Tomorrow, Sunday Oct. 18, the Santa Monica Rotary Club’s annual Wine and Jazz Festival will be taking place at the Museum of Flying at the Santa Monica Airport from 2 pm to 5 pm. As the Rotary Club’s only major fundraiser, the event raises the funds and proceeds that go toward local and international service projects, including charities, philanthropies, and various other worthy causes.
This year, Santa Monica and Culver City-based organization Upward Bound House will be in the spotlight at this annual fundraiser. Upward Bound House functions as a provider of housing and other relevant services for homeless families with children. The organization not only temporarily houses families but also guides them as they transition into longer term programs or permanent housing. Other supportive services – all centered around self-improvement and self-sufficiency – that are offered to the families include comprehensive case management, parenting classes, and children’s enrichment activities.
Upward Bound House has received a handful of grants from Santa Monica Rotary Club.
“Over the years we’ve probably received about four grants from the Rotarians,” Christine Mirasy-Glasco, executive director of Upward Bound House, said. “We’ve participated in the wine and jazz festival since we’ve been members of the Rotary Club, but this year we were lucky enough to be selected as the highlight.”
Glasco elaborated on the purpose of Upward Bound House and why the Rotary Club likely decided on this organization to help fund and support.
“It’s a restbed, a safe haven, a refuge,” Glasco said. “It’s a place where distressed homeless families find a place they can call home temporarily. We let them come in and de-compress, and also simulate living situations through our programs. We emphasize the importance of community, the importance of integrating and being good neighbors and citizens once they move out of our apartments.”
The total number of clients are comprised of about a hundred parents and children.
The Wine and Jazz Festival allows the Santa Monica Rotary Club to help fund such local organizations as well as pursue numerous humanitarian projects around the world. Attendees receive the opportunity to not only spend an afternoon listening to live jazz music, tasting wines, and eating delicious food catered by Fig of the Fairmont Hotel, but also contribute to worthy causes that the Rotary Club of Santa Monica supports.
For more information on the Wine and Jazz Festival, visit rotaryclubofsantamonica.org.
