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Nashville Area Charity Needs Your Corks

A Nashville area foundation called Sports 4 All has come up with an ingenious way to raise money. They are asking for your used wine corks. They are gathering corks from local restaurants, individuals and retailers, sorting them, and then they sell them to artists all over the country and beyond. "There is an artist in California who has a large standing order we can't fill at the moment", Sara Koppelman, Program Manager told me recently. Sports 4 All raises money and solicits sporting equipment and provides equipment and recreational opportunities for disabled persons of all ages.

Sara and Sports 4 All President Kris Salisbury do most of the work at Sports 4 All, but all of the proceeds of their work goes into the foundation. They don't receive payment for their work. The two came together about 2 years ago when Koppelman was working at a Down's Syndrome camp and needed equipment. She met Kris and they began working together on the foundation that Salisbury, a Down's Syndrome parent had begun over 10 years ago. Sara and Kris share a love for wine, and it was over a glass that they had the bright idea now known as "Corks 4 Charity".

It has worked. Now they are putting the word out to do more of it. "The market is there", Sara told me. We have signed up local restaurants like J. Alexander's and Park Cafe, and put the word out to local tasting events and to our friends. On a bi-weekly basis, Sports 4 All makes a “cork run” (cork retrieval trip) and collects the corks which then get separated into groups of 100. The lots of 100 corks are then sold to artists for creative projects including: picture frame ornamentation, furniture design, dartboard backsplashes, wreaths, and many other artistic endeavors. When we get a bunch of corks, we get together for "cork therapy", when we sort them out, separating out the real corks from the synthetic ones. "We market on eBay, and when artists find out we have corks available, we become a supplier to them. "We can sell as many corks as we can gather."

"Corks 4 Charity creates a community of recycling and giving, providing unique corks to creative minds and artists, raising awareness of Sports 4 All Foundation, and offering a reliable funding source to fulfill Sports 4 All’s Mission: to improve the quality of life of individuals with disabilities by providing funding and equipment to enable full participation in sports and recreation activities. Corks 4 Charity is an easy was to give back to the community and recycle – simultaneously."

I found out about Corks 4 Charity through the Nashville Predators Hockey organization, whose community foundation hosts a large Wine Festival and Tasting each spring. Sports 4 All has been supported by the Nashville Predators Foundation for 2 consecutive years and this year they are fortunate enough to be a featured charity with the Predators. Sports 4 All is definitely on to something. This is a great idea you have to agree. Now I know what to do with those corks I've been collecting for years that I didn't know what to do with. I couldn't throw them away and now I know why.

If you're a retailer or restaurant, contact Sports 4 All about saving and donating corks. Retailers can place a clear receptacle in their stores so people know it's for corks only. Local businesses can have their corks picked up. If you're an individual, here's a great way to recycle and help a foundation. Gather up a bunch of those corks and send them to Sports 4 All Foundation. The contact information is listed below. By the way, there are other ways to support the foundation besides giving them your corks, and you'll find more information on their website.

For more about the Sports 4 All Foundation, and the 2 women force behind it, see the 2007 Nashville Tennessean newspaper article reprinted here (pdf file).

Sports 4 All Foundation
Kris Salisbury and Sara Koppelman
http://www.s4af.org
5827 Charlotte Pike
Nashville, Tennessee
(615) 354-6454

A Menu For Hope III

Have You Heard?  The Menu For Hope III campaign is live and running.  Chez Pim has orchestrated this campaign since its inception in 2004, and this year the funds raised will be donated to the UN World Food Programme, which provides hunger relief for needy people worldwide.

Last year, over $17,000 was raised for UNICEF, and with your help, hopefully this year will well surpass that total.

This is Winewaves' first time to participate as a prize donor, and the prize is a signed wine label poster, approximately 2 feet by 3 feet in size.  Bid on this prize and if you're the winner, you may choose any of the more than 500 wine label photos posted on Winewaves (two such choices are pictured above).  You'll then receive the glossy poster, printed by Nashville-based Advantagraph, signed by me, mounted and ready for display in your kitchen, wine cellar, or wherever.

Here's how you participate: For every US$10 you donate, you may claim one raffle ticket.  The more you give, the better your chance to win.  The campaign is scheduled to run from now until Friday December 22nd, 6PM PST.  Chez Pim has posted the donation instructions, as well as a full rundown of the generous prizes being offered by the other fine food and wine bloggers who are participating this year.

Thanks to Chez Pim and also to Alder, Editor of Vinography for putting it all together, and for including Winewaves this year.