The South King County Group of Windermere Offices recently held a very fun and successful Foundation Wine Tasting Fundraiser.

The original goal was to raise $8000 after expenses. The actual amount ended up over $10,300! This amount, added to many contributions over the last several months, meant that the offices were able to grant $16,000 through the Windermere Foundation to 10 different agencies in South King County and Seattle, just before Christmas, to help provide food, clothing, utility bills and emergency housing for the many needy in the community.

The eight offices in the group pool their resources every year and combine efforts both in making grants and in fundraising efforts and include: Auburn, Burien, Federal Way, Kent, Maple Valley, Renton, Renton-Tukwila South and West Campus.

This year, the offices recognized that available funds were down due to fewer closed transactions and that need was up due to the Recession. They wanted to do something to give more and decided to host the special fundraising event in December.

The event featured live music, a silent auction, three wine tasting stations hosted by Chandler Reach Winery, Kalamar Winery, Hells Canyon Winery and Zhoo Zhoo Winery and an experience to learn food/wine pairings from David LeClair, a Certified Sommelier from the Court of Master Sommeliers.

A presentation was also made to the nearly 90 attendees highlighting the Windermere Foundation, how the donated funds would be used and if anyone could do more to support the Foundation’s efforts that night. One agent from the Auburn Office was so touched that she wrote a check for $2000 on the spot!

Thank you to all who attended and organized the event!

Best,

Christine Wood

Greetings from the Windermere Foundation,

Kris Barrows of the Windermere Lake Forest Park office in Seattle submitted this about their Community Service Day project at Ballinger Homes.

“Ballinger Homes is an integral part of our community. It is a King County sponsored housing project that includes people from all over the world who have come to America to build a better life. The housing project sponsors wonderful programs for the children who live there. Windermere has supported the children over the years with various contributions, such as providing English dictionaries so that they children going to school could learn words that their parents could not teach them. The after school program provides tutoring for children, art education and life experiences. It is an amazing place to visit and view a sea of children of all ages and ethnicities working together to learn. Not only is book knowledge part of the educational background, but life skills. Those children who wish to learn knitting and sewing are encouraged to do so.  This year our Community Service Project is enhancing the gardens that are provided for the people who live there so they can grow some of their own food and learn about composting and “green” skills. It is always a privilege to be able to go out into our own community on Community Service Day and provide help in areas that will improve people’s lives when we are gone. Ballinger Homes has proven to be a good investment in our time and energy and we look forward to supporting them not just one day a year, but throughout the year. We are so lucky to have this opportunity to do something positive.”

Best,

Christine Wood