We would like to extend a very special and long overdue thanks to Café Aroma for the incredible support it has shown us over the years.

Café Aroma, Idyllwild CA

Since 2010, all advertising revenues garnered by Café Aroma’s Live Mail Website have been donated to ICF, totaling over $3,000, and making Café Aroma ICF’s largest single benefactor. Every dollar donated by Café Aroma is matched by The Community Foundation of Riverside and San Bernardino Counties, the organization under which the ICF operates.

And for the past two years, Café Aroma donations have helped fund the Idyllwild Youth Grantmakers, a new program of the Community Foundation that is designed to teach 6th through 8th grade Idyllwild School students about philanthropy.

Youth Grantmakers evaluate grant requests from nonprofits whose missions include helping youth. They then recommend grant awards. Since money donated to ICF benefits the entire community, Café Aroma’s “under the radar’ open-hearted giving continues to enrich the lives of all of us.

Thank you Café Aroma!

Idyllwild has many nonprofits whose activities improve the life of the community. Some provide propane for the needy, some entertainment, some educational services, some art lessons and some disaster preparedness assistance. Only one, the Idyllwild Community Fund, has as its sole mission to provide grants to area non-profits to help them meet key project objectives.

Associated with The Community Foundation of Riverside and San Bernardino Counties, ICF Advisory Committee members are tasked with raising money to fund these grants. Most recently, ICF agreed to fund, for three years at $2,000 per year, the Idyllwild Youth Grantmakers – a mentoring program for Idyllwild School 6^th through 8^th graders to teach philanthropy, how it betters the lives of people within their community, and to provide a fund of $4,000 annually for them to award to grant applicants whose missions serve youth. Youth Grantmakers are trained in reviewing grants and spend after school time over three months of training to become knowledgable about the process.

Because of this laudable new program and the need to fund it in addition to other fundraising obligations, ICF Advisory Committee members have added a new fundraising event. It is an auction with a twist featuring a fine wine bar, wonderful food and sophisticated music from Luc and Jac Jacaruso and Marshall Hawkins, our local deacon of jazz.

Community members are asked to bring silent auction pieces of value – from $25 to $300 or more. Items will be displayed during the event with bid sheets. When the item sells, contributors can elect to take 75% of the sale price, donating the remaining 25% to ICF and its mission of funding local nonprofit projects. OR, contributors can donate more than the 25%. Donating ALL would be appreciated. Three items per person. No clothing please. Also if the item has no bids at the end of the evening, contributors are asked to take it home.

Join us for an afternoon in the pines featuring:

• a fine wine bar,  (a beer bar too)
• a sumptuous food court,
• a raffle of enormous proportions
• a sophisticated  musical interlude featuring Marshall Hawkins, Marshall Smith, Jac and Lucca Jacaruso,
• and a very special Silent Auction

Saturday, July 5th from 4-7pm among the Pines at Rainbow Inn.

The First Annual Idyllwild Community Fund “Wine in the Pines” Social Event

Saturday, July 5, 2014 from 4-7 PM

In the Garden at the Rainbow Inn

A Very Special Auction and Entertainment Event to Benefit Idyllwild Area Non-Profit Organizations

Entry is Free and Everyone is Invited

It will be an enchanted time to enjoy a glass of fine wine, fine food, fine music, a raffle of fabulous prizes, and Idyllwild’s first Silent Auction with a “Twist”.

Here’ s the “Twist”:  When your item sells  -at your price- you can accept up to 75% of the selling price, donating the rest to the Idyllwild Community Fund that uses your contributions to fund projects for deserving local non-profits.  Or you can donate the full sale price.  That’s up to you.

This summer-fun event offers a way for you to help the non-profits that provide services to the Idyllwild community and at the same time sell your special treasures – without the hassle of EBay or an Estate Sale sign in your front yard.

So here’s how it works – Bring the items that you would like to sell to the Rainbow on July 5 by 4 p.m..  The item should be valued from $25 to $300, and can include small lamps, home furnishings, jewelry, designer handbags, fine art, musical instruments, antique china and silver.  If you’ve held onto it this long, it is a treasure that may need to move on to create delight for someone else.

We will have tables set up in the garden to display each entry.  Please let us know that you will be bringing an item (or two or three) for entry in the auction by emailing Summer by June 30th.  (We can also store your entries at BBVA Compass Bank prior to the event.  It’s a treasure right?  So it needs to be safe.) Please let us know if you want to store it at the bank prior to the event.

So get started on your spring-cleaning now, clear out your garage or attic and with your donations help enrich the lives of your community members. Experience a new community event “with a twist” – “Wine in the Pines 2014.”  Don’t miss it!