Join the Wine Walk Saturday for Great Food and Wine

Five Hermosa Beach families are donating their backyard space for the first Hermosa Beach Wine Walk, a fundraising event for the Hermosa Beach Education Foundation that includes food, wine and friendship while raising funds for the city's public schools.

The Wine Walk happens Saturday from 5:30-9:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased until 1 p.m. for $100 per person.

The Wine Walk promises to be an evening of fun, with culinary delights donated by Hermosa Beach restaurants, including Abigaile, Establishment, Palmilla, Buona Vita, Club 705, Silvios BBQ, Uncle Stavros, Rockefeller, Bottle Inn, Chef Melba's, Mediterraneo, Gum Tree Cafe, Boardwalk, Frito Misto, Frosted Cupcakes and Paciugo Gelato.

Wines for the walk have been donated by Foley Estate, Gallo, Landmark, One Hope, Justin, Zaca Mesa, Daou, William Hill and Rosso, said Laurie Baker, who is handling public relations for HBEF as a volunteer.

The HB Wine Walk was inspired by previous HBEF fundraising progressive dinners, said Baker, noting that the Wine Walk is a fresh approach to the concept.

The best part is that all money raised goes to support HB public schools. For the 2012-2013 academic year, Baker said HBEF has funded class size reduction in kindergarten through third grade classrooms, school libraries, middle electives, science lab for third through fifth graders and physical education for first through fifth graders.

She also told Patch that "Of the funds we raise, 80% is immediately available for essential school programs; 20% is retained in a permanent endowment fund that upon maturity ($2 million) will provide a stable source of funding for our schools. To date our endowment is at $1 million. We fund programs that are not mandated by the state. We no longer have music and if we didn't cover the above programs those would have already been cut as well. Each year is a struggle to keep these programs but our school parents and community our huge supporters and we couldn't have the schools we do without them."

Baker praises and thanks the families and businesses who have donated to the Wine Walk. She wrote, "The families that donated their backyards are current and previous school families who are big supporters of our school and liked the idea of being able to give back to education in this unique way."

HBEF, incorporated in 1992, is a 100% parent volunteer organization whose mission is to raise funds to enhance the quality of the learning experience in our public schools and to restore programs cut by the state. 

Some of the people who have volunteered their time to work on the event are Dawn Crawford, Heather Meugniot, Courtney Unser, Stephanie Bell and Kimberly Konis who are the chairs of the event along with 27 volunteers who will be serving the wine and food, according to Baker.