Thank the Napa Valley Vintners

For the last 12 years the Napa Valley Vintners have been a key partner of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Napa Valley. With over $3,000,000 invested in our programs since the partnership began they have touched thousands of lives through programs made possible because of their support.

Securing consistent and reliable funding is the most difficult obstacle we face as an agency because our youth need to know that we’re going to be present and more than this that we’re going to honor our commitment to them. When we say “we’re going to help you with homework every day at 3:30,” they expect that we’re going to stand by that agreement. Maintaining that level of commitment is difficult when you don’t know what, when, or if a donation is coming to pay for the staff, the supplies, or the electrical bill. That’s why the Vintners commitment to continued annual funding is so incredibly helpful because it means that we can plan for the future and be intentional about how we support and invest in our youth.

What makes this regular support so unique is the level of trust they place in us and other recipients. It’s much easier to secure funding for a special interest project. People fall in love with supporting our Fine Arts programs, Workforce Development programs, and our work in mental health. Like any business, though, we have all of these ancillary expenses like facility maintenance, insurance, and all the infrastructure that makes the fun stuff possible. People just don’t get excited about making sure that we can pay someone to clean the toilets and while that’s understandable, we still need to make sure the Club is always clean and ready for kids. That’s what makes the Napa Valley Vintners unique in that they invest in us without any strings attached for how that funding is applied. They trust us to make sound investments in our children regardless of whether that means a new flashy program or paying the Comcast bill to ensure our distance learners always have a strong connection. They trust us as the experts in the room and invest in us because they can see the value of what we do for the community. That gives us so much flexibility with regard to how we shape youth.

With so much emphasis placed on the wine and hospitalities industries it’s easy to forget that we are first and foremost a community of people trying to make lives better in this special place we call home. That’s something that the Vintners are incredibly mindful of as they continue to support programs and initiatives that make life better for the residents who make the Napa Valley brand what it is. So, if you rely on, have been impacted by, or support the work of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Napa Valley please take a moment to thank the Napa Valley Vintners because they quietly make our work easier, deeper, and more importantly better.