by
Olga Deshchenko, DOTmed News Reporter | April 19, 2011
From the April 2011 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
The foundation’s October event held in New York raised a record sum of $300,000. It was held at Daniel, a popular French restaurant, where attendees enjoyed a meal prepared by Daniel Boulud and an assortment of five Cristal vintages donated by Louis Roederer for the event.
Once Grapes for Humanity settles the food bill for the dinner, all of the raised funds go directly to the project of its choice, which is determined prior to the event. “We personally go and visit the project before we give them the funds, just to make sure the money is going where it should be going,” says Willis.
And the foundation’s scope of initiatives is vast. For instance, in 2003, it raised $50,000 for the Lavalla School, a primary school for disabled youth run by Australian Marist brothers in Cambodia. Grapes for Humanity helped the school build housing for staff and dormitories for the students. The foundation also started a music program there.
In 2005, it raised $50,000 to fund the cost of demining three villages in Cambodia. It also donated funds to open the Vida Nueva Prosthetic Clinic in Choluteca, Honduras and supported several projects with the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation such as the renovation of the dormitory at the Kien Khleang National Rehabilitation Center in Cambodia, which was affected by severe flooding during a monsoon.
The Haiti effort
News of the massive earthquake that shook Haiti on Jan. 12, 2010 spurred dozens of humanitarian organizations into action, including Grapes for Humanity. The organization worked to mobilize supporters to raise funds for those affected by the disaster and formed the Grapes for Humanity/U.S. Haiti Relief Effort.
Robert Pierot, a longtime supporter of the organization and the director and principal of Jacques Pierot Jr. & Sons, a New York-based shipbrokers firm, was determined to help. A call on the community of the worldwide shipping industry raised more than $100,000 within two days. “We’ve never done anything like that without having an event,” says Willis.
The funds benefitted the Klinik Hanger, a prosthetic and rehabilitation center established by the Hanger Ivan R. Sabel Foundation and several partners in Haiti. The clinic occupies a part of the space at the Hôpital Albert Schweitzer in Deschapelles. It’s outfitted with more than 13,000 pounds of prosthetic fabrication materials and equipment. Since opening its doors last February, the clinic has helped more than 750 amputees obtain prosthetic limbs. Klinik Hanger also trains local Haitians on sculpting and fitting prostheses and orthotics.
