Corporate sponsorship, community involvement and educational excellence are all important charitable concerns at Southern Wine & Spirits of Kentucky, according to Will Conniff, Vice President, General Manager of Southern Wine & Spirits of Illinois and Kentucky, which are divisions of Southern Wine & Spirits of America, Inc., the country’s leading wine and spirits distributor with a tradition of service since 1968.
James Graham Brown Cancer Center: Southern Wine & Spirits of Kentucky is the signature sponsor for The Mint Jubilee Gala that is held annually in May. This event benefits the James Graham Brown Cancer Center and its Mint Jubilee Cancer Resource Center and Gilda’s Club Louisville. The black tie event, which began in 1997, is held at the Galt House in Louisville, Kentucky on the eve of the Kentucky Derby each year. In 2009, more than 1,000 people including national celebrities, business people, derby guests and people from all walks of life attended this event.
According to Mr. Conniff, The James Graham Brown Cancer Center is one of the community’s leading facilities in the treatment of cancer. The Center is within its final push toward National Cancer Institute designation. The Mint Jubilee Resource Center assists patients and families in dealing with the physical and psychological challenges of cancer. Gilda’s Club is a special place where all cancer patients and their families join with others to build social and emotional support. The funds from the Mint Jubilee Gala will go a long way toward supporting these endeavors.
Southern Wine and Spirits of Kentucky has completed six years of our eight-year sponsorship commitment to this event. During this time Southern Wine and Spirits of Kentucky has contributed more than $500,000 in support. Southern Wine and Spirits of Kentucky has committed $100,000 per year over the remaining two years of this charitable partnership. To find out more about the event, please visit www.mintjubilee.org
Holiday Project/Salvation Army/St. Joseph Children Home/Fairdale Ministries: In 2008, for the 11th consecutive year, the employees of Southern Wine & Spirits of Kentucky, a division of Southern Wine & Spirits of America, Inc., showed their generosity by helping needy families during the Holiday Season. The families were selected in conjunction with the local Salvation Army, and the Jefferson County Public Schools, according to Will Conniff, Executive Vice President, General Manager, Southern Wine & Spirits of Kentucky and Illinois.
During the last holiday season, Southern Wine & Spirits of Kentucky sponsored a total of 14 families. The families were located in Owensboro (2), Lexington (2), Covington (2), and Louisville (8). In addition, we sponsored 15 young people from the St. Joseph Children Home in Louisville. This was the third year in which we had worked with the St. Joseph Children Home with our Holiday Project. The support from Southern Wine & Spirits employees was overwhelming.
This program has been in operation since 1998 and is supervised by Chris Hagan, Human Resources Manager for Southern Wine & Spirits of Kentucky. Mr. Hagan said that the Company’s employees were glad to assist these families during the Holiday season, and it is proud to participate in this particular effort, as we do for many other charities, and we continue to want to play a constructive role in these efforts across Kentucky.
Mr. Hagan noted that the Company has received written thank you notes from the organizations as well as thank you cards from the family members including the children. The Company plans to continue this program for the 2009 holiday season.
In addition, 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 Kentucky 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.”
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