Wine Enthusiasts and High Bidders Generously Support Research at Wilmot

Wilmot Cancer Institute was the proud beneficiary of a record-breaking fundraising event in November 2022 at The Lake House in Canandaigua.

The Toast to Your Health Wine Auction, in its 19th year, is the University of Rochester Medical Center’s premier fundraiser. Last fall it sold out for the first time with an attendance of 220 people and raised more than $1.5 million, which was also a record.

All proceeds went to Wilmot to support its new developmental therapeutics initiative, which is designed to accelerate and translate basic scientific discoveries into clinical research. The goal is to continually bring leading-edge cancer treatments to the 27 counties in upstate New York from which Wilmot draw patients.

The event’s success was due to the leadership of Danny Wegman and Michael Misch; honorary chairs Sherwood Deutsch, R. Wayne and Beverly LeChase and Tom and Colleen Wilmot; auction cochairs Mike Jones, Patrick Cunningham and David Linehan (faculty chair); and the entire Wine Auction committee.

The elegant and fun-filled event featured 48 silentauction items, 18 live-auction items, notable wines from around the world, and an informative program highlighting Wilmot and its advances in care. High bids went to attractive and rare wine collections and exotic trips to Italy and the Caribbean. Wilmot is grateful to its longtime donors and new friends made through the wine auction event.