A Toast to 3 Area Charities: Giving Back

Cinnamon Shore Wine Auction Dinner Helps 3 Groups Doing Noteworthy Work in South Texas ~

On Sat., March 25, 2023, the first annual Cinnamon Shore Charity Wine Auction Dinner celebrated an evening of coastal elegance and raised funds for three, highly deserving charity groups--Helping Hands Food Pantry, New Life Refuge and The Purple Door.

Featuring premier wines from small-batch winery Dakota Shy of Napa Valley, this exclusive evening brought generous homeowners and friends of Cinnamon Shore to experience highly rated wines paired with a special tasting menu at Lisabella's, along with one-of-a-kind auction items. Teams from Cinnamon Shore Vacation Rentals and Cinnamon Shore Realty collaborated to make the night a truly special experience.

Raising $75,000 for Stellar Non-Profit Groups

As result of the Charity Wine Auction's big-hearted bidders and attendees, the Cinnamon Shore Giving Fund was able to present $25,000 checks to each of these charitable organizations working tirelessly in the Coastal Bend. 

• Helping Hands Pantry

Housed in the Community Presbyterian Church in the heart of Port Aransas, this pantry benefits Port Aransas families with emergency food and local school children with food assistance.

It serves clients in need by providing food twice a month, meeting the needs of families who qualify and serving the school community with meals and food-assistance at school events.

• New Life Refuge 

Based in Corpus Christi, this dedicated ministry provides specialized, long-term, therapeutic care in a home setting to victims of childhood sex trafficking in South Texas. Its three-pronged approach features the Refuge, a facility where young people live and recover; Awareness through Education, helping the region understand the problem of sex trafficking in Texas; Partnerships, working with other ministries and churches to provide prayer and other support.

A total of seven homes are planned from the Home of Hope campus, serving 42 residents in need of care. The education arm has reached 18,000 people, sounding the alarm and soliciting aid for these children in need.

• The Purple Door

Serving a 12-county area of South Texas, this Corpus Christi-based non-profit offers free services to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.

For 45 years, the non-profit organization has served as a women's shelter with confidential aid to women in need of a place to stay, counseling, legal services, and more. It educates the community, as well, with campaigns such as Teen Dating Violence Awareness & Prevention Month in February and other presentations, seminars, and pop-up discussions sessions about this sensitive topic.

A Glittering Night, A New Tradition

Teams from the Cinnamon Shore Vacation Rentals and Cinnamon Shore Realty teams worked together to present the elegant dinner and auction, which offered lavish travel experiences and vacation perks such as beach umbrellas and chairs for a year.

We plan to continue such charitable events, with our Cinnamon Shore Vacation Rentals and Cinnamon Shore Realty teams collaborating to bring elegant evenings and lots of fun to our community--all for great causes. We love giving back to our island community and the Coastal Bend, and we're proud to contribute to the work of groups helping people in need across South Texas.

Sunset image: Katy Frank/Evoke Memories Photography

Published by Jennifer Chappell Smith
Thursday, February 16, 2023