If I Had A Million Dollars - Santa Barbara Wine & Direct Relief

Jenny Dore gives a really big check to DRI

The Barenaked Ladies had a friendly pop hit in 1988 with “If I Had a Million Dollars,” and they imagined all the things they would do with said million like, “Well, I'd buy you an exotic pet. Yep, like a llama or an emu.” They even consider the Elephant Man’s bones as a possibility. Sounds pretty cool but a million dollars can buy so many other things and in the case of the Santa Barbara Vintners Foundation, they just gave a million dollars to Direct Relief International. The money was raised from various silent auctions at wine events and over the last 15 years the Vintners Association has raised over $4 Million, all given to Direct Relief. For a small community, that’s pretty impressive.

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Based in Goleta, Direct Relief International (DRI) is a medical relief organization, active in all 50 states and in 70 countries, working with more than 1,000 health clinics across the U.S. to assist in emergencies and providing said clinics with free medications for people in need. And DRI has impressive charity ratings, including a 100% fundraising efficiency rating from Forbes and the No. 1 spot on Charity Navigator’s list of the “10 Best Charities Everyone’s Heard Of.” That’s important as we’ve all heard of charities that have ended up being less than charitable. The 2016 Santa Barbara Wine Auction, a joint effort by the Santa Barbara Vintners Foundation and DRI, exceeded everyone’s expectations. On a warm May day Jenny Williamson Doré (of Foxen Winery) presented a check in the amount of One Million Twenty-Two Thousand Dollars to Direct Relief’s President, Thomas Tighe. Nice job. “Because of their extraordinary efficiency, Direct Relief will leverage this money into more than $30 million in medical aid,” said Vintners Foundation president, Steve Fennell of Sanford Winery. “The vintners are proud to support the efforts of this outstanding organization headquartered right here in Santa Barbara County.”  

Which gets to the heart of the issue. No matter what our profession, no matter what our limitations, all of us, as individuals, families, associations, companies or corporations can all be involved to some degree in making the world a better place, alleviating suffering and simply being kind. That you can accomplish this and drink Santa Barbara county wine is mere icing on the cake. So get out there, taste new wines, support Vintners and DRI and help improve the world.