The 28th Annual Casa Pacifica Angels Wine, Food & Brew Festival takes place this month on September 26 at California State University Channel Islands. Featuring more than 150 vendors of food, wine, brews and specialty items plus all-day entertainment, the event helps fill the annual gap between revenue and actual costs of the nonprofit’s programs.
“The goal of the festival is to raise substantial funding to support Casa Pacifica’s programs and services, but another important impact of the festival is in its role of building awareness of Casa Pacifica and its important mission in the community—and then fostering community support,” says Chief Development Officer Carrie Hughes, who has worked with the organization since 1999. “People are introduced to Casa Pacifica at a great, fun-filled community event … It brings together so many disparate elements of our community for one goal, one purpose, one intent—to raise funds to support the most vulnerable and deserving youth and make a huge difference in their lives through the vital services Casa Pacifica provides. This collaborative effort [of hundreds of volunteers] is the real story of the festival, which would not be possible without them,” says Hughes.
Driven by the nonprofit’s mission to “restore hope, enhance resilience and strengthen community connections for children, young adults and families at the most challenging points of their lives,” Hughes takes pride in helping the organization achieve its annual fundraising goals.
“In my 22-year tenure with Casa Pacifica, over $70 million has been raised by the Development Team ... an amazing feat which has benefited the lives of well over 4,000 youth and their families—I am proud to have been a part of ensuring our programs/staff have been there to help those who are in the greatest need,” says Hughes.
Casa Pacifica’s Angels Wine, Food & Brew Festival has become the premier wine and food event in Ventura County and was named by VC Reporter as the “Best Charity Event” and “Best Food & Drink Festival” in Ventura County for the past nine years. The event is preceded by the 8th Annual Yummie Top Chef Dinner at California State University Channel Islands, featuring a seven-course meal prepared by previous Yummie Culinary Competition winners.
These and other fundraising events help support Casa Pacifica’s assessment, trauma care, medical and educational services to more than 1,700 minors each year. As Ventura County’s largest nonprofit provider of children’s mental health services, Casa Pacifica Centers for Children and Families is a crisis-care and residential treatment facility that aims to support growth and development for foster and at-risk children and their families in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties through a broad range of high-quality diagnostic, educational, treatment and research programs, as well as active collaboration between public and private sectors.
Casa Pacifica’s evidence-based, cutting-edge solutions positively alter the trajectory of these vulnerable youths’ lives toward hopeful futures as productive, contributing members of society.
To learn more about Casa Pacifica and the Angels Wine, Food & Brew Festival, visit CasaPacifica.org.
