The 11th annual Warmth of Wine, a wine tasting event hosted by Umbrella of Colonie (the home maintenance program of Colonie Senior Service Centers) raised more than $50,000 this year to help low income seniors pay their heating bills and also to upgrade their heating systems.
“Even though this wasn’t the coldest winter we have seen, seniors still struggle to pay their bills during the winter. This year at the Warmth of Wine, we broke the $400,000 mark (over the event’s history) since inception of the event in 2006,” said Ed Neary, executive director of Colonie Senior Service Centers.
The seniors that benefit from the Warmth of Wine live on an average income of less than $18,000 per year, and the cost of their heating bills take up a highly disproportionate share of their income. Many of them are members of Umbrella of Colonie, a home maintenance program that helps seniors to remain independent in their own homes by connecting them with affordable handymen and contractors. Last year during one of the worst winters on record, more than 200 households were aided by funds raised at this event.
The Warmth of Wine is generously supported by CAP COM Federal Credit Union, Exit 9 Wine and Liquor Warehouse and The Century House, M&T Bank, PRIME Life by Mazzone Hospitality, Bouchey Financial Group, Haylor Freyer, and Coon, Latham Medical Group, Sunmark Charitable Community Foundation and media sponsors B95.5 FM, Capital Region Living Magazine, CBS6 and Lamar Outdoor Advertising.
Colonie Senior Service Centers, Inc. is an independent, community-based nonprofit corporation serving the largest population of seniors in the Capital District.
— Colonie Senior Service Centers
