Some of you will remember the charity raffle that I ran last October to raise money for the ALS Association. For those that don’t, or weren’t around then, the short and sweet of it is that 85 WineBerserkers together contributed $5,720 directly to the “Walk to Defeat ALS” event to honor my close friend Todd Witt who is now in his second year with the disease. Lucky donors received bottles of MacDonald, Allemand, Giacosa, and more from my cellar in addition to Juge and more MacDonald donated by the awesome Berserkers @M.Kaplan and @Steve_Anderson . (The thread is at this link if you want to see how it played out.)
Todd W. and I remain tremendously grateful for the support that was given last year. His fundraising team raised just shy of $100k for the cause which is - in my view - a pretty cool achievement. It’s been a long year for him - he’s in his 50s, unable to work, and has volunteered himself for an experimental stem cell treatment trial at Mayo Clinic to which he is traveling regularly. It hasn’t stopped us from getting our families together every week or two and having a lot of laughs. (He STILL beats me at every game despite having lost most of his physical strength.)
He’s totally undaunted and his family has asked our small team to give fundraising another go and see if we can top the six-figure mark in this year’s charity event. I’m coming a little late to the game because they have been at it for several weeks now. They’ve already got $60k in the bag!
So please join me in another effort to help patients and families facing ALS in a “raffle repeat.” We’ll follow the same rules and procedure (zero complaints last year!), but my goal is for us to top our $5,720 number from last year so I’m upping the entry price to $25.
Here’s how this main drawing will work:
- Make a donation directly to the ALS Association using the donate link on my personal Walk to Defeat ALS page. (You must use one of the donate buttons on my fundraising page for the donation to count for the raffle. This ensures that your donation will be visible to my fundraising team and the other raffle participants.)
- Forward a copy of your donation receipt to jjj@winograd.net
- For every $25 in confirmed donations, you get 1 entry. All entries received will be confirmed via email within 24 hrs.
- Fundraiser closes at noon pacific Sat Oct 15.
- Drawing will be made the afternoon of closing and prizes awarded using Charlie’s process (link) (though, unless Charlie throws his insta-savvy hat in the ring, I can’t promise it will be broadcast live on the interwebs).
The first bottle in the drawing is a 750ml of MacDonald Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon from my cellar - winner’s choice of any vintage 2014-2019 (ex 2016 - all out). 2-day shipping anywhere in the continental US is included.
I will contribute additional prizes as we progress to the goal and have some solid stuff waiting in the wings. You’ll have to earn it though! Community contributions of prizes remain welcome (contact me via PM or the email address above).
Thank you!
EDITED TO ADD (10/2):
One day in, we have raised $500 which is ahead of our pace for last year. Thank you to the participants for your support!
When the donations reach $1,000 I will add a 750ml of 2013 Bartolo Mascarello Barolo from my cellar to the drawing. CHALLENGE MET
Per Charlie’s process, each entry that is drawn in sequence will get their choice of remaining bottles.
EDITED TO ADD (10/4):
Thanks to Berserker-extraordinaire @Alan_Rath we have our first guest challenge. When contributions reach $1,500, Alan’s 2015 Pierre Gonon St. Joseph will be added to the prize box. Bring it on! CHALLENGE MET
EDITED TO ADD (10/5):
New challenge! When contributions reach $2,500, a 750ml of 2011 R. López de Heredia Rioja Rosado Gran Reserva Viña Tondonia from my cellar will be added to the drawing. CHALLENGE MET
EDITED TO ADD (10/6):
A new challenge for the big wheels over in the champagne thread. When contributions reach $3,500, a 750ml of 2013 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Coeur de Cuvée from my cellar will be added to the drawing. CHALLENGE MET
EDITED TO ADD (10/8):
We’ve had a few participants make big donations to the cause which is much appreciated. As a way of providing the most generous folks with some special recognition I’ve cooked up a “baller” drawing.
The baller drawing is going to be a separate drawing with a single winner. Entry is $200 per ticket and the prize is attendance at the Dec 15 MacDonald vertical dinner in LA with Graeme & Alex, including the required bottle contribution and an equal share of the dinner tab. (Thanks to the dinner organizers for holding a seat for this!)
All the winner has to do is get themselves to the dinner and I’ll take care of the rest. If the winner can’t make it to the dinner, I’ll ship them their choice of MacDonald 18 or 19 and contribute their share of the dinner tab to the disease-fighting charity of their choice and we’ll pass the seat on to someone from the waiting list. (My hope is that they make it to the dinner though!)
My goal with this is to provide upside for everyone, including the folks who are in the main drawing. So here’s how the two will work together. It’s a bit complicated but I’ll try not to screw it up too bad.
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You can participate in either drawing or both drawings. But any given contribution can only be credited to one drawing. You just need to tell me by email or PM which drawing you want your contribution amount to go towards and if unspecified it will default to the main drawing.
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Through Weds Oct 12, you can convert a contribution made to the main drawing over to the baller drawing in whole or in part but you can’t convert back from the baller drawing to the main drawing. For example, if you already donated $100 for 4 mains drawing tickets, you can donate another $100 and convert it all to 1 baller drawing ticket. No conversions allowed after Weds. New/supplemental contributions are always welcome in any amount but raffle entries are given only in increments of $25 (main drawing) and $200 (baller drawing).
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Conversions to the baller drawing will reduce the number of entries in the main drawing, improving the chances of those who remain. There will be more challenges added to the main drawing over the next week but none for the baller drawing. The donation page linked above will continue to show the total donations for both drawings but I will post total amounts allocated to each drawing in the thread daily.
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I’ll default to Charlie’s rules wherever possible but designate myself as final rules arbiter in case of emergency. My goal is fairness to all…and fun for a good cause.
I’ll answer questions in the main thread and post any clarifications as edits up here.
EDITED TO ADD (10/9):
Our next challenge is a monster bottle from guest donor @Steve_Anderson: a 750ml of 2016 The Third Twin Nuestra Señora del Tercer Gemelo.
This Manfred Krankl beauty will enter the main drawing when it’s total reaches $4,250. CHALLENGE MET
Steve is a repeat raffle contributor and bottle donor! Chapeau, Steve!
EDITED TO ADD (10/11):
Main drawing total currently sits at $5,150. Time for a new challenge. When it reaches $5,750, a 750ml of 2013 Pierre Gonon St. Joseph from my cellar will be added to the drawing. CHALLENGE MET
(Rhone Ranger @Paul_Gordon recently called this “the best Gonon to date”!)
EDITED TO ADD (10/13):
Main drawing total is at $5,750. Our next challenge comes courtesy of the PDX berserker and Defeat ALS supporter @JohnCummings. When our main drawing contributions reach $6,250, John will be adding the heavy-hitting 2016 Sine Qua Non Syrah Rätsel 16 to our prize pool. Thanks John! CHALLENGE MET
EDITED TO ADD (10/14):
Main drawing total is at $6,275. Time for the last challenge! When our main drawing contributions reach $6,750, a 750ml of 2003 R. López de Heredia Rioja Blanco Reserva Viña Tondonia from my cellar will be added to the prize pool.
(@Otto_Forsberg, who knows a thing or two, says this wine tastes pretty good (link). Good luck finding it elsewhere!)
great work Joe!