Why Bel Lago Helped Organize a Community Fundraiser

You’ve perhaps thought of working to have your wine featured at local restaurants, maybe as a special pairing with a signature dish, but have you ever considered showcasing it in a meal kit to benefit a charitable cause?

Bel Lago Winery in Cedar, Michigan is helping give back to its community, lending its wine to a good cause on April 15 when it will team up with a local charity.

Bel Lago’s wine will be paired with spaghetti in a Spaghetti & Wine Dinner fundraiser being served by Leland-based 5 Loaves 2 Fish, which cooks about 150 meals a week for people experiencing food insecurity in Traverse City and Leelanau County. 

Bel Lago Director of Marketing Sarah Peschel told Vintner the winery reached out to the charity’s co-founder Michelle White, adding that the charity makes “amazing food, so it’s a win-win for everyone.”

“We initially approached Michelle at 5 Loaves 2 Fish to offer proceeds from the sale of a specific bottle of wine during the month of April, but as we got to talking we decided it would be more fun to collaborate on a sort of meal kit instead,” Peschel said. “This gave us both a chance to contribute an element we’re passionate about to a meal that helps the greater community. 

“Plus who doesn’t love a good wine & pasta dinner?” 

The pasta is being made with a pasta machine that had tours of duty in two area restaurants before being gifted to the charity.

While building a business’s reputation as a good neighbor can resonate with current and potential customers, Peschel said Bel Lago takes a bigger picture approach when deciding to partner with local charities.

“We feel it’s very important to contribute to our community and we are always thinking of ways we can be making a bigger impact as an organization. We hope to team up with a non-profit/charitable organization monthly to help support their efforts because, without the work they do, Leelanau and our region wouldn’t be the place it is today,” Peschel said. “As a business, it makes fiscal sense to support initiatives that preserve and protect our area so it remains the special destination it is. 

“We hope the message it sends to our customers is one of respect and responsibility for the people, places and things that make Leelanau, Leelanau.”

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