17th Annual V Wine Celebration Poised to Raise $6 Million for Pediatric Cancer Research with Anonymous $3 Million Matching Donation

NAPA VALLEY, Calif.--()--An unprecedented $3 million matching grant from an anonymous donor will challenge bidders in the fund-a-need portion of The V Wine Celebration fundraiser in the Napa Valley this August. With this match, The V Foundation for Cancer Research is well positioned to raise at least $6 million through this auction lot, 100 percent of which will support pediatric brain cancer research.

Each year, more than 15,000 children are newly diagnosed with cancer in the U.S. Cure rates for most pediatric cancers have improved dramatically over the last 30 years, however, cancer remains the leading cause of death by disease in children — more than asthma, cystic fibrosis, diabetes, and pediatric AIDS combined. “A grant of this magnitude has the potential to have a significant impact on finding cures for brain cancers,” said Julie Allegro, V Foundation board member and co-chair of The V Wine Celebration.

In its 22-year history, The V Foundation has raised the funds and awarded more than $130 million in cancer research grants, in turn, leveraging more than $1 billion in additional funding. The Foundation has awarded more than 500 grants to over 120 institutions nationwide, including 55 grants for pediatric cancer research at institutions that have totaled more than $15 million to date.

The Foundation’s annual fundraiser, The V Wine Celebration, this year takes place August 6-9. The three-day signature fundraising event attracts attendees from all over to the Napa Valley for a gala weekend of events and activities with a serious underlying purpose — to benefit the Foundation’s efforts to support significant cancer research at major institutions and research centers nationwide.

Last year, The V Wine Celebration’s 2014 Vintner Grant honoree was Naoko Dalla Valle, founder and proprietor of Dalla Valle Vineyards. Dalla Valle has been touched by cancer in many ways, losing her father to lung cancer and her husband to prostate cancer. Then, in 2014, her 11-year-old nephew succumbed to a brain cancer known as Diffused Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG). The Foundation honored Dalla Valle for her efforts in personally raising significant funds to fight this deadly disease, and made a grant in her name to Dr. Sabine Mueller, a pediatric neuro-oncologist at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital, to help launch a DIPG clinical trial.

This year’s fund-a-need will raise funds to continue Dr. Mueller’s very important research work, and enable her to bring in other specialists from major cancer centers to work together to help find a cure for pediatric cancer.

For more information about this year’s event and to contribute to the fund-a-need, call 707-963-0611 or visit www.winecelebration.org.

ABOUT THE V FOUNDATION FOR CANCER RESEARCH

The V Foundation for Cancer Research was founded in 1993 by ESPN and the late Jim Valvano, legendary North Carolina State basketball coach and ESPN commentator. Since 1993, the Foundation has funded more than $130 million in cancer research grants nationwide. One hundred percent of the net proceeds from events support all the work of The V Foundation. Due to generous donors, the Foundation has an endowment that covers administrative expenses. The Foundation awards peer-reviewed grants through a competitive awards process vetted by a Scientific Advisory Committee. For more information on The V Foundation or to make a donation, please visit www.jimmyv.org.

ABOUT THE V WINE CELEBRATION

The V Wine Celebration is a world-class wine event and auction benefiting The V Foundation for Cancer Research. Set in Napa Valley, the heart of California Wine Country, this annual special event brings together 500 prominent members of the sports broadcasting, entertainment, media, lifestyle, technology, investment, medical and winemaking worlds to raise money to fund vital research in the fight against all types of cancer. The V Wine Celebration has helped fund 539 research programs at medical and research facilities across the country. Dedicated to giving back to the generous Napa Valley and surrounding communities that have so enthusiastically embraced it, the Foundation has included many Bay Area institutions among its grantees, including St. Helena Hospital, Napa's Queen of the Valley Medical Center, Stanford University and UC San Francisco. Co-founded by Julie Allegro and Robert Lloyd, The V Wine Celebration has grown to be to one of the top-rated charitable wine auctions in the country.

Contacts

for The V Wine Celebration
Holly Krassner Dawson
707-252-7281
holly@hollykdawson.com

Release Summary

An unprecedented $3 million matching grant from an anonymous donor will challenge bidders in the fund-a-need portion of The V Wine Celebration fundraiser in the Napa Valley this August.

Contacts

for The V Wine Celebration
Holly Krassner Dawson
707-252-7281
holly@hollykdawson.com