Los Gatos 48th Annual Art & Wine Festival: Fiesta de Artes

When you ask friends if they want to go to an art & wine festival, you usually get a positive response. What's not to love about listening to live music, drinking some wine and checking out some art? However, what a lot of people don't realize is that there's usually a very good cause behind the event! Take a few moments to realize the impact that one can make in a community, simply by attending and spending a little bit of money here and there - it's incredible!

The Fiesta de Artes is Los Gatos' Annual Art & Wine Festival and it has been put on by the Kiwanis Club of Los Gatos since 1996. It is entirely volunteer-run and non-profit. All proceeds made from this super fun event go right back into the surrounding communities and beyond. So just think about it...that glass of wine you bought, the beer or even the boxed water? All for a good cause! Here are just some examples of where the money goes:

LOCAL

• Turn-Around Scholarships. Over $20,000 is awarded to deserving students from Los Gatos, Saratoga and Valor High Schools who have overcome huge obstacles and gone on to finish school with good grades and plan for college. Kiwanis Club of Los Gatos raises enough money each year at the Fiesta de Artes to award these types of scholarships to our local high school seniors.
• Back-to-School Backpacks and Supplies. This year the club donated 470 backpacks and supplies for the entire student body at Washington Elementary School in San Jose. These kids deserve so much and their families are facing some pretty hefty challenges just getting by in Silicon Valley. Kiwanis Club of Los Gatos raised enough money to supply the whole school!
• Special Games. This year marked the 41st annual Kiwanis Special Games, held at West Valley College in Saratoga. Over 1000 special needs kids from Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties compete in games designed just for them. Phenomenal event, put on each year by the Kiwanis Clubs in the South Bay and Peninsula.
• Leadership Programs at the elementary, middle and high schools. K Kids (Van Meter, Daves, Blue Hills Elementary), Builders Club at Fisher Middle and Key Club at Los Gatos High…all sponsored by Kiwanis Club of Los Gatos.
• Annual Hippity-Hop Egg Hunt at Oak Meadow Park - free for all children! Hundreds of kids and their parents descend upon Oak Meadow Park each year to hunt for candy filled eggs and meet the Easter Bunny. Put on by the Kiwanis Club of Los Gatos.
• Donations to various clubs and organizations: The Robotics Team at Los Gatos High, Flying Doctors, The Los Gatos Youth Park - all of these and more are recipients of donations from the Kiwanis Club of Los Gatos.
• Trail Clean-ups. Don’t cost much, other than supplies, but the Kiwanis Club of Los Gatos does them monthly.

GLOBAL

• Pediatric Trauma Program. Pediatric trauma is the #1 cause of death and injury in children under 14 in the U.S. This program provides grants for doctors, educators and more, to help. Run by the Kiwanis California/Nevada/Hawaii Foundation. Kiwanis of Los Gatos donates to this cause regularly.
• The Eliminate Project, wiping out Maternal and Neo-natal Tetanus from the planet. Kiwanis and Unicef collaborate on this very important global mission. Kiwanis of Los Gatos donates to this regularly.

The list goes on and on, but suffice it to say that the Kiwanis Club of Los Gatos raises enough money each year at this art and wine festival to make sure that the tradition of giving back to the surrounding communities (and beyond) can continue.

Volunteer, give, help those who need help the most and do it all by getting involved with your community service organizations. We ALL want to help and we ALL want to make a difference. The Kiwanis Club of Los Gatos is just one example. Come to the Fiesta and have fun - that’s all that you need to do to make a difference! Sept 21-22, 10am-6pm. www.losgatosfiesta.com