competition and the Gold Medal Wine Tour, is our wine director again this year. The wines will be paired with food tastings from an array of outstanding Miami restaurants.
This annual event represents Rotary’s continuing collaboration with The Arc of South Florida. The Arc will organize the silent auction portion of the evening and will receive part of the proceeds to fund its adult programming. Auction lots will consist of over 100 items including travel, restaurant, sports memorabilia as well as goods and services.
The Rotary Club of Key Biscayne Foundation has designated remaining proceeds to benefit Fundacion Manos del Sur’seducational programs in Colombia. Headquartered in Miami, Fundacion Manos del Sur is a non-profit organization that provides financial assistance to underprivileged children in Latin America in the areas of education, health and nutrition. Rather than each organization holding an independent fund raising event, the Arc of South Florida and Manos Del Sur will work together with Rotary to offer attendees not only a wonderful evening, but an opportunity to support different efforts in our community. The Rotary Club is pursuing matching grants from the local Rotary District and Rotary International to further leverage the charitable impact of this event.
The proceeds from this event qualify for multiple matching grants. Proceeds allocated to domestic charitable causes are matched 100% by the local Rotary district, while proceeds allocated to international charitable causes are matched by both the local Rotary district and Rotary International, for a combined total match of 250%. Over the past two years, the Rotary Club of Key Biscayne has successfully obtained matching grants exceeding $60,000 to maximize the charitable impact of this fund raiser.
