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Davis

Davis, California

Friday, March 29, 2024

Wine and beer tastings benefit local organization

From January through March, the Davis Food Co-op is hosting a series of wine and beer tastings to raise money for the Yolo County Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Center (SADVC).

According to the SADVC website, the center aims to minimize sexual assault and domestic violence through prevention, intervention and treatment.

“One in four women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime,” said SADVC Director of Community Relations Diana Stantz in an email interview. “One in six women will be the victim of an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime.”

The SADVC provides services to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault such as emergency shelters, clothing, food, counseling and legal assistance, all of which are free of charge. These services are available to both victims and their families for a period of 98 days.

Although the center is located in Woodland, SADVC staff work within the Davis, Woodland and West Sacramento Police Departments, along with the Yolo County Sheriff’s Department.

According to the Davis Food Co-op website, each taste of wine or beer costs $1. Each tasting has a specific theme such as “Amazing Under $10 Wines” held on Jan. 4, the Jan. 11 beer-tasting featuring craft beers from Deschutes Brewery and “Foothills Wines” will be held on Thursday.

“Annually, from our [total] profits we [the Co-op] donate 19 percent back into the community,” said Lis Harvey, communications coordinator for the Davis Food Co-op. “Community outreach is a big part of our core values.”

SADVC was established in 1977 by a group of Yolo County residents. A 24-hour crisis hotline was established along with individual counseling and group therapy. In 1980, the SADVC opened Harper House, located in Broderick in West Sacramento, a shelter for battered women and children.

Other services were established throughout the 1980s and the 1990s such as a child abuse prevention program in 1982, the Latina Outreach Program in 1986 and the Child Sexual Abuse Treatment Program in 1994, which provides long-term treatment for children who have been sexually abused.

“We switch out quarterly which community organizations the wine and beer tastings benefit,” Harvey said. “All of the proceeds go towards the organization.”

Other organizations the Davis Food Co-op has worked with in the past include the Yolo County Food Bank, local parent-cooperative preschools and other women’s shelters, Harvey said.

“The Davis Food Co-op has a long-standing history of supporting the SADVC,” Stantz said. “Last year, the Co-op raised money to help us convert three single beds into bunk beds and increased our capacity to shelter women and children.”

MEREDITH STURMER can be reached at city@theaggie.org.

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