PORT ANGELES — The Puget Sound Business Journal has placed Olympic Cellars on its list of Top Corporate Philanthropists, which recognizes companies of all sizes for their support of community causes and organizations.
It is the second straight year Olympic Cellars has made the list.
Companies were placed in one of three categories SEmD large, medium or small, determined by total revenue SEmD and then ranked within each category according to their contributions in the state.
Olympic Cellars ranked No. 23 out of 25 businesses on the small companies list, with $12,579 in cash giving and $7,158 in in-kind giving (wine donations) — a 70 percent increase over the winery’s total charitable contributions for 2008.
“Giving back is ingrained in our overall business philosophy, and we are very proud to have increased our giving to nonprofit organizations serving women and families in 2009,” said Kathy Charlton, owner of Olympic Cellars.
The increase was made possible in large part by a nonprofit partnership launched last summer in conjunction with Olympic Cellars’ annual summer concert series.
The partnership centered around five local nonprofit organizations that provide a “framework of elements needed for a healthy community,” as defined by The Seattle Foundation, a philanthropic leader in creating community change in King County and beyond.
These elements are: arts and culture, basic needs, economy, education, environment, health care, and neighborhoods and communities.
Each of five concerts in the August series was paired with a local nonprofit organization: Family Planning of Clallam County, Homeward Bound, Port Angeles Farmers Market, YMCA of Clallam County and BuiltGreen of Clallam County.
For each concert, the winery donated all of the cover-charge revenues to the paired nonprofit in exchange for volunteer help in promoting and working at the show.
The partners in this summer’s concert series are the Boys & Girls Club of the Olympic Peninsula; The Gynocare Fund, administered by Family Planning of Clallam County; Jet Set Soroptimists scholarship fund; and the Northwest Land Trust.
The concerts will be on Saturday evenings in August on the winery grounds, 255410 U.S. Highway 101, between Port Angeles and Sequim.
For more information, visit www.olympiccellars.com or phone 360-452-0160.
