For the 10th year in a row, St. Aidan’s Episcopal Church of Malibu has held its fall-themed “Harvest of Hope” wine tasting fundraiser event, which raises money for over a half-dozen local, national and international charities that benefit the homeless and disadvantaged.
The annual event, held last Sunday in the parish hall and gardens, featured wines from 12 different wineries (including five Malibu area vintners), 51 baskets of silent auction items, including LA Lakers tickets, food, and live music from the Malibu String Duo and Old Dawgs, New Tricks.
The event requires dedicated volunteer efforts from a large portion of the St. Aidan’s congregation, who do everything from solicit donations for the silent auction items to pour wine and spend hours in the church kitchen preparing hors d’oeuvres.
The chairperson for the event, Sky Stipanowich, said in an interview that the event has raised $159,000 for charities over the past nine years, which averages out to more than $17,000 per year.
“Harvest of Hope” began as a way to raise money for outreach, Stipanowich explained.
“It brings people together, celebrates the community, and benefits others,” Stipanowich said. “It’s a good time for a great cause. The people here are big-hearted, and as Christians we feel we’re called to help others—not just sit in our beautiful church on a hilltop in Malibu.”
The nonprofit organizations that will benefit this year are School on Wheels, which serves homeless schoolchildren; Malibu Community Labor Exchange; Vida Joven, which houses, feeds and educates children whose parents are in prison in Tijuana; Malibu Task Force on Homelessness; Standing on Stone, which helps the homeless; Episcopal Relief & Development, which helps people in need worldwide; and the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles, which supports schools, institutions and ministries worldwide.
“It’s a great fundraiser, and all the money goes to outreach programs, not the functioning of the church,” said volunteer Lucy Larson, who is an MD and Student Health Center medical director at Pepperdine University when not pouring wine for charity.
Those attending the event tend to be Malibu friends, relatives and neighbors of the congregation, although they do get some drop-ins from people who happen to be driving by on PCH and see the sign for the event. This year, “Harvest of Hope” sold approximately 150 tickets in advance for $40 each and 50 tickets at the door for $50.
The Rev. Dr. Joyce Stickney, rector and vestry of the parish, has been leading the flock at St. Aidan’s for the past 12 years. Coming to Malibu from a church in Santa Monica, she said, “It was like going back 20 years in time—nobody was really using the church website or email yet,” she said with a laugh. But that has all changed now.
“I don’t know of any other congregation of only 70 families that could pull off an event like this,” Stickney said. “In past years, there has often been some stress in the days leading up to the event, but not this year.”
St. Aidan’s Episcopal Church of Malibu was founded in 1956 and is located at 28211 Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu.
Local wineries that donated wine included Dolin Malibu Estate Vineyards, Hoyt Family Vineyards, Jim Palmer’s Malibu Vineyards, Malibu Family Wines and Malibu Rocky Oaks Estate Vineyards.
