The East Elm Merchant Group welcomes all to a day of shopping, snacking, sipping wine, and supporting the area’s most vulnerable scholars. PHOTOGRAPHY BY ROBIN SUBAR
The perfect end-of-summer pairing of wine, shopping, and philanthropy is the approach behind Winnetka’s East Elm Wine Walk, celebrating its third year. After the kick-off party in mid-May, the organizers have been busily preparing for the big day, perfecting details and hoping to reach even more participants this year.
As the walk continues to expand in 2017, chairs were tasked with carefully selecting a 2017 beneficiary, choosing Boys Hope Girls Hope of Illinois (BHGH) once again.
“The East Elm business owners said they loved our mission and enjoyed working with us so much last year that they were excited to bring us back this year,” Peter Beale-DelVecchio, executive director of BHGH explained.
Featuring sixteen local businesses, boutiques, and shops on Lincoln Avenue and Elm Street, the chairs Deb McMahon of J. McLaughlin and Rachael Mann of Conlon/Christie’s International Real Estate are excited to bring the community together once again on Saturday, September 16.
“The Wine Walk is a win-win-win opportunity,” says Beale-DelVecchio.
Designed to drive local business, spread the mission of BHGH within the community, and introduce customers to their new favorite brand, the Wine Walk truly does present a three-pronged win.
Celebrating nearly four decades in the Chicago area, BHGH is a privately-funded non-profit organization that survives solely on the generosity of individual donors and corporate sponsors. The organization does not take government grants to support its programs, helping empower its scholars and working to break the cycle of poverty from generation to generation. BHGH looks to bring education to students currently in neighborhoods with limited resources and potential life-altering violence; providing hope for the next generation.
Providing students with a holistic approach to high-quality education, BHGH students accepted into the program receive food, housing, tuition, technology and electronic textbook subscriptions, uniforms, testing preparation, and counseling through the many programs. The organization strives to fulfill its mission to help academically capable and motivated children who are in-need and at-risk, to meet their full potential by providing value-centered, family-like homes, opportunities, and quality education through college.
Tickets to the event are $50 per person in advance, $60 at the event, and customers visiting the participating businesses will enjoy tastings of various wines provided by Wilmette Wine Cellar and light bites from local restaurants, while exploring all the businesses have to offer between 4 to 7 p.m. Participating businesses range from retail space to real estate, welcoming all Wine Walk guests in support of BHGH.
For more information and to buy your tickets visit picatic.com/eastelmwinewalk2017.
