The Thoma Foundation and Van Duzer Vineyards Announce $25,000 Donation to the ¡Salud! Foundation

DALLAS, Ore., December 18, 2023 (Newswire.com) - In honor of their 25^th anniversary in the Willamette Valley, the Carl and Marilynn Thoma Foundation and Van Duzer Vineyards are proud to announce a gift of $25,000 to the ¡Salud! Foundation, which will provide no-cost, full-spectrum preventative healthcare services to 100 vineyard stewards in the Willamette Valley. This donation is in celebration of their 25 years in the valley and in gratitude for the ongoing support of their valued customers, team and the Oregon wine industry over these past 25 years.

"Van Duzer Vineyards and the Thoma family are proud to support local organizations, like ¡Salud!, that support the people that make our community so special,” said owner of Van Duzer Vineyards, Carl Thoma. “Our donation to ¡Salud!, in honor of our 25th anniversary, reflects our commitment to the health and well-being of the people who make the Willamette Valley the extraordinary place that it is."

No other state in the country has such an effective and far-reaching program to support the vineyard steward population. This progressive approach by the Oregon wine industry has enabled ¡Salud! to access vineyard stewards at the worksite to provide vital healthcare services they might not otherwise receive. ¡Salud! Services is a clinical department of Hillsboro Medical Center, an OHSU Health partner and a project of the Hillsboro Medical Center Foundation. Since 1992, the program has been fully funded from the proceeds of the annual Oregon Pinot Noir Auction and other private donations.

“We are so grateful to the Carl & Marilynn Thoma Foundation for this impactful gift,” said Maria McCandless, Foundation Director at the Hillsboro Medical Center Foundation. “Thanks to this collaboration, ¡Salud! will be able to deliver one year of no-cost, full-spectrum preventative healthcare services to 100 people. Beyond no-cost care delivered through ¡Salud! mobile clinics, each client receives personalized support. Whatever is in the way of someone getting the care they need, we will help them work through those barriers and empower them to live a healthy life.”

In 1998, Carl and Marilynn Thoma helped open a new frontier of Oregon’s Willamette Valley when they chose a wild, beautiful, out of the way place to establish their winery. The 82 acres where the estate vineyard sits lies in the direct path of cooling marine winds that rush through a deep gap in the the coast range — its namesake Van Duzer Corridor. Van Duzer Vineyards specializes in balanced and lively site-driven wines that reflect the wind and the marine soils. As the oldest winery in the AVA, Van Duzer Vineyards has evolved into the defining producer of cool-climate Pinot Noir in the Van Duzer Corridor. More information about the winery can be found at www.vanduzer.com

Source: Van Duzer Vineyards