2016-logo
Drum roll, please...
The organizers of the Naples Winter Wine Festival have tallied up the numbers and announced that $11.1 million was raised during this past weekend’s affair.
That brings the total amount generated since the auction’s inception to more than $146 million, benefiting more than 200,000 Collier County children in areas such as medical and dental care, early childhood education and mental health.
“We are thrilled and touched by the generosity and energy at this year's auction,” said Sandi Moran, the festival’s co-chair. “It's truly amazing to see so many people work together to realize the goal that is at the core of every Festival: making a lasting difference for the children of our local community.”
The live auction’s top single bid of $750,000 went to a bespoke 2016 Rolls-Royce Dawn, designed uniquely for the Festival, making the winning bidder the first person in the world to receive this coveted vehicle.
Additional auction highlights include:
- Three separate bidders won VIP access to Napa Valley's BottleRock music festival, two bespoke guitars and three double magnums of Gargiulo wines, totaling $720,000.
- $650,000 was the winning bid for a customized Ferrari 488 Spider with exclusive racing experiences.
- $400,000 was raised to attend a private cooking class with Glenn Close, taught by celebrity chef Mario Batali.
- A collection of Staglin Family Vineyard’s rare wines plus 10 days in Chile and Argentina with the vintners themselves and VIP tastings throughout the trip drew a final bid of $350,000.
This year’s Fund-a-Need initiative raised a total of $615,000 from dozens of generous attendees, all of which goes toward NCEF's Early Learning Initiative, which connects high-quality early childhood care providers to bring more early learning opportunities to the Naples community.
Check back soon for our photos from the event.