If you’re looking to take your love of wine and turn it into a way of giving back to the community, you’re in luck. In Denver, as well as nationwide, there are different organizations that use wine as a way to help those in need. By attending an event, purchasing wine online, or participating in a tasting, you’d be supporting charities that are helping to make a difference.

The Bacchanalian Society of Denver; Sip and Support Girls on the Run: Sept 14, 2017

The Denver Bacchus is a sip and support organization. They offer wine tastings and events throughout the year, each benefiting a local organization. Every event features a different varietal, so with each event comes a new wine to explore. It’s not just your average tasting, but rather a blind tasting competition. Teams bring three bottles of the same wine for that specific varietal, and when they get to the event, they present their bottles to the hosts, who conceal the identities of two of the bottles of wine. Then throughout the event, they taste wines and rate them. Once it’s over, the three teams that bring the highest rated wine receive the remaining bottle of wine that the other teams brought. And if you bring the lowest rated bottle of wine? You have to take the remaining bottle home with you (so I hope you at least brought one that you like). Their next event is Sip and Support for Girls on the Run which takes place on September 14th.

Bigsby’s Folly

As Denver’s newest winery, they are already supporting local non-profits. Along with being members of the RiNo Art District, they support the University of Denver Graduate School of Social Work and the Morris Animal Foundation. When you visit their winery, be sure to pick up Bigsby’s Dog Biscuits for Charity as 100% of the proceeds go directly to the Morris Animal Foundation.

The Bridge Project; Wine Stein and Dine: Aug 26, 2017

The Bridge Project is all about creating a path for children in public housing to be successful in both secondary and post-secondary education. “The Bridge Project turns dreams into realities for youth in Denver’s public housing neighborhoods by helping them graduate from high school and attend college or learn a trade,” says Helen Pierce, Marketing and Events Manager for The Bridge Project. “We are an initiative of the Graduate School of Social Work, University of Denver […] Although we are an initiative through GSSW, we raise nearly 100% of our programming funds, that is why this event is so important for us to be a success. We definitely want to hit it out of the park and who doesn’t love WINE.”

On August 26th, they are hosting their Wine, Stein & Dine event, which is their largest fundraising event, according to Pierce. This event also allows them to help keep The Bridge Project going. There are a few highlights of the event, including, “keynote speaker Bill Strickland, Mary Louise Lee Band, Chancellor Rebecca Chopp speaking, among an exciting silent and live auction.” And for making it a wine specific event? As Pierce explains, “We wanted to be unique and have a fun themed event that would attract a large group of people. We feel that wine is a great way to do that. It is also an elegant event that is special because it’s an evening under the stars and we want to feature nice wines, beer, and spirits for our guests.”

If you can’t make the event, you can always volunteer as a tutor says Pierce. “We are always looking for volunteers to help our students with their homework or reading. Additionally, we also have one-off volunteer opportunities like helping to paint one of our buildings or clean [among other volunteer opportunities]. We are always in need of volunteers!” And if you can’t get out and volunteer, you can always donate directly to the cause.

Denver Food and Wine Festival: Sept 5-10

The Denver Food and Wine Festival is a six-day event and a great way to enjoy the city while supporting local organizations. When you purchase a ticket to the event, you’ll be benefiting Kroenke Sports Charities, which provides support for other non-profits; The Denver Post Community Foundation which supports programs that help those in the local community; and The Colorado Restaurant Foundation which helps individuals in the food industry. Events start on September 5th with the Culinary Cinema Series and ends on the 10th with Rise & Dine (which includes the world’s largest Bloody Mary bar). You can purchase tickets for each individual event and enjoy all that the Denver food and wine scene has to offer.

Onehopewine.com

Located in Napa Valley, ONEHOPE is all about buying and drinking wine for a good cause. Each bottle of their wine is dedicated to helping a different cause. If you buy a bottle of their ONEHOPE California Chardonnay you would be helping contribute to Gateway for Cancer Research for breast cancer clinical trials. Buy purchasing a bottle of ONEHOPE Brut Sparkling Wine, Gold Glitter Edition you will be helping Why Hunger to provide meals to children in need. They also support animal adoption, veterans, and school uniforms for girls amongst others. You can purchase their wine online as well as gift package options.

Winetowater.org

Doc Henley created wine to Water in 2007 after volunteering in Sudan installing new water systems. The purpose of Wine to Water is pretty straightforward – they’re looking to provide clean water to those who don’t have it. Because of Wine to Water, more than 500,000 people around the world now have clean water. Currently they have projects across the globe including Cambodia, Haiti, and East Africa. If you purchase any of their wine or swag, you’ll be helping to provide clean water, but you can also donate, start a fundraiser, or join a local chapter.

Winesforhumanity.com

Founded by Anton Steinhart, Wines for Humanity is currently celebrating its 10th anniversary. In the 10 years since it began, Wines for Humanity has raised 3.5 million dollars helping families who are on the brink of being are homeless. In order to get involved, you can purchase wine or host a wine sampling event. By hosting a wine sampling event, portions of the proceeds from the bottles promoted at the events benefits families who are nearing homelessness.

If you have a favorite charity that we’ve not mentioned, let us know in the comment section! If you’d like to work with Mile High Wine Tours for a philanthropic event, please contact us!

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