Wine and dine for education

POST FALLS — The wine will flow Saturday, March 4 at the Post Falls Education Foundation’s annual Wine, Stein and Dine fundraiser. The event, in its 21st year, raises money for teachers in the Post Falls School District.

Teachers write grants to bring creative and innovative materials and curriculum into the classroom.

Last year, the event raised $30,000 that helped buy Chromebooks, funded a robotics program, bought microscopes, helped to implement a nutrition unit and funded a science lab upgrade.

“We’d love to be able to do $40,000 this year,” said Val Wilcox, a board member of the Post Falls Education Foundation. “This is our big event of the year and want to do everything we can to make it great to support our teachers.”

Over that past 21 years, the foundation has donated just shy of $550,000 to local teachers.

This year’s event will feature more than 85 wineries, microbreweries and restaurants as well as live music from local musician Bill Bozly. Guests can have fun at the photo booth and bid on silent auction items.

Wine, Stein and Dine will be held at the Greyhound Park and Event Center from 7 to 10 p.m. Tickets cost $45 and include all food and beverage options and can be found online at pfefwsd.org or at the following Post Falls locations: Columbia Bank, Mountain West Bank, Yoke’s, Super 1 Foods, Enoteca Fine Wine and Beer, Post Falls Chamber of Commerce and the Post Falls School District Office.

The event is restricted to people 21 years and older.

The Post Falls Education Foundation was started in the '80s by mothers who sold sweatshirts and cupcakes to raise money for school programs, Wilcox said. Eventually, the group came up with the Wine, Stein and Dine event and it turned out to be a success.

Wilcox said the event has been “growing ever since.”

“All the grant money goes directly into the classrooms and sometimes teachers will write a grant that benefits a whole grade level so a lot of kids can use it. The grants give teachers a boost for their classrooms,” she said. “It goes to anything that helps the kids learn in a different way, because all kids learn differently.”

For more information, visit pfefwsd.org or call Val Wilcox at (208) 691-4675.