By Khalida Sarwari
Rivers of Chocolate will once again flow at Saratoga’s Mountain Winery this month at a benefit for a Santa Clara County homeless services organization. And it won’t be just chocolate; unlimited wine and beer will also be on tap.
The 17th annual Rivers of Chocolate festival will take place April 28 from 1 to 5 p.m. and will be a fundraiser for EHC LifeBuilders, an organization that provides programs to end hotmelessness. The event will feature about 70 local vendors providing food and beverages, as well as live and silent auctions, a raffle and live music by three bands.
“For $125 you get unlimited wine, beer, coffee, chocolates, savories,” said Cindy Zbin, a spokeswoman for EHC LifeBuilders. “Besides being a fundraiser, it’s just an amazing day up at Mountain Winery, which is just gorgeous.”
Rivers of Chocolate will help support various programs at EHC LifeBuilders, such as the care coordination project, cold weather programs and the Sobrato Family Living Center, a transitional living program in Santa Clara that helps veterans.
The nonprofit is based in Milpitas, but operates a shelter in San Jose and cold weather program armories in Sunnyvale and Gilroy. In a partnership with Housing 1000, the organization recently changed its model to focus on identifying and registering the chronically homeless and giving them priority for permanent housing.
“It takes a long time,” Zbin said. “It’s not an easy project. This move to permanent housing is what we feel is best. Not only is it the right thing to do, it’s more cost effective.”
According to Zbin, last year’s fundraiser brought in more than $150,000 and an attendance of nearly 800.
“We also expect a sellout crowd again this year,” she said.
Zbin attributed the success of the event to the 200 volunteers that worked before and during the event and lead sponsors Adobe and Cisco. This year, the companies donated $10,000 each.
“We almost doubled our sponsorship this year,” she said. “It shows the community is really behind our effort to end homelessness. I think we’ve elevated the event to a higher level.”
Tickets are $125 and can be purchased online at ehclifebuilders.org. All proceeds will go toward supporting EHC LifeBuilders programs.
“It’s a great way to help end homeless in our community and have a great time,” Zbin said.
