Corporate sponsorship, community involvement and educational excellence are all important charitable concerns at Southern Wine & Spirits of Illinois, according to Will Conniff, Executive Vice President, General Manager of Southern Wine & Spirits of Illinois and Kentucky, divisions of Southern Wine & Spirits of America, Inc., which is the country’s largest wine and spirits distributor.  

Mr. Conniff said, “Our parent, Southern Wine & Spirits of America, Inc., has a longstanding commitment to social responsibility and charitable giving and, reflecting those values here at Southern Wine & Spirits of Illinois we are involved in literally scores of such efforts as part of our ongoing work to be an active, supportive member in the communities we serve on a statewide basis.”

According to Mr. Conniff, Southern Wine & Spirits of Illinois is proud to support Heart Haven Outreach, a Bolingbrook, Illinois-based group whose mission is to reach out to the hearts of hurting youth and their families and facilitate life transformation through caring relationships and empowering teaching. According to the group, Heart Haven OutReach (H2O) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that serves high school teens and families experiencing challenging times and its services are available to all without discrimination.

In addition, Mr. Conniff said that Southern Wine & Spirits of Illinois provides ongoing annual support to the Wine & Spirit Distributors of Illinois (WSDI) Charitable Foundation. Founded in 1999, the WSDI Charitable Foundation administers an annual trust fund which is then designated for charitable contributions throughout Illinois.

According to Mr. Conniff, the WSDI Charitable Foundation was created to make industry giving more efficient and effective, and is comprised of the major wholesalers of alcohol beverages in the Chicago area, including Southern Wine & Spirits of Illinois.

By combining resources, each wholesaler defers all donation requests to the WSDI Charity Committee. A representative from each wholesaler participates in the selection of charitable causes and events, and a collective contribution is determined by committee vote.  Since its inception, the WSDI Charitable Foundation has given to such grateful organizations as the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Meals on Wheels, Jewel/Osco Charitable Foundation, Children's Memorial Hospital, and the Police Chaplains Ministry.

Southern Wine & Spirits of Illinois is also proud to be supporter of the American Cancer Society, according to Mr. Conniff.