Letter to the Editor: A Heartfelt Thank You to Napa Valley Vintners
Each June, something remarkable happens in Napa Valley. Thousands of people gather not just to celebrate what this place produces, but to invest in the people who call it home. This year, Auction Napa Valley raised $6 million for the youth and families of Napa County. I wanted to stop and say, simply: Thank You
At Cope Family Center, we are one of the organizations fortunate enough to benefit from the generosity of Napa Valley Vintners, a relationship that spans almost three decades and nearly $5 million in investment in our work. We don’t take this lightly. In a funding landscape that can feel uncertain and fragile, the Vintners’ sustained commitment is a vote of confidence in prevention. It is a belief that when families have support early, before crisis takes hold, communities grow stronger. That alignment means more than any dollar amount.
Our programs reach parents in American Canyon who are learning new ways to walk with their kids. It reaches children in Napa Valley schools who are building the skills to navigate hard moments. It reaches families who might not have known help was available, or who weren’t sure they deserved it.
I also want to offer a special thank you to Opus One for including me in their intimate winery dinner on Friday evening to share about the work we do at Cope Family Center. Surrounded by winery owners and auction guests, I had time to connect personally and to share what this work really looks like. I told the story of a mother who came to Cope twenty years ago, reluctant and scared, and mandated to our parenting classes after losing custody of her children due to her addiction. She learned she could trust us. She committed. She got her kids back, and she kept coming back as they grew. Just days before that dinner, she called to tell us that her oldest daughter had graduated from college and was headed to law school. That is what your investment makes possible. Not just stability, but a future that no one in that family’s story had dared to imagine. Our programs break the cycle of generational trauma, and moments like that dinner remind me why it matters so much to tell these stories out loud.
On behalf of all of us at Cope Family Center – Thank you, Napa Valley Vintners. Thank you to every winery, every bidder, every volunteer, and every person who raised a glass and a paddle this past weekend. What you do matters in ways that ripple far beyond what any of us will ever fully see.
Jeni Olsen
Executive Director
