The Fund for Vineyard and Farm Workers
The Fund for Vineyard and Farm Workers
Johnine and I established The Fund for Vineyard and Farm Workers in 2004 for a couple of reasons. First, our friend Archie McLaren of the Central Coast Wine Classic (at the time, one of the largest charity wine auctions in the United States) had developed a program of philanthropy to support various local charities in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties. I thought it would be a good idea to start directing some of that money to farm workers because they are the people who make the wine industry, and indeed all of agriculture in our region possible. As we looked into it, we learned that there was no charity that focused on our local farm worker community.
Second, with a strong interest in philanthropy and community service, Johnine was serving on the Board of Directors for the Community Foundation of San Luis Obispo County. We agreed that this would be a way to merge our interests in philanthropy and in supporting the farm worker community. As we considered the issues and challenges of establishing a non-profit, we agreed that it would be easier and better for us to do this under the Community Foundation umbrella. Our goal when we started was to create an endowment with a balance of $1 million that would exist in perpetuity.
The Fund for Vineyard and Farm Workers now has a balance of more than $1.2 million and is held by the Community Foundation San Luis Obispo County. While our main focus has been to provide grants to 501(c)3 non-profit organizations that support the farm worker community, we’ve recently added a scholarship for the children of farm workers. Scholars have attended Cuesta College, Cal Poly and UC Berkeley. Past grant recipients have included the Noor Clinic, Clinica de Tolosa, Raising a Reader, the Children’s Health Initiative, the South County Boys and Girls Club, and the San Luis Obispo County Literacy Council. By the end of the year, total grants will exceed $300,000.
Johnine and I are proud of the impact that the Fund for Vineyard and Farm workers has had in our community and appreciate the broad based support we’ve enjoyed since we began this initiative back in 2004.
– Brian Talley
