Sisson Family Fund Raiser

The Sisson Family Fund Raiser will be held on May 8, 2009, at Bedell Cellars in Cutchogue, New York. Ben Sisson was a pioneering Long Island vineyard manager and his passing is a loss to the wine community. He died at the far-too-young age of 49, and leaves behind a wife and two young girls. At the fundraiser website it says:

The Sisson Family Fund has been set up in our friend Ben Sisson's memory to help financially support his wife Alice Wise and their children Ethan and Emma during these difficult times. Our primary goal is to enable Alice, Ethan and Emma to remain in their family home as the children mature and to allow the family to maintain a continuing quality of life within their community of family and friends. Our enduring friendship and love of Alice, Ben, Ethan and Emma will help Alice raise her beautiful children. Providing supplemental financial support is greatly needed over the next few years. We encourage all friends and family to attend our annual fundraiser in Ben Sisson's honor and to continue to tithe whenever possible. The joy Ben Sisson gave all of us in life, we can give back now, in love.

Even if you can't attend, you can contribute through a secure link.

Call out to wine afficianados. Can you contribute a bottle for a silent auction basket? If you can, send it to Lenn Thompson of Lenndevours, at:

Sisson Family Fund
c/o Lenn Thompson
39390 Main Road
Rt. 25
Peconic NY 11958

Welcome to Drink Charitably

The impetus behind this was the timing of two different wine-blog-related fundraisers. The first was this past weekend, when Michelle Lentz of My Wine Education used her website to promote a fundraiser in honor of her dear departed sister. Wine Bloggers and Wine Twitters contributed a room full of wine for silent auctions, a very common way of raising money at events of that sort.

The next is an upcoming fundraiser, the Sisson Family Fund Raiser to help support Ben Sisson's family after his untimely loss. Ben was vineyard manager for McCall Vineyards in Cutchogue, and Bedell Cellars will be hosting a fundraiser and silent auction for him on May 8.

That got me to thinking- how many events like this are held each year, and is there a way to coordinate them? Can we, as wine bloggers, wine twitters, wine makers, growers, collectors, drinkers, be a little more organized in how we help out? Ergo, Drink Charitably.

The first event will be the Sisson Family Fundraiser, and I will update this soon with an address to send bottles.