Wines for a Cause Using Sales to Support Charities

By Kimberly Noon
Special to The Dagger

Cancer is again on the rise in this country. Almost everyday I hear the stories of parents with young children who have lost a kidney, a leg or an arm to the disease. Everyone has a personal story to tell.

My mother barely survived breast cancer in the mid 1980s, and was diagnosed with thyroid cancer last year. Her own personal story of cancer and how she survived the disease, and dealt with it, in her own way, is itself a survival story.

The American Cancer Society has worked with countless agencies in the United States, from start up non-profit groups to raise more community awareness surrounding the disease to wine companies that have allocated funds to cancer patients directly. A portion of the sale of each bottle of wine goes directly to a charity in need on many levels. One in eight women will be affected by breast cancer in her lifetime, according to the American Cancer Foundation. Cancer affects each of us, and does not discriminate toward the afflicted cancer ward patients across this nation.

A brand of wine called One Hope, produced and bottled by Michael Mondavi in California directly donates proceeds from each bottle sale to respective charities and causes. The One Hope wine brand is aptly nicknamed “wines for a cause.” The concept was crafted by a group of friends living in California who had lost a classmate to cancer in 2007. The group banded together and contacted Michael Mondavi to develop and market a series of wines across the country to raise community awarness for five main causes.

Mondavi crafted a soft and lightly oaked chardonnay to benefit breast cancer, the medium and slightly fruit forward merlot was made to benefit the Aids Foundation and a long lingering and spicy Zinfandel made to benefit the military and the crisp citrus bound herbal sauvingnon blanc with proceeds to directly benefit the Arbor Day Foundation. All of the wines retail on average for $9.99 per bottle and a charitable wristband comes free with every bottle purchase. The wines have been distributed in Maryland since June of last year and are availible at select retail wine and liquor locations.

Local Maryland Resident Comes out of Retirement to Sell Wine and Ready Made Cocktails

When Scott Folkins retired from Proctor and Gamble, he met a group of ladies who wanted to help people in need. The women donate a portion of their profits to local charities; at the time Folkins met them, that charity was The Children’s Cancer Foundation, Inc. in Baltimore.

The name of the wine crafted for this purpose is called Fair Hare Wines, a small boutique wine crafted at Brutaco Vineyards in Hopland, California. The wines are crafted in four easy-to-enjoy styles and begin with a mildly oaked Chardonnay. A soft blended Simply Red Wine is comprised of flavors of wild red berries, underscored by peppery spice and cedar. The Simply Red is a blend of three grape varietals, cabernet, merlot and primitivo. The wine also is availible in Zinfandel, a full bodied and spicy wine with flavors of smokey blueberry. The most popular grape varietal of the Fair Hare Wine is a full bodied Cabernet with a rich and long lingering mouthfeel of flavor with smooth berry, soft tannins and light oak.

Scott Folkins initially retired from Practor and Gamble to start a small beverage company, called CWAVE Beverages LLC. CWAVE Beverages makes ready-to-drink cocktails in 1.75 liter plastic pouches. Today, Caribbean Wave Premium Island Cocktails are made from authentic recipes crafted from bartenders Scott met when he visited the Caribbean. The company runs promotional programs with retailers in which a portion of the proceeds are donated to charity. CWAVE Beverages, LLC has selected the Children’s Cancer Foundation, Inc. in Baltimore as their Maryland Charity. Caribbean Wave Cool Runnin’ Vodka Cocktail is currently available in Maryland liquor stores. A second offering, a Goombay Punch Rum Cocktail, is scheduled for release this April.

Scott’s Caribbean Wave Premium Island Cocktails, while new to the market, are availible presently in the Ready to Drink Chill and Pour Pouch in Vodka. His Caribbean Wave Rum Punch Bag will be ready for distribution in April. The Bags will retail for between $15.99 and $17.99 per pouch for a 1.75 ml pouch.

Shortly after Scott released the ready-made Caribbean Wave products into the Maryland market, he took his friends’ advice and got into the wine business. He credits the idea to pursue non-profit fundraising to good advice he took from his close friends and Shirley Howard. The women even designed the Fair Hare Wine label through creative design concepts. These ladies wanted to help people in need, and donate a portion of their profits to local charities. They chose the Children’s Cancer Foundation, Inc. in Baltimore as their charity. Howard started a non-profit out of her home in 1973 for this purpose.

In 1973, cancer-afflicted children were mainstreamed and kept in the same wards as other sick children. Due to their weakened immune systems, cancer-afflicted children died quickly, unable to recover from basic fralities, when exposed to sick children with uncomprised immune systems. Some nurses in the 1970s thought that to separate the cancer-afflicted children into separate wards could help prolong their life and strengthen their immunity. Howard’s company helped raise funds to build these early cancer wards for children throughout the country. In her lifetime, Shirley Howard has raised $38 million to build cancer wards for sick children.

Last year Scott Folkins said Caribbean Wave supported the United Way of Calvert County’s Mardi Gras fundraising event, and the continued mission this year will be to set aside a portion of company sales to benefit other charitable organizations.

These people represent an incredible group of humble human beings, giving back on so many levels and enriching the lives of sick children. Folkins said more than once that he was blessed with an incredible career and the ability to enjoy this phase of his life and semi-retirement.